Cooling. Temp etc.

[eric33014]

So I am a firefighter. When on shift for 24hrs I turn my AC up in the house to 78. Aquarium temp is set to 78. I have a 90gal mixed reef glass tops. When I get home after being gone my tank temp is 82-83. Same issue with 20gal cube waterbox. I know ultimately I could just keep my AC turned down but here in South Florida aka Africa desert my bill would be outrageous.
1. how detrimental is the constant fluctuations to fish and corals mainly lps and softies?
2. I went with glass tops due to amount of evaporation I had going. 5 plus gallons every 3 days or so. No direct air current blowing on the tank. Will removing them keep the temp within small fluctuations? If so obviously best screen top within a decent price range?
3. I've also heard of cooling fans blowing over the sump to help with temp? Yes? No? Good idea? Bad idea? If so plans? A controller for them to kick on when temp gets high?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Reef.]

You seem to know your options, I would pick one and work towards that.

One option you haven’t included is run the tank at a higher temp, 82 is a temp some run their tanks at, you could run it slightly less than 82, then your problem is a little easier to fix, than running it at 78f.

 

[eric33014]

Everything will stay happy at 81-82? Obviously I'll try to spread the change over a few days.

 

[Reef.]

Everything will stay happy at 81-82? Obviously I'll try to spread the change over a few days.

You’ll need to list what you have but 82 is within range for most reefs but I’m not experienced enough to answer for your tank, maybe list what you have and others can advise you better.

 

[ColdOceanReef]

You can set the fan to turn on along with your lights. That will help to keep the temps down a bit.

 

[Soulpher]

i live in Florida and i would leave my AC on 75 while i was working and i did help some on evaporation and kept my tank in the 79/80 range. but by the time you are done putting an exhaust etc it would be cheaper to buy an Arctica AC for your tank. I found a used one for sale and now my tank is always 77 to 78 regardless the AC temp in the house.

 

[Fred2482]

A 1 degree fluctuation per day is not bad, and people run 82 with no issues, just know that the higher the temp the less oxygen the fish get. I would try and ensure it doesn't go much higher than that. Fans are great tools to cool sumps, they can create more evaporation though. I wonder if your return is adding to the heat?

 

[Copingwithpods]

Like mentioned above 82 degrees is well within a safe margin, what does more damage is the swing from 78 to 82 and back. Raising your set temp to 80 will help with the swings and getting mesh tops might just eliminate them all together with the trade off more evaporation.

Fans in the sump will definitely keep peak temperatures down again with the trade off of a bit more evaporation.

 

[Birddog61]

If in fact the air temp is 78 where the tank is during the day the greater contact area created by removing the top will help with heat exchange,, that said find the reason tank temp is above ambien air temp such as heat from lights pumps , heater sticking on ,ac thermostat off. At what temp dose ac turn on ,off
As to how much your live stock minds. Observation is key as there is usually a mix of species from many different enviroments found in many of our tanks

 

[harley32907]

I live in fl keep ac @ 77, tank 78 or so, fan helps big time

 

[eric33014]

Is that fan just blowing underneath the cabinet or directly to water in sump? Part of me feels like I never had this swing until obviously the glass tops. Anyone with ideas for screen tops? Nice ones that don't break the bank? I have a solid water system setup so I can keep up with the rodi water needed to replace the evaporation. Just need to add duetto ato to the smaller waterbox. Already have ato on the 90.

 

[harley32907]

Blowing under the sump. I would with the screen for sure

 

[harley32907]

Check out BRS

 

[Crustaceon]

My tank gets as hot as 84 degrees during the summer. No problems and this has been with softies/lps & sps corals including acros. I keep it at 80 on average.

 

[Reef.]

Lid wise, it depends on how many cutouts you would need, D&D jumpguard looks good but the more cutouts you need the worse it starts to look as the mesh becomes loose, also time you pay for the extra cutouts you could near enough have paid for a custom lid in some cases.

if you don’t fancy the D&D and don’t want to pay for the custom, I would go for a diy polycarbonate lid.