Cooling your reef tank

alexingalls09 · Jan 21, 2013

Hello everyone!
I recently purchased a new light for my aquarium and with it comes more heat output. I currently do not use a heater at all as I cannot get the temp to drop below 75Â° as it is. During the day it heats up to about 82Â° at its peak. I cannot afford a chiller for my aquarium so that is out of the question. I am thinking about cutting out a couple squares in the side of my stand to install some fans but I don't want to ruin the integrity and structural stability of the stand. I have aqueon versa top covers on my tank. What are your ideas for bringing my temps down and keeping them down. Right now i leave my window open but it sucks waking up to my living room being at 20Â°f

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GR808 · Jan 21, 2013

I have a small fan blowing across the top of my tank and it maintains my tank at least a couple if degrees lower than it would if I didnt have the fan.

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slapshot · Jan 21, 2013

Fans, you don't need to cut a hole, unless you are venting the lights. A fan in the sump tied to a temperature controller works. If you can't afford the controller you can put it on the same timer as your lights.

fjpod · Jan 21, 2013

I don't mean to speak without all the facts, but it sounds like your tank is in a room with a bit too much heat. A better setting would be a lower ambient room temp with a tank heater, which turns off as the water temperature rises due to lighting, etc. As it goes over 80F, you could possibly let some outside air in (you wouldn't need much if your outdoor temps are near 20F), use a fan or two to blow some fresh air over the tank.

fishman1069 · Jan 21, 2013

If you get rid of the glass tops you will have more evaporation which will cool your tank. If you're worried about fish jumping out, google diy mesh screen top. It works so much better than glass tops on so many levels. Hth

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SeahorseKeeper · Jan 21, 2013

fishman1069 said:
If you get rid of the glass tops you will have more evaporation which will cool your tank. If you're worried about fish jumping out, google diy mesh screen top. It works so much better than glass tops on so many levels. Hth

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This is exactly what I would do and add some fans if the temp gets too warm.

Aqua fire/medic · Jan 21, 2013

Just watch your evaporation and salinity with the fans.

alexingalls09 · Jan 22, 2013

Thank everyone. I took the glass tops off. I really dont have a whole lot of control over the room temp. I live in an apartment and the people around me are seniors who keep their heat up really high. I only put the glass tops on because I was told that evaporation can ruin the light fixture and burn the bulbs out quicker. Not sure hot much truth is to this but being a firefighter I know that electricity and water do not mix

anyways thanks again everyone for all the advice I really appreciate it. also if you have some free time check out my other forum....https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-aquarium-discussion/107202-help-aquascaping.html#post1193842

Ike · Jan 22, 2013

Stability isn't all it's cracked up to be... I think a tank that fluctuates anywhere btween the mid 70's and mid 80's is more normal and beneficial than the staggnant one temperature forever nonsense. Let the temp swing and let it get warm, it's more natural and will make your corals less prone to thermal stress.

planereefer · Jan 22, 2013

alexingalls09 said:
Thank everyone. I took the glass tops off. I really dont have a whole lot of control over the room temp. I live in an apartment and the people around me are seniors who keep their heat up really high. I only put the glass tops on because I was told that evaporation can ruin the light fixture and burn the bulbs out quicker. Not sure hot much truth is to this but being a firefighter I know that electricity and water do not mix anyways thanks again everyone for all the advice I really appreciate it. also if you have some free time check out my other forum....https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-aquarium-discussion/107202-help-aquascaping.html#post1193842

Not sure what type of light you are running, but some of hoods can been enclosed with glass so as to protect the bulb from water. I would worry too much about the evaporation ruining the lights, you can always clean them during your regular maintenance.

Enclosed hoods are better because some of them can be easily vented as well as protecting the bulb from water.

Sorry if I went off on a tangent....

fishman1069 · Jan 22, 2013

Ike said:
Stability isn't all it's cracked up to be... I think a tank that fluctuates anywhere btween the mid 70's and mid 80's is more normal and beneficial than the staggnant one temperature forever nonsense. Let the temp swing and let it get warm, it's more natural and will make your corals less prone to thermal stress.

