Metal Halide Hood Question

[BrianR]

Before I spend the money on this, I would like some advice.

 

I have a 20L tank for my setup. I do want some Acrop and probably 2 Maxima clams.

 

From everything I have read, MH is pretty much the only way to go for this. I have also seen that pretty much everyone uses MH pendants, which seems to solve all the heat problems. I pulled up a picture to show my wife, of the fantastic 20L tank that JBSABIN1 has. Awesome tank, you have what I want.

 

Well, immediately she said no way on the pendants. That looks ugly. UGH....the wife strikes again. So, I have been searching high and low for retro kits and hoods that people have made, to get an idea if it would be possible and not cook everything in the tank.

 

The hood I have been looking at, is a 3 sided hood. Front, left, and right sides all covered, of course so is the top, and the back is left open. On one of the sides, I would place a 4" Icecap fan, blowing in, and on the other side, another 4" Icecap fan blowing out. I am also going to get the Icecap retro kit, for the 250w MH. In this, I will run the 10k bulbs.

 

Do you think I will cook the tank with this setup? Have others out there tried the hood setup with 2 MH's and just could not keep it cool enough? I am going to purchase that nice little auto water top off system from CALIFORNIAREEFS.

 

Do you think that even with the fans and this water top off system, I will still be in trouble for keeping the tank cool enough and keep the water level in check? I don't want to spend that kind of money only to find out this is just too small of a tank for that much light. If the general consensus is that I will still probably suffer heat problems, or just too much water evaporation, then I will just go back to my original 2x65w CSL with moonlight hood. It is a nice hood, but I am pretty iffy on wether I could keep a clam under this without sticking him on the highest rock in the tank.

 

If someone knows of a thread that discusses this, please feel free to post. My searches and the posts I have read just make me think a hood is pretty much out of the question. I just wanted to go ahead and ask it anyway, maybe some of you have this kind of setup, and I just didn't search right or well enough to find it.

 

Thanks in advance

[Guy]

I have a single 250 over my 29 gallon, which is 6 inches taller than the 20l. 2x250 will be putting out a fair amount of heat just as you suggest, but the fans may do the trick. Unfortuntely I too am using a pendant, mostly because I have the tank down my basement now. (hanging pendants in the living room was a no go in my house as well.)

 

My pendant is 9-10 inches off of the water, so keep that in mind when looking for a hood design. That bad boy is going to be about 12 inches tall. Also, you can probably go with 2x175's on a 20l. That may help on reducing some heat.

 

Lastly, I have heard from many people that both fans should blow in, blowing out causes the fan bearing to be exposed to salt water caused by evaporation.

 

GUy

[Von digity]

I have a single 250 watt MH over a 20L, but its a pendant and I have a fan blowing directly on the water below it and its not summertime yet. But, I haven't had any temp problems yet. I'm even thinking of adding another 250. Unless you can afford a chiller, get a pendant. Beg your wife, whine about it like a little girl constantly, and if that doesn't work, just do it. What is she gonna do? Divorce you cuz u put a pendant over the tank?

 

P.S. Don't blame me if she divorces you for putting a pendant over your tank. Von Digity takes no responsibility for your actions and/or the actions of others.

[MrKrispy]

Von,

 

Do you have a bell pendant or horizontal? Which way is it aligned with the tank?

 

I am still on the fence about 1 x 250W or 1x150W or 2x 150W.

I love rics and zoos, you think they would be okay on the ends and under ledges with a 1x250W on a 20L? Anyone else have that setup?

 

I want a clam in the center of the tank, so I gotta go at least 150W.

 

I noticed that there are some DE dual ballasts also.