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Heat management

Hey TF. I just picked up a decent light fixture. Its a 2" 4 bulb T5HO fixture. As you might know, and I have been told, and just learned in a huge way, these lights run MUCH hotter than T8 bulbs. The surface of a bulb is reading about 150F. This brought my tank to almost 100F within an hour. My strategy so far has been to turn the tank on its side, which is keeping the air temperature around 80F. I feel I'm losing some significant light this way. I remember reading that glass blocks almost 100% of UV light. This seems to be true, because plants that were almost burgundy are now turning light pink, or even green. I'm thinking I may use an open-air grow shelf, coupled with reflective surfaces and a computer fan to bring the lights as close as possible without cooking everything.

How do you manage heat in your set ups?

Thanks!
 
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You want to try an automatic mister that mists the tank whenever it reaches a certain temperature. I've never tried this myself though.
 
You seem to have the right idea already for what you need to do. I have recently upgraded/expanded my indoor setup and have done something similar to what you are mentioning. Here is a link to an album from about a week ago when I put it all together. I ended up adding a fan (I might buy a larger one eventually, but I already had this one laying around) and power it with an old computer power supply (though any 12v supply should work), and even with the reflective flap down, the entire chamber stays only a few degrees above room temperature. Here are a few pics of the fan and the power supply, eventually I plan on cleaning up the wiring.
86KKpIPl.jpg

1fmagiXl.jpg
 
Bloks, how close to the lights are your plants? What kind of lights are you using?
 
I'm using a 2ft, 4-bulb t5-HO fixture. the plants are probably no more than 6 inches below the light, with larger plants/plants in larger pots being much closer to the bulbs. before I added the fan that chamber would get to be 80F or higher when the flap was closed, now it hovers closer to 72 (a few degrees above room temperature). I am considering buying a 140mm or 200mm fan and using that for airflow, but currently I think it is a 92mm fan.
 
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