guppylover2 Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 hi there needed to increase wattage of light for large tank to grow plants so bought some compact fluorescent lights from USA and step down transformer. all good, very powerful light, but they do produce more heat than standard wussy bulbs! mine comes with a fan, quite noisy however, and i think am going to have to get a new hood made if i use these lights as my current one with minimal clearance over light started to bow slightly with heat. am thinking of getting new one made, higher, and maybe with side bits cut out so more air circulation. is a bowfront tank, 300 L, will be great when all up and running. anyone had similar problems? any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DubbieBoy Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Yep; I've got three 55W CFs over my tank, under reflectors, and they do produce much heat (and a lotta light!). So far my biggest problem with them has been cracking (6mm!) cover glasses But the plant growth! OH the PLANT GROWTH!! I'm also at the stage of trying to decide how to incorporate them inside a hood, some cooling will certainly be necessary I think. I'm going to use a 12V computer case fan (one of the totally silent ones) to blow air through the hood and just provide plenty of ventilation really. Also considering using some baffles or vents in the top that would prevent light escaping out into the room but allow warm air convect out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guppylover2 Posted January 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 thanks dubbie boy. so you think vents cut into the hood could let out some of the light? my light fixture is all-in-one i.e. not just bulbs, but comes with a reflective hood, fan etc. i think you could use it without an aquarium hood but i like to use one so my cats don't walk on the covering glass sheet, plus the light would get so hot they could burn their paws! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guppylover2 Posted January 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 how high off the cover glass do you have them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DubbieBoy Posted January 31, 2006 Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Well, at the moment the reflectors are just sitting directly on the glass so the lamps themselves are maybe only an inch from the glass surface (I've tried using acrylic instead of glass but it warps terribly). The glass cracking problem is a combination of the heat from the lamps and the stress caused by cutting out a back corner of the glass to accommodate some filter tubes. The cracking starts from the cut area in response to heating and cooling. I expect that as soon as the lamps are properly mounted in a hood and slightly further from the surface, no longer making direct contact, that the glass cracking will no longer be a problem. This is the current setup... As you can see, my cat also enjoys the heat and the view up there... I've managed to stop her jumping up there by applying double-sided sticky tape; she hates it! As regards putting vents in, I'm going to try and use two layers of gaps in the lid and offset them to limit the amount of light escaping. Umm, hope that makes some sort of sense... - DB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guppylover2 Posted February 17, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2006 thanks for the photos! awesome tank! and love the cat on top. at tthe moment i am only using my lights when i am home coz am worried about the heat causing fire. heat of light fixture less with fan on but noisy. i keep the top of the lid off (wooden lid) to reduce heat. only have one real plant at this stage as want to tear down tank and start again, with soil substrate, CO2 etc. so just playing at the moment. with lights on for only 4 hours a day sometimes, java sword is definitely still thriving!. because of the shape of my tank (bowfront) i have 2 96 watt lights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanksman Posted February 18, 2006 Report Share Posted February 18, 2006 Neat photos. You'd think it would be too hot for the cat. :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiuh Posted February 18, 2006 Report Share Posted February 18, 2006 nice photos. i love the lights setup. i can see why your plants grow so well. dubbieboy. nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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