New Metal Halide System- Need Advice

[Franzvs]

So I just got a new MH system at 760W total (including actinic lighting) and I could literally watch my water heat up. It's the Odyssea set-up (the cheaper ones) and I can not find a hanging fixture anywhere! Can anyone give me any advice where to find it and also if I hang it, what experience they have with keeping the water temperature steady... how high the lamp should be, are cooling fans effective or do i really need to buy a chiller??!! Not really a expense I planned for!

I have learned a lot in the last year, but it seems that whenever I add an advancement it comes with a problem!

[charlie]

Try a fan directed across the surface of the water, on during the time your halides are on.

What size is your tank? And just an offhand question, why did you decide on halides, especially if you have a small tank?? T5 would have been a better choice IMO, you should maybe have researched a little further along this this line.

Watts per gallon is really outdated..

Can you possibly give us a little more info as to what kind of lite, what wattage are the halides, and what do you have in your tank?????

[Franzvs]

I will definitely try the fans. It is a 75gallon tank with approximately 12 corals and frags (SPS and LPS) so far. My goal is to add more and make it look like a pretty reef such as I see in stores . A anemone (ritteri), two clownfish, Cowfish, Yellow and Blue Tang, Cardinal, Mandarin Goby, Trigger and many little critters. Bulbs are 4 actinic at 65W, 2 times 250W MH at 15000k and lunar lights....

I hung it 11 inches above the water surface now, but also don't keep the AC on in the day during the summer .. so I am worried about the temperature.;;

[charlie]

I think before you start stocking your tank, you should maybe do a little research into want your 75 gallon tank will actually support. I am not the fish stocking expert here, I think that you should post in the fish forum for stocking help, because the fish that you have listed are going to be way to much for a 75. JMHO

[gregony]

That's an aweful lot of light for a 75 gallon tank. That fixture is made for 120g tanks. If the halides are on a seperate power cord you could reduce the amount of time they are on. You may find that you only need them on for 4 to 6 hours for that small a tank. Charlie's right about the fish. In a 75g with 12 corals (assuming they all survive) you'd be pretty much full with a yellow tang and a couple of clowns. Most people have trouble keeping the hippo (blue) tangs and mandarins alive because they always put them in too young and too small of tanks. Also, I'm not a fish guy either, but I believe triggers will shred slow movers like cardinals. Not to bust your bubble, but before you get you your heart set on your tank looking like the ones in the store, remember that those tanks are tended to all day, with almost daily water changes.

[rluix]

I will definitely try the fans. It is a 75gallon tank with approximately 12 corals and frags (SPS and LPS) so far. My goal is to add more and make it look like a pretty reef such as I see in stores . A anemone (ritteri), two clownfish, Cowfish, Yellow and Blue Tang, Cardinal, Mandarin Goby, Trigger and many little critters. Bulbs are 4 actinic at 65W, 2 times 250W MH at 15000k and lunar lights....

I hung it 11 inches above the water surface now, but also don't keep the AC on in the day during the summer .. so I am worried about the temperature.;;

Tangs need a min. of 100 Gallons to swim, don't buy them unless you want these:
in your house.

[zhenya]

I will definitely try the fans. It is a 75gallon tank with approximately 12 corals and frags (SPS and LPS) so far. My goal is to add more and make it look like a pretty reef such as I see in stores . A anemone (ritteri), two clownfish, Cowfish, Yellow and Blue Tang, Cardinal, Mandarin Goby, Trigger and many little critters. Bulbs are 4 actinic at 65W, 2 times 250W MH at 15000k and lunar lights....

I hung it 11 inches above the water surface now, but also don't keep the AC on in the day during the summer .. so I am worried about the temperature.;;

I recommend suspending your fixture either from the ceiling or with the aid of some brackets. At least 18" above water line would be fine.
Before you begin stocking your tank, let me suggest (as others did already) that you research your purchases prior actually making them. For example, your tank will be much too small to house ritteri anemone. I kept Heteractis crispa anemone in my old 75g tank, it outgrew it in about three years. These are some of the largest host anemones out there and require much larger tanks to keep them long term (and have enjoyment out of it).

As far as your lighting being too much for your tank, it is nonsense. It is just about perfect if you intend on keeping light loving corals like the "sps" corals and some clams if you can keep water temperature down that is. I had similar light over my 75g tank and needed the chiller, even with the lights being about 18 inches off the water surface. So you might want to try fans blowing accross the water line, like charlie suggested, or you can also add some fans blowing blowing into your sump increasing evaporation to help cool your tank. You just need to set up some sort of ATO (automatic top off) for your tank. I did that before I bough the chiller...
Anyway, good luck with your tank! ;)

PS. Here's what my old 75 looked like in 04.