Questions about attaching fans in canopy

[jdellman]

I bought 4 Vantec Stealths for my 120 gallon tank, and have a few questions about attaching them to the canopy:

The first question is how do I attach them to the canopy? I assume I cut a hole in the canopy and then just screw the fans onto the canopy?

The second question is about placement. If I attach the fans to the end of the canopy, won't they blow well above the surface of the tank and not cool anything? Should I instead mount them on the top of the canopy blowing straight down onto the tank?

What about attaching them to the ends of the canopy at an angle, which would allow them to blow across the surface of the tank length-wise.

Finally, does anyone have any photos of your fans attached to th canopie? I would appreciate any photos as that would make it much easier.

Thanks,

Jim

 

[Puffer Daddy]

the fans are not so much as to cool the water (fan in sump for that), but to remove the heat from the lighting. This heat is what will inc. the tank temp. For example, I run Icecap variables. Mounted inside the canopy as these came with a screen (very open wire screen) that I attached outside the canopy. I mounted them blowing In (better to pull in cool air), with the fan blowing right under the reflector to blow the heat away. Ill see if I can snag a pic, but it's really quite easy. Hope I explained it well for you.

 

[seattlerob]

I agree w/puffer, the fans in the canopy are really for removing heat generated from the lighting.

I have a 12" tall canopy that is completely open on the back side. In it, I have 2x250w MH. Mounted on the back of the canopy, I have 2 icecap fans (120mm IIRC). One is mounted on the far left and the other on the far right. Both are only attached to the top of the canopy using 2 of the screw holes. Both are positioned to blow air into the canopy (not draw air out).

Sorry, I don't have any pics, but hopefully you can picture it by my description. When I was setting it up, my main goal was to create airflow within the canopy, so heat would exit. Not to directly cool the water by aggitating it (I do generate some surface aggitation from my powerheads inside the tank).

hth,
rob

 

[noodles9987]

first off, you want to place the fans at the ends of the canopy pointing in. This will allow maximum air flow across the length of the lamps - which as others have said, cools downt he bulbs, not the water. The added benefit is that as the air takes away the heat, it keeps your tanks from heating up as much as without having fans at all.

So for mounting, the best way to do it is to get a hole saw. You can get one of these at any hardware store, for only a few dollars. So, as you would guess, you drill a hole large enough for the fans, with you hole saw and you drill 4 small holes (one in each corner) for the screws.

One last point. Some fans are 120 volt and some are 3-5 volts dc. Check your fans, because if you've purchased 120 volt units, you can plug them directly into the wall. Otherwise, you are going to need a dc power adapter/converter.

 

[noodles9987]

Sorry, what I should have said was that 120 volt fans can be directly wired to an outlet cord and then plugged into an outlet, while the low voltage fans need to be wired so as to accept a dc power converter. I guess you could wire them to the dc power cord, but a better choice would be to go to radio shack and buy the necessary fittings to do it the right way.

 

[Phyxius]

Mine are all mounted on the ends mounted about mid way from the water to the lights. They are placed to bring air in across the bulbs and water and help blow the hot air out the back. Just get a correct size hole saw and cut the hole and mount the fans. Mine are all 12v 4" fans and use a power brick to supply the power. A neat little trick I learned to help quite the fans even more from any minor humming or vibration is to put some small rubber o rings in between the fan and the canopy. It does work and depending on the fan may or may not be needed...Stainless screws are also a good idea to minimize them rusting
They will help cool the tank some removing heat from the bulbs out of the canopy. They may also offer some minor water cooling from evaporative cooling from the fans causing air movement across the water if they are mounted close enough
Heres a pic for an idea

 

[jdellman]

Thanks for the replies. I think I will place two at the ends of the canopy. I was hoping to use them to cool the water aw well.

If I use the other two to cool the water in the sump, any suggestions on how to mount them underneath? Anyone make any kind of bracket?

 

[Phyxius]

They make a 6" clip on fan you can get for about 9.00 or so. Pushes lots of air and has 2 speeds. I use them in the sumps on both of my larger tanks and they work great. You could use the Vantechs and make a bracket from acrylic or the like to mount them to blow over the sump. They will do the evaporative cooling and help lower water temps a little. You may need another power supply for them depending on how you wire them. If with the canopy fans you could get away with 1 good 12v power supply but if separate you will need 2 power supplies. Just something to think about
Here is a old pic of the one in my 29 frag tank from when I first set it up. It shows the fan in the right corner. The 90g tank has it pretty much the same way and they come on at the same time as the canopy fans and off with the canopy fans. This is usually 1/2 hr before lights kick on till 1/2 hr after they go off.

 

[AZDesertRat]

My arrangement is almost identical to Phyxius. I have on 120mm Vantec in each end of the canopy blowing in but I drilled 4" holes in top right over the light reflectors so heat goes up and out but light does not. I also have the Wal Mart clip on fan over the sump but since I have a chiller its on a Ranco controller as a back up, if the temp rises 2 degrees it comes on.