90 gallon slow and steady build

[TheRealChrisBrown]

4 hrs a day for the MH seems to be the consensus I got as a starting point. Then run your t5's 8-12 hours it seems like. This is what I'm going to start at next week. I think I'll run the t5's from like 8am-1pm then MH from 1pm-5pm then back to t5's from 5pm to 10pm. I'd like to slowly ramp up the MH to like 6hrs a day, so I'd either run everything at once, or cut the hours of the t5's accordingly.

I am far from an expert on MH/t5 lighting schedules....like far far far far far....far far far....and a little further from an expert. Saturday will be my first attempt at it in probably 5 to 6 years. Hopefully some more opinions will come in...help us both out!

 

[neil82]

4 hrs a day for the MH seems to be the consensus I got as a starting point. Then run your t5's 8-12 hours it seems like. This is what I'm going to start at next week. I think I'll run the t5's from like 8am-1pm then MH from 1pm-5pm then back to t5's from 5pm to 10pm. I'd like to slowly ramp up the MH to like 6hrs a day, so I'd either run everything at once, or cut the hours of the t5's accordingly.

I am far from an expert on MH/t5 lighting schedules....like far far far far far....far far far....and a little further from an expert. Saturday will be my first attempt at it in probably 5 to 6 years. Hopefully some more opinions will come in...help us both out!

I'll start out with four hours then. I was excited to learn that you are switching over to MH too. We can compare notes as we go.

 

[TheRealChrisBrown]

I'll start out with four hours then. I was excited to learn that you are switching over to MH too. We can compare notes as we go.

Most definitely! If you want to get more eyes on the MH/t5 lighting schedule questions and options, maybe you are I should start a new thread? Although looking at some of the national forums last night I consistently saw 4,5,6 hours on MH and 8-12 on t5.

 

[MuralReef]

I run mine longer, but it is my primary source of light. If I had more T-5's or VHO's I would run them less. Think I decreased it from 12 down to 8 or 10 hours recently.

 

[kchristensen8064]

I'm going to be going halide/t5 on my build off tank and my 180 whenever I can finally set it up. Are T5's typically run separately and not on when the halides are?

 

[TheRealChrisBrown]

I'm going to be going halide/t5 on my build off tank and my 180 whenever I can finally set it up. Are T5's typically run separately and not on when the halides are?

I was thinking of running them separately to help keep heat down, even if just a little. Plus it might extend the life of the t5's if you saved the hours (4,5,6,8,10 whatever the MH's are on for).

I don't know, random thought by Chris I guess!

 

[kchristensen8064]

I was thinking of running them separately to help keep heat down, even if just a little. Plus it might extend the life of the t5's if you saved the hours (4,5,6,8,10 whatever the MH's are on for).

I don't know, random thought by Chris I guess!

Are you going to be doing a hood/canopy?

 

[neil82]

I'm going to be going halide/t5 on my build off tank and my 180 whenever I can finally set it up. Are T5's typically run separately and not on when the halides are?

I had this same question. And I had the same thought as @TheRealChrisBrown about extending the bulb life by turning them off when MH is on... I wonder what other MH/t5 folks are doing.

 

[SynDen]

I would think you would want to run them together. Haven't really seen anyone do them always separated. To me it would kind of defeat the purpose of having the combo if you arent going to run them together at least for a short amount of time. I could see maybe only doing them separate if par levels were way to high with both running, but otherwise I would always do them together

 

[kchristensen8064]

I would think you would want to run them together. Haven't really seen anyone do them always separated. To me it would kind of defeat the purpose of having the combo if you arent going to run them together at least for a short amount of time. I could see maybe only doing them separate if par levels were way to high with both running, but otherwise I would always do them together

That's kind of what I was thinking. As far as temp goes if I decide to go with a canopy I was thinking about doing some of these to help keep things cool. https://www.acinfinity.com/quiet-cabinet-fans/

 

[neil82]

Most definitely! If you want to get more eyes on the MH/t5 lighting schedule questions and options, maybe you are I should start a new thread? Although looking at some of the national forums last night I consistently saw 4,5,6 hours on MH and 8-12 on t5.

