3 gallon eclipse w/18w light

[brad1975]

Hi everyone,

 

I’ve had my 3g going for a couple of weeks know. I took the hood off and bought the coralife 9” 18 watt light. The problem is my temp tops out at 84. Is the best remedy to put a small fan near the surface?

 

I am getting a piece of glass cut to fit in top. Will this help keep the temp down?

How high can the temp get before my livestock start to be affected? I have snails, shrimp, and crabs?

 

Thanks.

[schaadrak]

Yeah, a small CPU fan should do the trick. A glass cover would keep your evap down, but probably not the temp.

[Ryan_H]

a glass lid would cause your temperature to raise, because it will trap more heat from the light (think "greenhouse"). a small fan would be your best bet. if you want something on top to hold the light, just use egg crate (aka flourescent lighting diffuser) cut to fit the top of the tank. you could even stack strips of it to hold the light off the surface of the water.

[Daemonfly]

Actually, there's a way to make the glass work FOR you.

 

Install the glass, mount the light slightly above it, then use a fan to remove the heat from between the lights & the glass. This removes the heat before it gets into the tank, and keeps evap down.

[exigency]

putting a glass top on the tank will take away 20% of the light's potential from what i hear, don't shoot the messenger now.