HELP 90+ DEGREES!!!!!!! Need Chiller????

[bengeeee]

Hey guys. I just purchased a 60 gallon hex aquarium with a 450w 20k halide bulb and a 15 gallon sump.

The temperature is reaching almost 90 degrees and my bubble tip coral is presumed dead (it fell down a hole under the rock and i havent seen it since. I have a green bubble coral that has been remaining mostly closed.

I just put a fan over the sump but im not sure how much it will help really. I know my apt gets really hot during the day so im going to leave the a/c on till i get a fix.

I have no idea what to do. I dont even know if a chiller will fit on my system let alone if i can afford one.

I found these two on ebay which seem like good deals but i dont know brand names yet so i need your help.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1-4-HP-Via-Aqua...ryZ20758QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...sPageName=MERC_VI_ReBay_Pr4_PcY_BIN_Stores_IT

are these good quality? Anything else i should try first.

Thanks for reading guys im desperate and scared of losing my fish. I feel so irresponsible but the previous owner with the exact same fish and eveyrhting never had it go above 82 degrees so i thought i would be ok. Didnt think my apt temp would effect it so much.

Thanks in advance for helping out a desperate newbie,

Ben

 

[DonW]

Fans work ok and should help. For now just turn the lights off. Run them at night after it cools down.

Don

 

[loohunter]

Ya, our two tanks were getting close to 85-88 when it was hot this summer after 2 days of that and pure panic. We starting running the lights at night, turning on around 8-9pm and turning off when we got up for work. It was a huge help. We also need to get a chiller BUT cant afford it for the 100 and 200 gallon tanks we have, so we bought an A/C for the house which also helped but the lights at night was a better fix for us. Good luck!

 

[Krish]

Welcome Ben...I see it's your second post. Have you been stealing water out of my tank? My water was 90 degrees last week and I got it to go down 5 degrees overnight by the help of my fellow reefers. Do you have a canopy on your tank or glass covering the whole top? This was my biggest help. I removed half of my glass lid and removed a nuicance powerhead and it dropped 5 degrees.

 

[jesshimom]

We froze two liter pop bottles and floated in the sump. Worked great. Keep all the doors open too; when mine creaps up I do that and have a box fan aimed up at the entire area plus a fan on sump and in canopy.

 

[Krish]

The frozen water does the trick, but you really need to find the source of where all the heat is coming from. You don't want to have to rely on ice forever. In addition, temperature fluctuations is a major contributor of ich

 

[Wayupnorth]

I did the frozen pop bottles as well as having a fan blowing across my sump and it definately helped. Chiller is definately on my list for next summer tho. I also don't have a canopy so if I could have found a clip on fan I would have hooked that up to blow across the top of my tank. My problem is mostly generated by my lights even tho I have fans in the fixture on hot days it is not enough.

 

[jesshimom]

The source is merely the occasional extra hot day in the PNW. For the rest of the 360 days, there usually isn't a problem..

 

[Krish]

Sorry Ben for not really answering your question. I was so caught up in trying to cool down your tank that I forgot to respond to which chiller was the best. I can't really help you there because I never bought one or even shopped around for one. Maybe someone else on the forum may be able to help.

 

[bengeeee]

Sorry Ben for not really answering your question. I was so caught up in trying to cool down your tank that I forgot to respond to which chiller was the best. I can't really help you there because I never bought one or even shopped around for one. Maybe someone else on the forum may be able to help.

krish... i really appreciate any input at all so thanks for the comments guys. This seems to be a pretty good deal but i really just dont have the cash to spend on it right now. Anyways, i got one fan going into my sump box and one on high directly onto my surface water. The temp went down to 81ish but that may just be due to the lights off and my a/c on. I guess we will see tommorrow when the lights come back on.

Thanks guys, further comments still appreciated....

Ben

 

[Angelscrx]

I would recommend running the lights at night too until you get a chiller.

Chiller one would work just fine for your size system but it is a refurbished unit. Some folks don't like to buy refurbished units. Mine is a refurbished unit (different brand though) 1/4 horse on my 150 and it works beautifully. When I opened the box I swore they sent me a new unit since it looked brand new.

Chiller two is a little over kill for your system and would let off a lot more heat into the house.

Perfect option would be a chiller one brand new at a price somewhere in between. Also keep in mind that you will need a pump to pump water through the chiller at the recommend GPH. So you may either need another pump or plumb into an existing pump. I would go with the later if you have a pump big enough to handle the chiller and whatever you have it currently running. Just my thoughts.

 

[bengeeee]

I would recommend running the lights at night too until you get a chiller.

Chiller one would work just fine for your size system but it is a refurbished unit. Some folks don't like to buy refurbished units. Mine is a refurbished unit (different brand though) 1/4 horse on my 150 and it works beautifully. When I opened the box I swore they sent me a new unit since it looked brand new.

Chiller two is a little over kill for your system and would let off a lot more heat into the house.

