I have a 55 gallon aquarium that's just about done cycling. I'm running 2x96W PC's. But I'm having a very difficult time keeping the temperature down. Right now it's running close to 90F. (No fish yet - don't worry). I've tried most of the common tricks for keeping the tank cool, including removing the lid and using a small fan but this only brings it down to 82F or so. I think the high temp is a combination of the powerheads, lights, and skimmer.
So I've decided to give in and purchase a chiller (the fewer parameters I have to worry about the better and it would stink to lose fish/corals because the tank got too hot). I originally went with the PCs because I didn't want to buy a chiller, but since I'm going to anyway, I was also thinking about upgrading to MHs. The canopy is slightly less than a foot away from the top of the tank. I'm not real worried about the water temperature as I'll probably go with the next size up for the chiller, but I'm more worried about the acrylic top/wood canopy getting too hot. Has anyone had issues with this? Do I need to get a bigger canopy if I want to go MH? Are fans a must?
Thanks,
Ben
So I've decided to give in and purchase a chiller (the fewer parameters I have to worry about the better and it would stink to lose fish/corals because the tank got too hot). I originally went with the PCs because I didn't want to buy a chiller, but since I'm going to anyway, I was also thinking about upgrading to MHs. The canopy is slightly less than a foot away from the top of the tank. I'm not real worried about the water temperature as I'll probably go with the next size up for the chiller, but I'm more worried about the acrylic top/wood canopy getting too hot. Has anyone had issues with this? Do I need to get a bigger canopy if I want to go MH? Are fans a must?
Thanks,
Ben