ro/di ice cubes

[spongebob lover]

I was just wondering if it would be ok to make ro/di ice cubes and throw them in the tank or at least in the sump because my tank has been getting up to 82- 86 or should i just stick to making ice cubes and putting them in bags?
i'm asking this because i really don't wanna cause anything bad in my tank.

 

[mfinn]

I would think that it wouldn't do any harm, considering the evaporation will be higher with as warm as it is. I'd keep an eye on your salinity. You can also use a fan just blowing on the sump area for cooling.
I use plastic jugs, filled with water that I put in my freezer. When I need them I can just put them in the sump, when they defrost, throw em back in the freezer.
I also use a box fan. Just by using a full size box fan, blowing at the pumps on one end of my sump, it will lower the tank temp by 3-4 degrees.

 

[Krish]

Boy...Are you gonna sit by the tank and keep adding them when they melt (LOL). From my understanding you want to maintain the same water temperature at all times, regardless what you have in your tank, but most specifically for corals and inverts. If the water keeps fluctuating up and down then up and down, it might premote some algae growth and may stress your tank inhabitants. Just think about the ocean which we try to mimic. Water takes a very long time to warm up in comparison to land. That is why you don't go for a swim one day and it's cool and go back the next day and it's like a sauna. When it does change, it changes so slowly that everything in the ocean has time to adjust. Something like acclimatizing your fish when bringing them home from the store. You don't just dump them in because you might end up with ich! With that said, I think it would be best to get a chiller to keep your water constant or if your budget won't allow it, I get some fans to keep our canopy cool if your lights are creating the problem or maybe even going so far as to getting a heater with built in thermostat to keep it around 84 (since thats your avg temp). Atleast when it rises it will only be a 2 degree difference. Just my opinion.

 

[fishinchick]

why not just use a few plastic soda bottles (well washed). Fill them about half full of regular water, maybe 3/4 and freeze them. One sufficiently drops the temperature of about 30 gallons of water about 3-4 degrees.

this way you dont mess up your salinity and you don't have to baby sit the tank as much.

 

[Krish]

why not just use a few plastic soda bottles

If you choose to use this method, just be careful on how much you use and keep in mind that any mass added to the aquarium or sump will adversely affect your water level. If you are using a sump with a prefilter and the power shuts off on you return pump you might get some water overflowing on the floor

 

[Kensn]

I would go with small soda bottles (1 Liter). Make sure you clean and rinse, and fill with your ro/di just in case of a leak. Don't expect a big pull down in temp, but if you have enough of them, and rotate them in and out, you could put a dent in the temp.

 

[wrightme43]

Seeing as its the end of summer LOL All the stores have clipfans on clearance. They work good for me. I just make sure I have a spare because come winter the cant be found.

 

[spongebob lover]

Thank you everyone i really like your ideas.
Right now i have a very big fan blowing on the sump and another one that i put right up by the lights,but still the temperature wouldn't drop, so that's why i thought about the ice cubes, i think i'm gonna go with the bottles , right now i can't buy a chiller , but hope the bottles will help

 

[LakeEd]

Gabriela,

Last summer, I was getting 5 to 6 degree swings in my tank as well. My better-half insists that I be a "Reefer on a Budget"... so the cost of a chiller hasn't been in my near future. I did manage to install one of those "In-Window" room air conditioners however. Not only is my better half much appreciative because her dining room is cooler, but this summer my temp swings on my tank are only 2.5-3degrees! Better yet... the in-window air conditioner only cost $99 new... much cheaper than the tank chillers!

 

[spongebob lover]

ohh ya i used to love my air conditioner , the problem is that we are not allowed to have those type of air conditioners in the place where we are living, we are not even allowed to grill ,can you believe that, so we had to give away ours, but ya those are great.

 

[fishinchick]

another option I've seen used (and this very much depends on whether you own or rent your home) is to vent the heat from the hood directly outside.
I have a friend that setup a vent much like one would vent their dryer for the clothes. He placed two fans blowing in cool air and then one larger vent fan pulling the air out to the outside.
Works to keep his temps pretty level on a 180 in the summertime. He's got 3 - 250's over the tank and no chiller and lives in S. Calif. Not too shabby. Of course if you are renting it's hard to do this.
I do not like any of the smaller chillers out there and feel that the space they would take vs. the actual amount of chilling they would do is not good enough. I still resort to the soda bottle method and just use good old tap water in them and have been doing so for about 10 years.
I've never had a problem with overflowing the sump because when I set it up I made sure that the shut down level in the sump was at least 6" below the waterline. Again, on a smaller system 1 regular frozen soda bottle will cool about 35 gallons of water volume a couple of degrees. If you have a larger tank you can always keep a couple of larger 2-litre bottles. In a pinch if you dont have any of these 'freezy-reef-pops' as my kids call them, you can throw regular ice in a ziplock baggie (just be sure to not let the bag rip on rock or equipment) This method also works with those freeze packs you get when you order livestock online. Remember to put those in a ziplock at well because you dont want to risk getting that junk in the water.
Good luck keeping your cool.