aquarium hood/heater?

[nickb707]

just wondering if any one has any opinions on using a halogen bulb inside a hood i fabricated, my thought is that it would radiate quite a bit of heat which would warm the water up or escape thru the top

 

[Muni]

It would produce a lot of heat which would call for a heat resistant hood. But it would probably not be the best option for heating as it would heat the top of the water surface substantial while leaving the bottom cooler. Not consistent.

I would recommend against it. But others may have more information.

 

[nickb707]

i made the hood out of 14 gauge aluminum so it will dicipate alot of the heat also i could install small computer fans to keep the internals cool and if it only raises the heat on the surface by a couple degrees randomly im fine with that i havnt even used a heater in the 7 years ive had my fish and theyve been fine

 

[Muni]

Your fish. Your call.

If you haven't run a heater then why start now?

Just raise the light a bit to keep it from cooking the water and you'll have uber bright light.

 

[nickb707]

cool i just wasnt sure if the light was too bright or something for the fish because for hydroponics halogen do not work since they are not the right spectrum

 

[Muni]

Do you have plants? How big a tank? Depth of tank?