Perfect option would be a chiller one brand new at a price somewhere in between. Also keep in mind that you will need a pump to pump water through the chiller at the recommend GPH. So you may either need another pump or plumb into an existing pump. I would go with the later if you have a pump big enough to handle the chiller and whatever you have it currently running. Just my thoughts.

Sorry im confused. They both specifically say they are not refurbished. Are you referring to something besides the ones i linked to or is that guy misleading me? Appreciate the reply.

Ben

 

[clayswim]

Both of those sound like a good deal, but the first one should be more than enough. There are fancier chillers out there, but they come at a steep price; over twice what the linked units cost.

Oh, and your light is a 400W halide, not 450W; something to keep in mind when you eventually replace the bulb.

Clayton

 

[Scooterman]

I would recommend running the lights at night too until you get a chiller.

I would assume that you mean reverse cycle, at night while everyone is home & the AC is most probably lowered thus allowing for a cooler running tank. I like it when my lights came on a 4pm & went off way later into the wee hours of night.

 

[NaH2O]

bengeeee - Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!!

I know this question has been asked, but I didn't see a response. Do you have any glass covering the tank?

 

[bengeeee]

bengeeee - Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!!

I know this question has been asked, but I didn't see a response. Do you have any glass covering the tank?

No i dont have any glass covering the tank but my canopy has only about a 2 1/2 foot by .5 foot opening in the top.

Fans got the temp down but the lights just came back on so im going to see what happens. I have off from work today so its going to be a good test before i switch the light cycle. Im concerned about switiching it again since i have switched it 3 times since i got the tank less than four days ago.



CLAY SWIM


How do you know that my light is 400 W? I really dont know anything except for what the previous owner told me. Do they not make 450 watts or what?

Thanks,

Ben

 

[wrightme43]

Right, they dont make a 450 they make a 400 watt and a 250 watt and a 175 watt and 150 watt and a 70 watt. Ok here are some more questions. LOL
How high off the water is your bulb?
What temp is your heater set on?
Is your heater working right?
Have you considered running the light for 4 hours off for 4 on for four. Off the rest of the day?
What is your low temp of the day? Corals can stand up to 83-84 degrees if its consistent. If its dropping to say 76 then up to 83 every day they dont like that.
A clip fan blowing directly at the water surface helps alot. Also a hole in the canopy on the top let the heat rise will help a lot. Icecap makes a temp controlled fan. One blowing on the mogul socket for the bulb and one exhausting air from the canopy will help a whole lot.
Steve

 

[bengeeee]

Right, they dont make a 450 they make a 400 watt and a 250 watt and a 175 watt and 150 watt and a 70 watt. Ok here are some more questions. LOL
How high off the water is your bulb?
What temp is your heater set on?
Is your heater working right?
Have you considered running the light for 4 hours off for 4 on for four. Off the rest of the day?
What is your low temp of the day? Corals can stand up to 83-84 degrees if its consistent. If its dropping to say 76 then up to 83 every day they dont like that.
A clip fan blowing directly at the water surface helps alot. Also a hole in the canopy on the top let the heat rise will help a lot. Icecap makes a temp controlled fan. One blowing on the mogul socket for the bulb and one exhausting air from the canopy will help a whole lot.


Steve

Thanks steve lets see if i can answer these questions

The bulb is about 6 inches off the water. I have no way of changing that sinc e its built into the canopy which brings up another question? Is this one 400w 20k MH bulb enough for my fish and coral? I have read about a lot of people using actinics to supplement and moonlighting? Anyways off topic.

Heater is set on 80. I think im going to turn it down to 78. Last night it got down to 81ish so i think the fans and heater are doing their jobs.

Havent thought about 4 on four off but im not around enough to do that unless i somehow set up 2 timers???

I have two internal fans blowing directly onto the bulb. They seem to have helped a bit as i didnt have them on before since the previous owner said he never used them.

According to him his A/C was always set on 72-75 which i have a feeling would make a huge difference. I guess that light gets really hot.

Ben

 

[wrightme43]

Yes try droping your heater setting to 78 the fans wont be able to push the temp below that. Instead of have the fans blow on the bulb, (it shifts the color of the light) have it blow on the socket, and the surface of the water. That will evaporate lots of water and really cool your tank. OH YEAH you got enough light. the 20,000k bulb is very very blue so you dont need supplemental atinic. I keep my house cold so my fish are happy to. Small price to pay for my addiction. LOL

 

[bengeeee]

Yes try droping your heater setting to 78 the fans wont be able to push the temp below that. Instead of have the fans blow on the bulb, (it shifts the color of the light) have it blow on the socket, and the surface of the water. That will evaporate lots of water and really cool your tank. OH YEAH you got enough light. the 20,000k bulb is very very blue so you dont need supplemental atinic. I keep my house cold so my fish are happy to. Small price to pay for my addiction. LOL

lol.. yeah the only reason i cant do it is because i split the bill with my fiance and i know she is going to kill me for the electricity bill this coming month. Oh well... winter is coming and i should be out of the dog house again till next summer (=.


Ben