bowfront26 Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 I just ordered my aqua medic AB 250W MH for my 26 g. bowfront. It comes with a fan but I was wondering if I should buy a clamp on fan or something and have it blowing right at the waters surface? Or should I have it pointed at the fixture. One more q... I've never had a MH, does this fixture have the ballast built into the fixture or do I mount it separately? Link to comment
donoree Posted August 24, 2004 Share Posted August 24, 2004 is this the pendent? i have the aqua medic 150W MH pendent and the fan is built into ballast. the ballast is separate from the light fixture itself (mine sits on the floor) i would defintely recommend a fan to dissipate heat and to keep your tank cool (especially if you have a nano) i have mine blowing across the surface of my tank and it does an awesome job of heat control. Link to comment
bowfront26 Posted August 24, 2004 Author Share Posted August 24, 2004 do you get a lot of evap.... your solutions? Link to comment
donoree Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 demmit... i just wrote a long ol reply and i accidently erased it! anyways... lots of evaporation? yes! my 14-gallon sits here in my office. before i leave for home i top off with some RO that i keep in an arrowhead bottle my MH used to be 8 inches over the surface. i've raised it to 10.5 inches and now i don't have that much evap and the raise in heat has been eliminated g'luck! i'm sure you'll love your 250W MH! Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 I don't think you are supposed to blow cool air at DE halides, but I could be wrong. Link to comment
BillyBlanko Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 NO....dont blow air directly at any lighting .......tubes or bulbs .....this will create "cold spots" on the glass and we all know what happens if you tip cold water into a hot glass right ........yep !......it`ll break ......now think of how thin the glass is on any flourescent or bulb . Link to comment
BillyBlanko Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 this can also happen if your lighting is to close to the surface of your water .......without a splash shield inplace ..........both have the same costly ending .......and beleive me its not much fun trying to pik out all the busted glass pieces b4 your fish think its food . Link to comment
bowfront26 Posted August 25, 2004 Author Share Posted August 25, 2004 I don't see how blowing air at the MH fixture would break the bulb. It isn't "cold" air, just room temp., anyways there is a piece if UV resistant glass covering the actual bulb it the fixture. so should i set the fan to blow right above the waters surface? Link to comment
MrKrispy Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 yes, that is best. As for fans on MH lights there are several things involved. Physics wise, no fan blows cold air unless it has a seperate cooling unit. It is the differential between the stagnant air and the moving air carrying away heat. Regardless, I think the MH issue is that of the bulb trying to stay a certain temp. to "burn" the gas at a proper--and stable--temp. Link to comment
donoree Posted August 25, 2004 Share Posted August 25, 2004 yea, i have mine set to blow across the surface of the water... not directly into the MH itself Link to comment
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