Tank temp in the summer

[tava716]

Last couple of days it has been in the high 80s here in Buffalo, NY (believe it or not). Tank is getting around 83-85 degrees! any great ideas on lowering the temp and keeping it low. Do not want to spend money on a chiller or have time to make one out of a dorm room fridge. Just installed my air conditioner about 10 minutes ago. Hoping this will help. IF not, I will move it to a window closer th the tank.

90 gallon with sump. trying to put frozen water bottles in the sump. Not really having any effect.

 

[Angelscrx]

Could be a couple of things. What type of lights do you have? How long are you running them? What's the temp in the room where the tank is located? If you are adding frozen water bottles and the temp isn't changeing check you heaters may be broken. Take them out and see if that helps? I would move the window unit closer to the tank too. Where was your normal tank temp? If the temps swings are bad enough your fish could stress and if you have corals they can stress too.

 

[reeffan]

You can also install a portable fan into your sump to reduce the temp. down. You can get the fan cheap at walmart.

reeffan

 

[NaH2O]

Temps have been gross here, too. It was 91F today with about 500% humidity - blech...gotta love the summer here. Our house temp is 74F, so the tank doesn't do too bad....I have a small chiller, and 2 fans blowing on the sump. When my nano tank hits 82F I turn the lights off for an hour or so. You could set a timer to turn off the lights mid photo period for an hour, and see how it does if the temps get really hot.

Here is a thread for some more ideas: Cheapskate Chilling Techniques

 

[btuck]

I had the same problem the other day when our house was 85 degrees and found that while bottles do not cool the water quickly plastic baggies seem to work better. Maybe because the plastic is thinner. Don't know but it dropped my temp 4 degrees. Once the air conditioner was turned on and the house cooled there have been no more problems. Miss Nikki is right it's been too hot here in Indy...Heat index of 100 this weekend can't wait for that.

 

[NaH2O]

LOL Brian - I look forward to that too :lol:.

Has anyone thought about freezing containers of RO/DI water, then putting the block of ice in the sump? I think it would cool and top off at the same time. Not sure how well it would work compared to evaporative cooling, but its worth a try when things get really hot.

 

[tava716]

Hey all,

Thanks for the ideas! I will buy a couple of fans at Wallgreens or Walmart tomorrow!

James

 

[Angelscrx]

You can also install a portable fan into your sump to reduce the temp. down. You can get the fan cheap at walmart.

reeffan

They cost around $8.00 at Wal-Mart. My favorite place to shop.

 

[tava716]

Mine Too! Walmart is great!

 

[Ed Hahn]

Yellotang taught me a while back to run my lights at night opposite of daylight if you have a heat issue. Usually its cooler at night in your house.

 

[reedman]

I keep a couple of water bottles frozen in the freezer to cool when the temps start to soar. Also, cutting MH lighting, like what was mentioned above, will make a huge difference. If you add fans to the sump, be sure to monitor your salinity so you can adjust the topoff.

 

[Angelscrx]

I wouldn't add a block of frozen RO/DI water it could definitely throw your salinity off if it melts too quickly and doesn't evap fast enough. I would stick the water bottles and/or the suggestions made here.

 

[bc_slc]

If the frozen water is in a bottle, then it doesn't matter what it is made of - it will stay in the bottle, not change the salinity.

 

[WaterDogs]

The entire US is having summer except Seattle we have rain, cold, and clouds with no end in sight.

 

[NaH2O]

Angel - true, but I suppose that depends on the size of the system. If I put in a cool whip container sized block of RO/DI ice in my tank, it wouldn't effect much of the salinity because I evaporate quite a bit in a day. In my little one's nano, however, that would probably be a very bad thing.

Tava - let us know how the fans work for ya!

Gads! It was 92F in the shade yesterday late morning when I checked - thankfully there is such a thing as central air.

 

[The R/C Man]

Well I didn't read the whole thread but your window a/c should do the trick. I installed one last year and it has done a good job so far. The best part is that it keeps me cool as well. I couldn't see spending the cash for a chiller when I can cool the whole room for half the price.....

 

[Angelscrx]

Angel - true, but I suppose that depends on the size of the system. If I put in a cool whip container sized block of RO/DI ice in my tank, it wouldn't effect much of the salinity because I evaporate quite a bit in a day. In my little one's nano, however, that would probably be a very bad thing.

Very true, I just imagine a block of ice as an iceberg in the sump!

I have used the ice in my tank before due to a bad heater but since then have thought about the possible salinity effects. Ice cubes in baggies have worked too.

 

[ribbetribbet]

have you tried filling up uour used 2L coke bottles up with water and frizzing them and then plasing them in you tank thats what i do when it's hot and it works on my 800L system i just have to use about 4 at a time

 

[tava716]

Fan works great. Temp is down to 78!

Thanks gang!