Cooling 220 reef @82 degrees

[ShepherdTech]

I have a 220 gallon display that’s creeping up a hair past 82 degrees and it’s not summer yet. What do you guys with large tanks do for cooling? Is cooling/venting the good typically enough, or do you go further?

 

[garbled]

I have a room for mine, and mounted a 15" fan on the wall to blow across the top of the tank. This causes the problem that the humidity cranks up in the room, which I solve by running a pair of ventilation fans to vent the air out into the adjacent hallway..

The reality is that I basically rely on the air conditioning in my house. When I ran MH, I could not keep up, at all, and was considering a chiller... But there the problem was simply that I couldn't vent enough air out of the room, and the MH was heating the room too much.

If you can't put a giant fan on it... or don't want to because of the noise, you might be in chiller territory.. 82 this early in the year is troublesome, but I also have problems in spring and fall, because the house AC doesn't fire up as often.

 

[New Jersey REEF]

I have a 220 gallon display that’s creeping up a hair past 82 degrees and it’s not summer yet. What do you guys with large tanks do for cooling? Is cooling/venting the good typically enough, or do you go further?

I have 2 fans blowing air on top of the tank. This is easy and inexpensive approach that could lower your tanks temperature by several degrees

 

[KeithClAr]

I have a 220 gallon display that’s creeping up a hair past 82 degrees and it’s not summer yet. What do you guys with large tanks do for cooling? Is cooling/venting the good typically enough, or do you go further?

I have a 220 as well. I drilled and cut holes in the canopy. Then i bought a number of small fans, like computer fans. I have them plugged into the temp controller. I also have a bigger one in the cabinet under the tank.

 

[ShepherdTech]

I have 2 fans blowing air on top of the tank. This is easy and inexpensive approach that could lower your tanks temperature by several degrees

I looked at the pre-made solutions for tank rating and the largest I saw was the Tunze, at 130 gallons. It makes sense fans would help a bigger tank as well and I will wondered why the rating was so low. What size fans do you have and would you mind sharing a pic of your setup?

I have a 220 as well. I drilled and cut holes in the canopy. Then i bought a number of small fans, like computer fans. I have them plugged into the temp controller. I also have a bigger one in the cabinet under the tank.

I saw someone went with a entertainment cabinet ventilation system that is dead quiet, I’m an IT Engineer and not a carpenter, but I’m sure google would Do you mind sharing pics?

 

[garbled]

I use this on my wall, and it's pretty quiet. They have both a push and pull version, you have to dig a bit to find them. Maybe you could hack it into your hood?

 

[IKD]

What temperature do you keep your AC at?

 

[ShepherdTech]

What temperature do you keep your AC at?

I keep it at 74

 

[IKD]

Can you describe your setup? Do you have a canopy? What equipment running, etc? Closed room / basement? I have a 310g in Florida but an open room so it hangs around 77 with AC set to 73, so want to help if I can.

 

[zalick]

What is your ambient air temperature now and what do you expect it to be in the summer?

What pumps are located in the water of the DT or sump? Return, skimmer etc?

Are you running UV?

 

[Arabyps]

Depending upon a number of variables, if the dew point in your area (and room) is over 50, there will be minimal evaporative cooling whether using fans or not. If you are running AC now, that should lower the dew point and increase evaporative cooling. The sure way to keep the tank at a constant temperature is to install a chiller (which is what we have done for the summer months).

 

[tehmadreefer]

Might need to buy a chiller.

 

[vanpire]

What is the cause of your tank getting so warm if the air temp is 74. I also keep my home at 74, but I need a heater to keep my tank warm. Ignore the first few days as it I was doing water changes. I want my tank above 77 so the heater comes on at 77 degrees. I have Metal Halides also so I am not sure why your tank gets so warm. I would suggest that find out what is heating up your tank and fix that. BTW, I live in Phoenix, AZ so it doesn't get cold here and quite warm in the summer.

 

[ShepherdTech]

Thanks all. I’ll good point on looking at what’s really generating that much heat. I am running a 40 watt Pentair UV, but recently added an Aquatic Life 70” T5 hybrid fixture to the 3 Radion XR30 pros. My pump cleanings are overdue, so maybe that’s contributing to the temp increases. Also running a Reef Octopus 250SSS, the UV pump and BRS media reactor (carbon) in an eshopps R300 refugium sump. I purchased a 75 gallon tank and baffles to change to a DIY triton style sump soon. I’m running a R&J Enterprises stand and canopy, open back, but with a wall close to the back. Appreciate all the inputs and going to a chiller is a last resort. Plenty of things to try prior to that. Thanks!

 

[vanpire]

A closed canopy can increase heat, but 82 seems rather high, especially with a room temp of 74.. I have noticed that my temp decreased by a few degrees moving to a hanging light fixture. If you can, open some large holes at the top of your canopy.

 

[LDog74]

I have a 225 (see build thread) I am also running UV. I bought a TradeWind drop in chiller. Very happy with it. keeps my tank at 78 within 1 degrees during the summer. With good lighting & UV it’s a must IMO.
Built a cabinet next to the tank where it sits. The coil just sits in the sump.

 

[zalick]

Thanks all. I’ll good point on looking at what’s really generating that much heat. I am running a 40 watt Pentair UV, but recently added an Aquatic Life 70” T5 hybrid fixture to the 3 Radion XR30 pros. My pump cleanings are overdue, so maybe that’s contributing to the temp increases. Also running a Reef Octopus 250SSS, the UV pump and BRS media reactor (carbon) in an eshopps R300 refugium sump. I purchased a 75 gallon tank and baffles to change to a DIY triton style sump soon. I’m running a R&J Enterprises stand and canopy, open back, but with a wall close to the back. Appreciate all the inputs and going to a chiller is a last resort. Plenty of things to try prior to that. Thanks!

What is your return pump?

 

[ShepherdTech]

What is your return pump?

Im running a Ecotech Vectra L1

I added the Aquatic Life Hybrid fixture, but needed to lower it. The fixture didn’t have enough gap between itself and the top of the canopy and could feel the heat. I lowered it and will monitor the temp with UV running all day as well. I’ll call this Phase 1 of lowering temps, so hopefully I can see what makes the biggest difference. I would’ve lowered this purely for the reduced temp in the radions and T5s, even if aquarium temp was fine. We had been waiting for longer bolts to arrive from a bolt depot order, since the local Home Depot and Lowe’s did carry them, even for mail order.

 

[ShepherdTech]

A closed canopy can increase heat, but 82 seems rather high, especially with a room temp of 74.. I have noticed that my temp decreased by a few degrees moving to a hanging light fixture. If you can, open some large holes at the top of your canopy.

I’ll definitely vent it, likely with a fan setup like mentioned above. Will probably do the same for the stand below the tank as well. Surely that won’t affect integrity, as I believe most of the weight bearing is at the corners.