Suuplemental fan ideas for my HOT 14g Biocube?

[Oldsalt01]

I set up my new 14g Biocube last Sat and started the cycle. Right now my ammonia is over 8ppm. The issue is that the tank runs into the mid 80's (85.3) if I have the actinic and 10,000K's on for more than 3-4 hours. I've been in touch with Coralife and they suggested I reverse the fans (which voids the warranty, BTW), which I did and managed to drop my temp to 84 and change. I've checked my thermometer against 2 others, one a calibrated chemistry therm, and they all read within .4 degrees, so my thermo's not off. The high ammonia MAY be contributing slightly to the tank temp, but I think that may be negligible. My thought is to attach another mini fan (50mm) to one of the electrical cord openings in the hood back and seal off the other one, but I can't find a mini with it's own power supply. I swear I saw one in a youtube vid, but I can't find it now. I'd love to go to LED's as that would solve the whole problem, but I can't swing it right now.
Does anyone know of a mini fan with a 12 v transformer that I can plug into my power strip? I tried tying a mini PC fan into one of the stock fans, but all that did was drop the stock fan's RPM by about 1/3, so that won't work. I've been all over the internet but have found nothing that works. From what I can gather, this is a common issue with these tanks (29's too), so you'd think Coralife would redesign things, but I guess that would cut into their profits. I love the tank, but right now the only thing it's good for is holding warm salt water. Any ideas are welcome, no matter how crazy, although I bet I've already considered most of them. I'm running out of hair to pull out.

 

[spieszak]

prop the lid open a bit and use a house fan? Its not pretty, but it will get you through until you figure out what is next.

 

[1guydude]

My .02 would b this. I went to shark reef (a well known LFS) and spent prob $60 on 4 computer fans and 2 ac wall 12v adapters. Im guessing u could get all this online and shiped to ur front door for prob half. YES pop the lid and blow a fan. LEDs will help reduce heat as well. Those compact flourescent lights are a lil out dated now days and put a lil heat as well.
HTHS
-d

 

[rainydave]

When I have my BC29 I swapped the fans out for a quieter & more efficient (higher airflow) fans. They were slightly deeper so it took a minor bit of rigging to get them in.

I don't recall having high heat issues prior to the swap though. I was mostly going for the quietness since the tank was in my home office.

The fans I went to were in the "Stealth" line of computer fans.

 

[Oldsalt01]

Thanx to all for your input. David, do you remember where you got the "stealth" fans? I found a 12V power supply at RapidLED and will be installing a supplemental PC fan into the back of the hood, hopefully this week, that may solve my heat issue. Time will tell. If it doesn't then I'll be retrofitting to LED before I'm ready to, but if I want a functional tank then that's what I'll have to do.

 

[rainydave]

If I remember correctly I bought them from newegg.com.

 

[Oldsalt01]

14g Biocube heat update. I've been running the supplemental PC fan for about 2 weeks now nd it definitely fixed the problem of high tank temps. TOO well. If I run the CFL's all day i have to run the fan as well, but now my tank temps go to 77.2 which I feel is a little low, or will be once I start stocking the tank, esp for the zoa's I'm planning. I found a 12V fan controller with a temp probe on-line for $20, so that should solve that issue. I've included pics of the hood alteration for anyone who's a visual person. Thanks to all for your input. I'm definitely going to an LED upgrade but $'s a little tight right now, so it'll have to wait.