----Metal Halide Users, chime in---

What's the temp increase you seen after going MH? I would like to know so I can adjust my heater appropriately and like to know how drastic the temp change is.

 

It really all depends on if you have a tank with a lid, how many pumps you have going, watts per bulb. But I can tell you it will increase the temperature more than you might expect.

Mine was about 6 degree F change with 150 watt and a lid.

 

Def too many variables to give an actual number of degrees or percentage or anything like that.

It will raise your tank temperature because it certainly is NOT going to cool it down any!

Depends on your climate/indoor climate as well.

There are TONS of variables.

Only ways to minimize the heating are to raise the lights higher above the tank or to add a fan blowing across the fans over the surface of the tank which is bound to increase evaporation.

 

I recently added 2 150w MH pendants to replace a Tek 6x54w T5 fixture. The MH do not raise my tank any higher then my T5s did.

 

Temp is a function of:
What size halide
Surface area for evaporation
Any fans over the tank
Ambient temp of the room
Humidity of room

 

44 Gal. open top corner tank,250 watt Sunpod, I see an average increase of 3-4 degrees.

 

i saw an increase of 2 degrees with 400W of MH lighting, and no lid, over a 50 breeder. my room is usually pretty cold though

 

hmmm... interesting numbers.

I understand far more variables play into this topic to find an equation. I was just imagining if you did a direct swap from your old fixture to your MH fixure, how high did your temp increase after 6 hours, assuming all other variables are constant.

 

I went from a 6 bulb T5 to a 2 bulb T5 with 2-250 watt MH and my temp went up about 5 degreees. I have a small clip on fan blowing across my sump when the halides are on so now its only about 2-3 degrees higher..

 

What MHs bulbs did you switch to and what kind of reflectors are you using? I thought about going with the ATI Power Module but now think it will be MHs.
Thanks ;D