Holy evaporation!!!

[reef dummy]

I recently upgraded my lighting system to the Sunpod 2x250 14k mh's from Coralife pc's. These lights make a HUGE difference in my small 46b G tank but holy cow, I had no idea the amount of water I was going to be evaporating in a day. I have the lights sitting on the tank with a small fan blowing to help cool the water and this has helped maintain 78 degrees. My question to the board is if I hang my lights above the tank I can probably nix the fan and hopefully water evaporation will go way down but how much light loss do you get by hanging up higher. 500 watts is a lot for a small tank, I would probably be ok doing this right. Any thoughts or folks with previous experience who can help. Thanks, Todd.

 

[Witfull]

how much perday are you losing?

 

[reef dummy]

It looks like 5 gallons a day. The problem is that I have to fill my sump so high that the bio balls are covered in water and if I get a power outage lets say right when I leave for work in the morning it could potentially overflow before some of the water evaporates.

 

[Witfull]

thats ALOT! i think the 2x250s are a bit of overkill. definately raise them~

 

[Scouter Steve]

sounds like you need an automatic top off! Evaporation is a great way to add kalkwasser.

 

[reef dummy]

Thanks for the replies. An automatic top off is out of the question as I don't have the room for one. I think I am going to hang the lights ASAP and see what happens. They came with a hanging kit so no big deal. Hanging lights look pretty cool anyways. I'll let you know the outcome and take some pics as well.

 

[Octoman]

I wouldn't suggest removing the fan because evaporation = cooling. MH's and no evaporation = water too hot...

 

[AndtheBonus]

Start hanging those lights! Like you said though, hanging them will def. look nice!

 

[AQTCJAK]

The AC in your house will also suck water from you tank. @ the shop I am up to 25 galllons of evap per day

 

[BigAl07]

Bio-balls? Did I read that correctly? This is a reef tank.. you may want to research this topic a little more and seriously consider slowly removing the Bio-balls or you're VERY likely to have cascading water quality in the future.

Good luck and Happy Reefing

 

[mps9506]

MY old 40 breeder had 2x250's 10k's and I evaporated about 3-5 gallons per day depending on the how well my AC was working that day (the humidity in Wilmington can get really high).
My bulbs were exactly 9 inches above the water line, I ran a 6 inch fan behind the tank that blew over the water surface and another 4 inch fan over the sump. Both were on the same timer as the halides.

I'm also gonna throw his out there, unless you are planning only SPS corals in that tank you are really over killing the lighting. Bumping down to 175 moguls or 150 DE halides will help you maintain a more consistent temperature and since you can't do an ATO, it will help maintain a consistent salinity. consistent salinity also means other factors stay more consistent like alk, pH and Ca and the concentration of all the above will adjust with salinity.
Just some stuff to think about.