Light heating up my tank

The starter is required to run the lights, hence the name.

I would stay with the light setup that you have. It is a good one. Try and get some more air movement through the hood.
Are you leaving the lights on 24/7, or turning them on in the morning and off at night?
Do you have a heater that may have coincidentally malfunctioned?
 
Try with an acrylic or glass cover between the hood (and light) and the water. As long as you keep some space between the top water level and the extra cover, there's no problem with heat transferring so much/fast.

Acrylic is probably your best choice, easy to cut out the necessary openings for filter and maybe a small square with a hinge to open for feeding only.
 
Willard2.0 said:
The starter is required to run the lights, hence the name.

I would stay with the light setup that you have. It is a good one. Try and get some more air movement through the hood.
Are you leaving the lights on 24/7, or turning them on in the morning and off at night?
Do you have a heater that may have coincidentally malfunctioned?
Click to expand...
Ah, so this "starter" is something commonly known... I wasn't sure *shrug*

I am leaving the lights on for awhile, guess I feel I need to make up for the low wattage. I turn them on around 5:30 in the morning and leave them on all day... turn off around ten at night. Would the high temp be what's making my Moneywort unhappy?

I don't have a heater... I live in Hawaii, plenty warm enough! :) I did check the water temp from early morning (a bit cold/cool, for us at least) thru mid-day, and the temp didn't waver much from 75. This was, of course, before any lights were turned on.

I'll lessen the light schedule... see what happens.
 
Luc said:
Try with an acrylic or glass cover between the hood (and light) and the water. As long as you keep some space between the top water level and the extra cover, there's no problem with heat transferring so much/fast.

Acrylic is probably your best choice, easy to cut out the necessary openings for filter and maybe a small square with a hinge to open for feeding only.
Click to expand...
So you're saying I should raise my hood a bit from the tank? Could I use something else? I have access to foam core board, as well as sintra (thin, rigid board made with fiberglass), which can be laminated to waterproof it... could I cut strips, stack & seal to make a sort of lift for the hood?

I wouldn't know where to begin looking for acrylic, let alone building the hinged portion you're talking about. Hardware store?
 
fishycat said:
So you're saying I should raise my hood a bit from the tank? Could I use something else? I have access to foam core board, as well as sintra (thin, rigid board made with fiberglass), which can be laminated to waterproof it... could I cut strips, stack & seal to make a sort of lift for the hood?

I wouldn't know where to begin looking for acrylic, let alone building the hinged portion you're talking about. Hardware store?
Click to expand...

I think Luc is suggesting a thin, clear layer between the light and the water. Not necessarily raising the hood. Although that might work too.
 
I see you have live plants?

Either way your lights are on for far too long. I would restrict the time to only when you are around the tank...for about 6-8 hours w/o plants and 8-10 w/ plants. Just a rough estimate.

Buying a timer would help immensely.
 
I have a 12 gallon eclipse and it too heats the water during the summer months if the cover is left all closed. My solution is to leave the feeding lid open and to have a fan in the room that aims towards the tank. Then I can maintain 76 to 78 degrees. It doesn't get that hot here - rarely above 85, but enough that with that ambient temperature and the flouescent lamp so close to the water that it can shoot the tank up over 80.

Your cover seems a bit different and it looks like it is possible to raise the light and inch or so. That would seem to be the solution.
 
Thanks everyone for your helpful suggestions!

My tank is still cycling (sigh) but the temperature issue has resolved itself. I was actually using a side lamp to provide more lighting in the (incorrect) assumption that more light would be beneficial. Once I got rid of that light, my tank actually stabilizes between 75 and 80 degrees - even with the normal light left on for 12 hours! My light timer has arrived and I am now allowing 8 hours of light use per day.

Tons of ammonia, but I think all the plants I've been adding are competing with the beneficial bacteria. Oh well, it's a lesson in patience!
 
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