who runs MH without a chiller on thier tank?

[thefuture]

well i was at LFS yesterday and he was informing me that there is no way in hell that i could run MH's without having a chiller because of the wheather we have out here in california. his only exception was maybe if i lived by the beach. its making me skeptical about getting MH's so i thought i would ask how many people are safely running MH's without a chiller? what is your water temp? how high do you keep your MH from the surface of your tank and total water volume? thanks

 

[abandund]

i ran a single 175 while living in glendora CA with no problems...of course i had AC in the room. I now live in costa mesa and run 2x250MH + 2x96w PC...all with no chiller...of course the weather is much more mild by the coast

 

[H22ATypeS]

As long as you have a good moving ambient temp air (68-72 degrees) moving...You should be fine with MH without a chiller. The key word here is to have moving air...by that I mean having circulation to exchange the heated air with cooler air. Fans will help aid in this task but might not have enough CFM...Now with fans that can generate enough CFM....You'll have to contend with dB noise. It's all a give and take, but that store that is telling you that you can't run MH lighting without a chiller isn't really thinking it through. They are simply offering the quickest and easiest solution for the problem.

There are many ways to tackle heat problems....
Fans, chiller, water volume, geo-thermal, the list goes on and on.......

Just my opinion.
Allen

 

[Bayslayer]

I have a 29g with a 250w DE Mh about 6" from the water and one 3" fan blowing air in the canopy and one 3" fan blowing air out of the canopy and with the lights off the tank is at 83 degrees and when the light and fans turn on the tank drops a degree to 82 so my tank actually runs cooler with the lights on. And I also keep my house between 76-78 degrees so that helps.

 

[Bayslayer]

I like your occupation Allen

 

[tacocat]

I do. I have a 100g with two 250w DE lamps, and I live in Fresno. You can do it with fans and such, but I would get a chiller to cut down on inside hunidity.

 

[GinaSofia]

I have 250w about 9" from the surface of a 20 gallon(tall w/10 G sump)I have two 4" fans installed in the canopy (one on each end) and the tank doesn't get above 82 in the San Fernando Valley.

 

[Hawk72]

I live in the desert and run 2 x 250 MH without a chiller. In the summer the temperature regularly reaches 105. I have one 4" inch fan blowing air into the canopy and a fan blowing across the sump. My water temperature hovers around 80 degrees. The LFS owner is trying to get you to buy a chiller.

Jason

 

[Gooli]

i'm in west LA...got 2x250mh + 220w vhos about 7" from the water in an open-back canopy...got 2 4" fans blowing for about 8 hours during the day - water is at 77-80 - no chiller

 

[M. Python]

Unfortunately, I donââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t live in CA itsââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s freeeeezing here!!!! But in the summer I have no problems with 4 175s on my 180 as long as I run the air-conditioner. If you have AC you wont have a problem with a open top, if you run with a hood I would install fans.

 

[ReefLife1680]

I got a 30G tank i'm planning on running a single 150W HQI MH on ... shouldn't be a problem. Just the LFS looking for a sale IMO.

H22ATypeS (occupation) LMAO!!!

 

[gcarroll]

4-250 watt DE on a 6' tank here. No chiller. Home A/C set to 76 year round. 2 - $7 clip on fans on an aquacontroller keep my temp at 77-78. I do adjust the aquacontroller to keep it at 79-80 durring the summer

 

[USMCARTY42]

400w MH w/o a chiller on a 60 gal-Temp fluctuates some but not more than the recommended 4-5 degrees... the key is, as Allen mentioned before: great air flow around the lighting unit. I have a wonderful x-breeze in my apartment.

It sounds as if that LFS was having a sale on chillers that day...

Capitalism, much like golf, makes liars out of nuns and teachers :lol:

 

[cmc5dc]

Ran my old 125 w/ a pair of 150HQI + 2x96pc in a canopy w/ a semi open back, 2x4in. fans blowing in/out. Lights were a couple of inches from the water line and running 10 hrs. Tank temp was 80-81. The house a/c was set at 74.

 

[thefuture]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7018071#post7018071 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by USMCARTY42


Capitalism, much like golf, makes liars out of nuns and teachers :lol:

:lol: :lol:

 

[reefpeep2004]

I ran 3 250w MH over an 80g tank with 30g sump under a 12" canopy. No airconditioning either, but I was about 2 miles from the ocean in Huntington Beach. I used a clipon fan in the canopy and the highest temp ever got even when it was in the 90's outdoors was 85 degrees. I had several pumps adding some heat also.

 

[Keoni]

I have 2 250se and 220 of VHO two 4ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ fans in the canopy and a clip on fan over the sump and no problems with heat but I do run my lights at night they start coming on at 4:00pm just before I get home I think that helps a lot. Why have them on when nobodyââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s home

 

[Charles99]

i'm going to try to run a 240g (8'x2'x2') w/ 4- 250W MH. Thanks for the input people. I'll definately get some air over the top and sump.

 

[Konadog]

As you can see, a lot of people don't use a chiller with MH lighting. One big thing that helps is when you run them, I don't turn the lights on until late in the afternoon.
I had two 250w MH's on my 100 gallon without a chiller, and will have three 250w MH's on my 225 without a chiller. Both tanks were/are open tops, which keeps the heat from building up on top of the tank.

 

[Charles99]

Hey Ken.. good point.

I ran into a small heat issue last summer on my 60g. but someone mentioned to run lamps @ night when its cooler. Easily maintains a cooler temp.