Fan Installation

[jayearmstrong]

Would it be OK to install the Icecap fans into the top part of my hood with them blowing down past the lights to the water?

Thanks,

Jaye

 

[Gatortailale1]

IMO you would't get much benefit unless you have a air being blown out of the hood. Yes you are adding cool air into the canopy, but you really need to vent the HOT air out of the canopy area.

lights
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fan [<-- air flow <-- [ fan

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top of water

just my .000000000002

 

[lawndoctor]

I have two 4" fans at opposite ends of my 75. Each fan points at an angle downward past the lights toward the water surface. The canopy has 3" holes on both sides for air intake for the fans. The back of the canopy is completely open for air to escape. This setup keeps the water temp down very well. Although causes more evaporation and humidity in the room, it still beats having the chiller come on every twenty minutes.

 

[lawndoctor]

One more thing: The fans were too noisy when they were mounted directly to the canopy because they would cause the canopy to vibrate. They are silent now that I placed them on on small acrylic plates (set in the tank trim recesses) over the water.

 

[AuroraDave]

<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by lawndoctor:
<strong>They are silent now that I placed them on on small acrylic plates (set in the tank trim recesses) over the water.</strong><hr></blockquote>

I just finished building a canopy for my 135 and drilling for the fan vents is next. Can you post some details on the acrylic plate? Did you bend it? How did you attach the fan?
Thanx

 

[lawndoctor]

The plates were actually custom-made by Sea Swirl. The Sea Swirls sit on the plates so the units face each other from the two sides of the tank. I did not want to clamp them on the back wall of the tank. Each plate has a hole through which the Sea Swirl water outlet passes. The plates are 1/4" thick acrylic, cut 4" wide by 16 3/8" deep. The latter measurement is because the exact space between the recesses in my tank frame, from front to back, is 16 3/8." Sea Swirls actually stocks similar plates, but the stock pieces are wider than 4" which was too wide for my setup. It just turned out that after mounting the Sea Swirls there was still enough room to fit a fan on each side of the tank next to the Sea Swirls. Maybe the stock size plates would work for your setup. HTH

 

[jayearmstrong]

Thanks! I have 2 96W PC 10000K and 2 36" Atenics over a 58 gallon and it heats up quickly! I am going to buld a top and use the icecap fans. Do you think I should use 2 4' fans?

 

[AuroraDave]

Thanks L Doc.
Happy Holidays