Heaters in the summer

[SinkyShippy]

I live in NJ and the temperature has been reaching the 90s recently. I just lost a couple fish and two shrimp over the weekend when I wasn’t home because the temperature in the tank hit 95.

Do you guys remove your heaters in the summer? If not, what temperature do you run them at?

 

[Old Fritz]

I keep my heaters in, if they are good heaters they really shouldn't be on unless the temp dips below a certain point in the tank. One time the ac went out in my house and the temps in my tanks started reaching close to 90 degrees. So I started filling the tanks with cool water, added air stones, and I froze water bottles that I put into the tanks.

 

[SinkyShippy]

I keep my heaters in, if they are good heaters they really shouldn't be on unless the temp dips below a certain point in the tank. One time the ac went out in my house and the temps in my tanks started reaching close to 90 degrees. So I started filling the tanks with cool water, added air stones, and I froze water bottles that I put into the tanks.

I use an eheim jager trutemp aquarium heater

 

[Old Fritz]

I use an eheim jager trutemp aquarium heater

I'm guessing where you live is air conditioned. Make sure your heater isn't getting really hot. One of my heaters and one of my friend's broke and it makes the water like 100 degrees

 

[SinkyShippy]

I'm guessing where you live is air conditioned. Make sure your heater isn't getting really hot. One of my heaters and one of my friend's broke and it makes the water like 100 degrees

Well the problem was the weekend I wasn’t at my apartment was the weekend it hit 100 degrees outside. I didn’t have the air conditioning on and the tank went up to 95 degrees. Normally, it runs around 80 degrees or so.

 

[Qasimja]

we keep our house temp at 77 degrees and my aquarium is sitting right next to 2 ac vents so my temp has been a steady 77.5 degrees

 

[lapin]

Well the problem was the weekend I wasn’t at my apartment was the weekend it hit 100 degrees outside. I didn’t have the air conditioning on and the tank went up to 95 degrees. Normally, it runs around 80 degrees or so.

If you can, look into replacing your wall thermostat with a unit like the Nest. It is internet connected. You can control the temp with your phone or computer from anywhere you have an internet connection. They do not require any other wires than a normal thermostat.
Add a controller like an Apex and you can also monitor your tanks temp while away with their Fusion app

 

[TheGreatWave]

With the A/C my heaters run in the same fashion all year. The house is kept around 68F. (20C)

 

[SinkyShippy]

If you can, look into replacing your wall thermostat with a unit like the Nest. It is internet connected. You can control the temp with your phone or computer from anywhere you have an internet connection. They do not require any other wires than a normal thermostat.
Add a controller like an Apex and you can also monitor your tanks temp while away with their Fusion app

I don’t have central air. I have window units.

 

[lapin]

I don’t have central air. I have window units.

Then you will need to leave them set on 80F or something to keep the apt from getting too warm while you are out and about

 

[SinkyShippy]

Then you will need to leave them set on 80F or something to keep the apt from getting too warm while you are out and about

I lowered the temperature on my heater which seemed to cool the tank down a little. But yeah that’s the plan now to avoid losses

 

[TheGreatWave]

I agree if you can, leave the A/C going a little bit.

It does more then I thought when you're gone. If you keep it on it helps keep your house dryer. If you shut it off your clothes and fabrics start to hold moisture and then it takes longer to cool the house when you turn it on again.

 

[SinkyShippy]

I agree if you can, leave the A/C going a little bit.

It does more then I thought when you're gone. If you keep it on it helps keep your house dryer. If you shut it off your clothes and fabrics start to hold moisture and then it takes longer to cool the house when you turn it on again.

I was trying to avoid it because of the electricity bill but I’d rather have living fish than cooked fish.

 

[TheGreatWave]

For sure, I hear ya.

 

[rkpetersen]

Get one or more fans to blow air across the tank water surface. Or you can do this with a fan in the sump.
Cheaper than cooling the whole house or apartment with AC.
You can even put the fans on a fan controller like this one, which will turn them on and off based on room air temp.
Evaporative cooling can drop your water temp typically up to 2 degrees F, depending on fan strength and ambient humidity.
If you use fans to keep the temp down, be sure you have an ATO system, to keep salinity stable. Water use by the ATO will increase.

 

[lion king]

You can use a temp controller that uses both heaters and fans to keep the tank within a temp range that you set. I use clip on fans on my tanks and get a 10 degree drop from ambient temp. So even if you keep your place at 90, you could lower your tank to 80. Inkbird makes a good inexpensive temp controller.

 

[Jay Z]

If you can, look into replacing your wall thermostat with a unit like the Nest. It is internet connected. You can control the temp with your phone or computer from anywhere you have an internet connection. They do not require any other wires than a normal thermostat.
Add a controller like an Apex and you can also monitor your tanks temp while away with their Fusion app

I would look at Honeywell’s. They have temp and humidity offsets. Nest is a crap shoot on being accurate. Best one I’ve seen so far is 2 degrees off and no offset.

 

[Goodair]

You need to have the room the tank is in air conditioned in Jersey. My controller turns off the heaters at 78 deg, but the tank will get to high 80s if I turn off the AC (maybe 90s but not gonna try it lol), even with fans blowing on the water and AC, my tank is at 84 currently. These passed few weeks have been pretty hot and very humid.

 

[rkpetersen]

I would look at Honeywell’s. They have temp and humidity offsets. Nest is a crap shoot on being accurate. Best one I’ve seen so far is 2 degrees off and no offset.

I looked at them all about a year ago, and went with the Honeywell wifi thermostat. It's great, definitely the right choice. Lots of customization features including temp offset adjustability as mentioned, nice clear informative display, accurate temp, and gives me more direct control than the Nest. Wifi works well and integration with Amazon Alexa so you can change the temp from anywhere, even in bed. Finding the backing plate for it in gray was surprisingly difficult, but worth it as it looks so much better than the white backing plate that's easy to find.