MH Lights in Built In Fish Tank

[checkerboard]

Hi,

I am currently renovating my new place and have the intention of constructing a fish tank as a partition wall between my foyer area and the living room.

The fish tank will be viewed from both sides and be housed entirely in a wall to floor cabinet. My question is, given that MH light generates a lot of heat, and that there will not be much air-flow since it is within the partition, will it lead to a significant increase in temperature of the water in the tank?

I do intend to have a chiller, but do not want to work it too hard. In addition, will the heat be a problem to the wooden partition wall that the fish tank is housed?

Thank you.

[Justikanz]

I would think so... The heat will be trapped as wood is not much of a heat conductor... Also, heat loss is always higher if there are air movements. Also, if the wooden panes are not thick enough, they might warp... To facilitate heat exchange, why not have some grooves built in? Your chiller would also appreciate some grooves in its compartment...

[BFG]

You could use T5 HO setup rather than MH.

[Cacatuoides]

I would suggest T5 HO too...cost effective, cooler temperature and good light output too!!

[mordrake]

if mh is still your preferred choice, you can install an exhaust fan to suck out the hot air from the cabinet. one for the mh and one for the chiller.

the living room will get the hot air though.

[checkerboard]

Thank you all for your feedback. I initially wanted MH because I wanted a design with wood jutting out from the surface, guess that has to go. yes, I will certainly consider T5, hope it will be powerful enough to penetrate 2 feet.

I did think about the fan concept and was concern about the increase in temperature in the room. I wonder how much effect the chiller has in terms of ambient temperature for a size powerful enough to cool a 4 x 2 x 2 feet tank.

[DE Lightings]

having exhaust fan will helps to vandilate the heat trap. Cheers

[benny]

I think it's good that you take the heat factor into consideration when designing the aquarium partition. Some folks completely left this out and it's a killer to rectify.

As Justikanz mentioned, incorporate louvers into the carpentry if your design allows, both on the top and the bottom. It will have with the ventilation. And if you can isolate the fan noise well, the fans will help cool the setup with better air circulation.

Do share your pictures with us when your set up is up. We would love to see it.

Cheers,

[Ibn]

Definitely vent it out any way that you can. A couple of fans in there or some sort of outlet is highly recommended. I left my metal halides in without the fans on for about an hour when it cracked the glass top of the tank due to excessive heat (high heat + water = not good...).

[bossteck]

Thank you all for your feedback. I initially wanted MH because I wanted a design with wood jutting out from the surface, guess that has to go. yes, I will certainly consider T5, hope it will be powerful enough to penetrate 2 feet.

I did think about the fan concept and was concern about the increase in temperature in the room. I wonder how much effect the chiller has in terms of ambient temperature for a size powerful enough to cool a 4 x 2 x 2 feet tank.

Hi,

You wanted a design with the wood jutting out from the surface, and yet you're looking at enclosing the tank within the carpentary work? I am a bit lost here.. perhaps you can sketch a rough diagram of what you had in mind and show it here.

MH may not be impossible after all.

By the way, what height of the tank are you looking at? I currently have a 5 x 2 (w) x 2.5 (h) tank which I place as 'sort of' a partition between my dinning room and living room.

Based on personal experience, I think it's may not be a good idea to enclose the top portion of the tank within cabinet, reason is that it will be very difficult to do any planting, trimming etc.. you will need a ladder (assuming you're looking at a more than 2 feet tall tank) and you will most certainly be pressing your face against the top part of the cabinet while you're doing any planting/trimming.

Personally I think you need to put a little more thought into the design with accessibility of the tank for maintenance in mind.

Cheers!

[Goondoo]

Actually, if you take sometime to browse through www.sgreefclub.com, you will find many many examples of what you wanted.......

[checkerboard]

Thanks everyone for the comments. Initially I did not want the carpentry to enclose the top of the tank, however, the designer made a good point in that the bright MH light will be very distracting in the living room, hence I felt that enclosing the top may not be such a bad idea.

Yes, understand the maintenance difficulty as well. Trying to think of a perfect way to satisfy what I want. Perhaps I will go for T5 eventually, seems like that is the most palatable way. Do not really want to expel any MH induced hot air into the living room. For the chiller, the ventilation is directed away from the living area, so that should be fine.

Will certainly post the pictures, but now still in conceptualization, perhaps completion of my entire renovation will take another 3 months.

thanks again.

[MECH]

you r using MH or T5
IMO it is good to install exhaust fan for your kind of setup

[taygu]

Just wondering, can those twister light be used?

I have used it for my DIY lighting..

[aquaman3000]

I am in the process of completing an in-wall setup using metal halide lighting. I placed an adjustable exhaust fan (30-360 cfm) that blows the air into a fairly large living area with vaulted ceilings. I don't expect that the heat exhausted will significantly affect that large of a space. In any case, I have central AC that can be used if there is any issue with discomfort. I plan on using either a humidistat or thermostat to switch on the fan. (It is currently switched on manually) If you are not too far along in the construction process, you could use ventilation to exit outside your home. For what it's worth, metal halide lights don't generate appreciably more heat than fluorescent lighting of comparible wattage. It's just that MH bulbs are high wattage in a small area. For what it's worth, I have 430 watts of lighting over my 5' aquarium, and I actually have more wattage and heat output from my dining room chandelier fixture.

[bossteck]

Don't mean to be rude here.

But more often than not, interior designers will push for carpentary works for obvious economic reasons.

But end of the day, decision is yours, and different people have different idea of a beautiful home, so I respect that.

Just a suggestion, if you really want to enclose the top, then at least ask for the cabinet doors, so you could open them up while doing tank maintenance.

Cheers!

[checkerboard]

Thanks everyone for your advices. Certainly I will have cabinet doors for maintenance and I do understand the motivation of ID firms for carpentry.

For now, I think I have decided to go with MH with exhaust fan positioned to blow away from the living area, similar to the arrangement for the chiller. My alternative will be T5HO which I am still weighing up.

thank you!