Great idea. Let's carry on with this conversation here: http://www.marinecolorado.org/threads/metal-halide-lighting-discussion.27329/

 

[neil82]

Quick update- replaced all the ceramic MH bulb sockets. Installed new bulbs and put the light up. It's been running since Sunday and the livestock seem to be responding well. Today I installed a fan to run with the lights. It's like the one you posted @kchristensen8064 . Made a mounting bracket out of acrylic to bolt it right to the light fixture. View attachment 14015 View attachment 14016 View attachment 14017 View attachment 14018 View attachment 14019 View attachment 14020 View attachment 14021

 

[kchristensen8064]

Quick update- replaced all the ceramic MH bulb sockets. Installed new bulbs and put the light up. It's been running since Sunday and the livestock seem to be responding well. Today I installed a fan to run with the lights. It's like the one you posted @kchristensen8064 . Made a mounting bracket out of acrylic to bolt it right to the light fixture. View attachment 14015 View attachment 14016 View attachment 14017 View attachment 14018 View attachment 14019 View attachment 14020 View attachment 14021

Looks really good!

 

[zombie]

Quick update- replaced all the ceramic MH bulb sockets. Installed new bulbs and put the light up. It's been running since Sunday and the livestock seem to be responding well. Today I installed a fan to run with the lights. It's like the one you posted @kchristensen8064 . Made a mounting bracket out of acrylic to bolt it right to the light fixture. View attachment 14015 View attachment 14016 View attachment 14017 View attachment 14018 View attachment 14019 View attachment 14020 View attachment 14021

If this doesn't resolve your temp issues, I would suggest lowering or angling the fan so that the air flow hits the surface of the water. That provides much more cooling than just trying to blow hot air away from the bulbs. You can improve it even more by blowing air in an area like your sump that has a lower ambient air temp.

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[neil82]

If this doesn't resolve your temp issues, I would suggest lowering or angling the fan so that the air flow hits the surface of the water. That provides much more cooling than just trying to blow hot air away from the bulbs. You can improve it even more by blowing air in an area like your sump that has a lower ambient air temp.

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I'll see if the fan is effective with it's current placement. It could move down about one inch if needed. The real test will be in warm weather. I got the variable speed controller so I can crank it up if needed. That little fan moves a lot of air, but it does make a substantial amount of noise at high speed.

 

[SkyShark]

Great work! Do you think a second fan on the other side would help pull the air away from the tank (as opposed to blowing it back at the other fan)? Might help you not have to run the fan at full speed.


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[neil82]

Great work! Do you think a second fan on the other side would help pull the air away from the tank (as opposed to blowing it back at the other fan)? Might help you not have to run the fan at full speed.


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I do think a second fan, installed the way you described, would increase the efficiency. No doubt about it. I like the way the temp has stabilized after bringing the fan online. I adjusted my program to keep the tank between 78.5 and 79, and so far, 79.3 has been the high temp with lights/fan running. If the heat becomes an issue over the summer though, I'll have to take additional steps to mitigate.
View attachment 14028

 

[zombie]

Great work! Do you think a second fan on the other side would help pull the air away from the tank (as opposed to blowing it back at the other fan)? Might help you not have to run the fan at full speed.


Sent from my iPhone using MASC - Marine Aquarium Society of Colorado

It does not unless you are adding fans to an enclosed canopy. The main source of cooling from fans is actually the evaporative cooling caused by having wind blowing across the water surface. A fan sucking has a very low wind speed across the surface and hence very low evaporative cooling.

In the event of an enclosed canopy, using the push pull method helps because it forces the air out in a more defined path and doesn't require a pressure increase to exchange the air inside with ambient.

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[neil82]

It does not unless you are adding fans to an enclosed canopy. The main source of cooling from fans is actually the evaporative cooling caused by having wind blowing across the water surface. A fan sucking has a very low wind speed across the surface and hence very low evaporative cooling.

In the event of an enclosed canopy, using the push pull method helps because it forces the air out in a more defined path and doesn't require a pressure increase to exchange the air inside with ambient.

Sent from my SM-G965U using MASC mobile app

Good point. That makes sense. So more effective use of a second fan would be on the sump. And because the water is passing through the sump at a faster rate than the main display, would that also increase the potential for evaporative cooling? Or is that determined by the surface area of the water regardless of the turnover rate?

 

[zombie]

Good point. That makes sense. So more effective use of a second fan would be on the sump. And because the water is passing through the sump at a faster rate than the main display, would that also increase the potential for evaporative cooling? Or is that determined by the surface area of the water regardless of the turnover rate?

That is determined by four things.

Temperature differential between the air and the water. (Higher better)

Surface area of the water (higher better)

Air speed passing over the surface area (higher better)

Relative humidity of the ambient air (lower better)

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