Thats the most ridiculous thing ive heard lately. You're trying to tell the op that a temp swing of 10Â° is no big deal?! That would kill almost evey coral out there! Stability is Key with temp just like all the other parameters

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WesF · Jan 22, 2013

Temps can change quite a bit in nature.

mattgreene22 · Jan 22, 2013

I'm not sure temps swing 7 degrees day to night in nature but I could be wrong.

However, could you maintain the roughly 80 temp with this set up? My tank temps are consistenly in the low 80s and my heater doesn't kick on either. I had freaked out, but then was told not to. I've got about 6 months with sps doing fine. Perhaps the OP just needs to go with the flow and let the tank ride on cruise controll for a while. That, or I like fans tied to the lighting cycle as I may go that route before next summer too.

gobeach · Jan 22, 2013

Do you have a sump? If so, run a fan blowing across for evaporative cooling. You'll need to top off more often though.

fragmatic · Jan 22, 2013

fishman1069 said:
Thats the most ridiculous thing ive heard lately. You're trying to tell the op that a temp swing of 10Â° is no big deal?! That would kill almost evey coral out there! Stability is Key with temp just like all the other parameters

+1

Do not let your temp swing like that. Plus, do not underestimate the amount of cooling you can get by fans blowing over the water surface. It pulls out loads of BTUs. Another reason for this is, we tend to forget that our pumps are adding some heat to our tank systems. Our pumps use the tank water for cooling. Thermodynamics is a key part of natural coral reef. Maintain a steady water temperature within a degree (or two) if you can find a way. Many tanks needing cooling are cooled just fine using nothing more than fans and temperature controllers. You can get a reliable commercial grade temperature controller used all through manufacturing plants for $35, at your door,which will control both your heaters and coolers (fans) within Â± .3Â°C (STC-1000). So, it is affordable to cool your tank. This means if you have a large enough set of heaters and enough fans for your location this unit will maintain your tank to win a total temperature swing of .6C (about 1.1Â°f) This is how I cool and heat my reef, frag tank, and my change water tank. It comes with the probe ready to use.

NOTE: the STC-1000 does require some basic electrical wiring skills, and I recommend you place icecube relays between it and your heaters and fans.

Here is an example place to get one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0U00AF5357&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleMKP&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleMKP-_-pla-_-Electrical+Tools-_-9SIA0U00AF5357

Here is an easy to get icecube relay that you can run off this control to power your fans and heaters, or chiller:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12492560

WesF · Jan 22, 2013

mattgreene22 said:
I'm not sure temps swing 7 degrees day to night in nature but I could be wrong.

.

It's very common from what I have read. A shift in current can swing the temp on a coral quite a bit.

Here is some info from Ron Shimek on the subject.

http://www.reefs.org/library/article/reef_temperature.html

fragmatic · Jan 22, 2013

However we keep coral in a man made eco system with all kinds of other stresses, missing many diversities, and no telling what else. Temp swings in our case IMO just add too much to the stress load. Plus, as I understand most of the corals we find compatible with reef tanks may not be the ones who can handle temp swings as well. Season swings from winter to summer are not the same as daily swings. Yes, of coarse many reefs get large temp swings between night and day, but I'm not risking my coral on it.

WesF · Jan 22, 2013

It's not even a night/day swing. It can be an instant swing when a current shifts. Ocean temps are not uniform like in our tanks.

The point Ike was making is that if we allow our tanks to swing a little bit to replicate nature instead of letting them adapt to one constant uniform temperature, our corals will be less susceptible to stress if and when there is a shift in temp.

It is an interesting hypothesis at the very least. Certainly not ridiculous considering some prominent people within the hobby also share this belief.

fishman1069 · Jan 22, 2013

WesF said:
Temps can change quite a bit in nature.

Yeah, over a long period of time. You can't compare our little glass boxes to the vastness of the oceans

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WesF · Jan 22, 2013

fishman1069 said:
Yeah, over a long period of time. You can't compare our little glass boxes to the vastness of the oceans

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Instantly. See post above. You can't call someone ridiculous for something you have never personally tried because it goes against whatever conventional wisdom you think you know.