Fan instead of chiller

LadyTang2 · Mar 3, 2020

I live up north so it only gets over 90 a few days in the summer when we have AC on. For this reason I really dont think I need a chiller. I have 2 questions...

1. Can a fan blowing over the sump or tank cool an aquarium a couple degrees? It's better than nothing I am sure but I am not sure how much better.

2. Is putting tank in a basement where it usually seems cooler something I should consider.

Ultra Aquatics · Mar 3, 2020

I have my sump in the basement and have a decent size Air King fan over it for when the temps get higher. It does a great job and definitely lowers it by a few degrees. I have it set to kick on when the water temp hits 80deg. I live in Northeast as well (NY)

Auquanut · Mar 3, 2020

1. A fan over the tank or sump can absolutely help. If you're just looking at a few degrees, I would definitely go that route. Works for me.

2. In my opinion, you want the tank where it will get maximum attention. It's just like anything else. out of sight, out of mind. Besides, I just love staring at the tanks constantly.

fish farmer · Mar 3, 2020

Is this on a future build? Or a current system?

I live in Vermont where I worry more about heating than cooling. My first reef was a 38 gallon with a MH which had a fan on it when it was running. For two years it never got hot, my apartment didn't have A/C but those were cool summers.

My current tank is a 29 gallon and I run a fan over the LED's/top of the tank in the summer and I manually run my A/C when I need to in the house. It seems to be getting hotter during the summer here. When it is really hot I'll blow a fan over the sump which helps and I have frozen water bottles ready. We can have 30 degree temp swings up here some days.

FWIW part of my system(refugium) which was plumbed to my main tank and is now separate has a basement sump...a 10 gallon with a small heater. Total water volume is probably 15 gallons. This winter it is in the low 70's...my basement is unheated and probably 40's in the winter.