Question about fans in canopy

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eg8r210

New member
I need to mount some fans in my canopy and wanted to know what you think about my idea. I have two 4.5" fans and I would like to mount them on the back on teh canopy with two 4.5" holes in the top. Will this work? Would it help if I made more holes in the top?

My canopy WxD dimension are 73x25 and the light fixture is 72x23. It basically fills the entire canopy (except height) so there is very little room around the edge of the fixture to allow the hot air to escape up. Do you think my configuration will still be effective?
 
Could you drill a series of holes in the canopy to allow for more airflow into the tank?

If you have a picture, that would be helpful too - it really depends on how much air you can move around the water and at what rate you need to cool down the water.

What kind of lights are you running and how close will they be mounted to the water?
 
Does anyone have experience with the Ultra performance fans? I was wondering how loud they are? I see on the website that they are 33.6 dBA but I don't know if that is very noisy or not.
 
I could drill all the holes I want but I don't light splashing on the walls so I was hoping to keep it as limited as possible on the sides. I could cut a large section out of the top because I don't think any light exits the top since the fixture is so large.

I will have the two fans both blowing into the canopy and the idea is that the hot air will rise out the top, either through holes are a large section cut out. I just did not know if I had to balance the input and output. Meaning if I drill a 4.5" hole for the fan does there have to be a 4.5" hole for air to escape. If I drill the outlet hole larger will cause any sort of load on the fan? Will it not matter one bit.
 
I am running 3 250W MH and 4 60" T5 bulbs. With the lights and my return pump running my water gets upwards 84 degrees. When I put the fans in (right now they are not mounted but holding up the door of the canopy) I can keep the temp down around 79-80 all day (evaporation is insane).
 
I would run them as exhaust fans on top of the canopy. You will need other vents though, I would place them near the surface of the water.
 
My last set up that used a external fan [like what you propose] I used one
5in radio shack fan. And had a 2.5x60in slot in the bottom and back of the canopy.
I had better cooling with the fan blowing out from the canopy.
But with your putting holes in the top side might fix it over my old setup.

Oh and plan to wipe bulbs more often. extra air = more dust.
And 38db is pretty good. Mine was like 41-42 and I could hardly hear it run.
 
The size of the hole does not really matter as far asthe fan working. If it is significantly smaller, you will lose some air flow. Being the same size or a bit larger would maximize the amount of air the fan can push/pull.
 
eg8r210 said:
I see on the website that they are 33.6 dBA but I don't know if that is very noisy or not.
Click to expand...

To me, 33 dB is annoying, but my tank is silent. 33 dB is quite quiet for most people, but will still be heard. I use 2 Noctua NFP12 120mm fans on my current canopy. They are rated at 55 CFM at 19 decibels. All I can hear a couple feet away is the slight noise, but they are very close to silent.
 
Thumbs down for 33 db. Look for something 20db or less. Check out newegg. They have a search function that allows you to search for fans by db. If you dont have much room In The canopy, the best bet would be to month the fans outside the canopy. This will also make it easier come maintenance time. GL.
 
OK so two fans mounted on the back of the canopy and then a larger area opened up on the top of the canopy should work well?
 
When I was running MH's over my 75g, I used two SilenX fans (very quiet) in a push-pull configuration. I mounted one on each side of the canopy. One pulled air in and one blowing out. This resulted in a fairly high speed current or flow of ambient air across the long axis of the inside of the canopy and out the other side. I did not want to drill more holes in the canopy and there were already cutouts for fans. This configuration was very efficient at removing the heat of the lights and amazing at keeping the temp of the water down.

In the winter I would evaporate .3g per day. In summer it could be as high as 2.5g. This setup kept tank temps below 80 degrees all summer long. My controller only turned them on when water temp was over 79 degrees.
 
I just built a new canopy for a 72" long 125 gallon. It has 3x 250wDE halides and two rows (4x 36" bulbs total) of T5HO's over-driven with an IC660 ballast. I installed 4x 80mm lower noise (26db) computer fans. Two on each end pointing inward. The back of the canopy is open. With 4 fans, it is moving air at about 200 cubic feet per minute. 26 db is quiet. I had them running and couldn't hear a thing.

I prefer to blow air IN rather than salt air out. Less likely to corrode your fans. They should last longer. There are, of course, different schools of thought when it comes to suck vs blow... but to each their own. Go with what you are most comfortable with :)
 
Have you thought about going the chiller route? I know it's much pricier and not as energy efficient, but you won't have to think about fans.
 
Yes I thought about a chiller and the reasons you listed are why I decided not to go that route. I was able to get the fans as buy one get one free from Tiger Direct. If they are too loud then I will send them back or find another use for them.

I think I might try the one in one out method first before drilling any additional holes and see how that works.

Also, for mounting the fans, has anyone used bushings so keep the fan off the canopy to reduce vibe noise?
 
eg8r210 said:
Yes I thought about a chiller and the reasons you listed are why I decided not to go that route. I was able to get the fans as buy one get one free from Tiger Direct. If they are too loud then I will send them back or find another use for them.

I think I might try the one in one out method first before drilling any additional holes and see how that works.

Also, for mounting the fans, has anyone used bushings so keep the fan off the canopy to reduce vibe noise?
Click to expand...


The do sell silicone mounts that help reduce vibration. Some fans resonate when colted in, others don't.
You can find sold anywhere online, just google:
http://www.google.com/products/cata...=X&ei=t8vBTYyEGeP40gGEqqW3Cg&ved=0CEAQ8wIwAA#
 
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