Has anyone tried these fans?

czieler · 03-30-2008, 05:27 PM

Has anyone tried these cooling fans?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Metal-Halide-Aqu...QQcmdZViewItem

I currently have 2 of the 4 inch fans mounted in back of my tank blowing between the tank and the canopy behind my MH lights.... but my heat is still at 80-82.9 during the day.

I thought I might try these, but wanted to see if anyone had a review of them first.

Jadinop · 03-30-2008, 05:46 PM

Fans in the back of the canopy help but you will get the most cooling by directing the air flow over the surface of the water. Is there anyway you can point one of your fans to blow towards the water to see if it will help? The nice thing about the fans you posted is that you can pivot them down to blow across the waters surface and increase evaporative cooling. You might be able to get by with a smaller model if you keep the current fans that you have in place.

Steve's Reef 90g · 03-31-2008, 11:34 AM

i predict a chiller in the near future!

czieler · 03-31-2008, 03:14 PM

Yeah.. I really don't want to drop $$ on a chiller..that's why I'm trying other stuff first...

MikeAtJax · 03-31-2008, 03:35 PM

I was thinking about the same fans. I just have to figure a way to mount them to my tank.
Have you tried a fan on your sump/refug?

slant77 · 03-31-2008, 04:35 PM

Whats the down fall to running your tank at 82?

czieler · 03-31-2008, 04:47 PM

I think 82 is killing some of my zoanthids...and I'm getting a lot of algae growth....

That fan looks like it would clip to the back of the tank.. at the top.. won't it?

I don't have a fan on my sump .. I thought the problem was from the lights.. so I was trying to blow the hot air out w/ the small fans. We drilled two 2.25 inch holes in the top of the canopy..but it hasn't helped much. I was thinking i could get those lights..then screw my other fans onto the canopy to blow air out of the holes....

ChristianJock07 · 03-31-2008, 07:33 PM

Carole,

If your canopy is the type with 2 doors in the front, trying running a couple of days with the doors open during the daytime while you are working.

I was running into the same problem with temp's hitting 82+ and now before I leave in the morning, I just open my doors and close them when I get home at night. My temperature now stays steady at about 79.

I'm also just running 2 fans blowing into the canopy, but not pointing down to the water. I'll figure things out differently sometime in the future if I ever get a day off work.

It's a temporary fix that may work until you can figure things out more.

czieler · 03-31-2008, 07:40 PM

My canopy flips open at the front... I have been opening it all day for a while now, and it still gets to 82 ...

MikeAtJax · 03-31-2008, 08:49 PM

To get rid of the heat from a light a fan as you are using works. But evaporation by aiming the fan across the water will help lower the temp. The fans you are thinking about would have to mount on your canopy aimed at the water. Their mounts are too narrow to be mounted on the top of your tank.

czieler · 03-31-2008, 10:12 PM

Hmm..weird.. I thought it work the other way... but either way.. I think we could rig them to stay on there.... I wonder if these are pretty new out....

I just found out half of the place I work for ( I work for a company that split into two companies ) appears to be folding... heh... guess I'll wait til the dust settles to make sure the whole thing isn't closing before spending some extra money on the fans...

Caball362 · 04-01-2008, 04:44 AM

Ack sounds like no good. I want to tag along on this one and to find out how these work .

Goldstripe · 04-01-2008, 05:53 AM

I was looking at the CFM rating on that listing (Cubic feet per minute) and it seems extremely low for a 6 fan unit. You may want to ask him to clarify that 45.5 CFM. Is that per fan (so 45.5 x 6)? The bottom line for fans is CFM, the higher the better however, the downside is noise which makes a variable speed optimal. It runs at lower rpm (quieter) when minimal cooling is required and higher rpm when more cooling is needed.

For a reference, I just looked at 1 Ice Cap 4" fan and the specs say up to 102 CFM and that's just for 1 fan. Not saying Ice Cap is the way to go, just that more airflow = more cooling ability. In my experience, it's always more effective to have the fans blowing in vs. out. I tried it both ways and there's no comparison, blowing in was the way to go.

ChristianJock07 · 04-01-2008, 07:44 PM

Carole,

I totally forgot about these fans on Dr. Foster and Smiths. Maybe research into them.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...m?pcatid=14701

good luck!

czieler · 04-02-2008, 12:17 PM

Hmm..they look like the same thing...possibly rebranded in the UK then picked up by Dr. Fosters... wonder why they don't have a 6 fan option though.. heh