Help! Heat!

Shep · May 18, 2015

So my room is..oh I'd say 100000000C right now and my tank is at 82F, how much of a problem is this? I have a fan blowing over the surface but its not doing much, what else can i do to cool my tank do? (minus a chiller, don't have the money for one)

AZDesertRat · May 18, 2015

Fans and evaporation are your best friend. How long has the fan been in operation? You might need to do a little experimenting with placement and fan speed but I find a fan can lower the temp in my 100G 5 degrees no problem. It works best for me when it is blowing side to side across the longest surface and not front to back or pointed straight down. Even when I had MH and VHO lighting I was able to sell my 1/4 HP chiller and Ranco controller and use two 120mm computer fans in my canopy, both blowing in with equal sized exit holes in the roof of the totally enclosed canopy so even when the fans were off you could feel cooling by natural convection alone. The fan speed is controlled by a variable voltage DC wall wart type power supply which is adjustable between 6 and 12V in 1.5v increments.
I also had a WalMart clip on fan over the sump as a back up but never used it once the canopy fans were perfected.

steve&mari · May 18, 2015

Frozen water bottle in sump keep eyes on temp

cloak · May 18, 2015

How does everything look?

82 degrees is no big deal IMO. When your tank starts to hit 84, 85, 86 degrees on a regular basis, then I would start to worry. GL.

redfishbluefish · May 18, 2015

I too run a fan in my canopy but also have a 5000 btu window air conditioner in the fish room to help handle the heat. Works very well.

Vpham · May 18, 2015

Or look online to do diy chiller. Using cooler box with ice, compact refrigerator..
Those r a few that I know

Shep · May 18, 2015

Thank you all! I'm going to get two fans and use cooler packs in the mean time and look into a DIY chiller

AZDesertRat · May 18, 2015

Frozen water bottles and cooler packs have very limited value since they don't contain enough BTU's of energy to change the temperature of a body of water much nor last long. Search how many BTU's it takes to raise or lower the temperature of one gallon of water even one degree and you will see what I am talking about.

DIY chillers using refrigerators are in the same boat. First the compressors are only designed for intermittent duty and fail when run too long. Another is the tubing used to circulate water, plastic is a horrible conductor of hot and cold so the heat exchange is very minimal, especially for the amunt of energy expended to cool the tubing/water. Yet another is the pump needed to circulate the water usually adds more heat to the water making the whole thing even less efficient. All of these methods would be temporary at best.

Fans and evaporation are your best inexpensive option with a chiller being the most expensive. I found the chiller heated the room so bad it raised my air conditioning needs tremendously. Once I switched to LEDs, got rid of the chiller and shut the fans off, my tank was easier to maintain 79 degrees year round, the humidity, evaporation and top off were cut in half and best of all my power bill went down $75 a month with no other changes.

Shep · May 18, 2015

AZDesertRat said:
Frozen water bottles and cooler packs have very limited value since they don't contain enough BTU's of energy to change the temperature of a body of water much nor last long. Search how many BTU's it takes to raise or lower the temperature of one gallon of water even one degree and you will see what I am talking about.

DIY chillers using refrigerators are in the same boat. First the compressors are only designed for intermittent duty and fail when run too long. Another is the tubing used to circulate water, plastic is a horrible conductor of hot and cold so the heat exchange is very minimal, especially for the amunt of energy expended to cool the tubing/water. Yet another is the pump needed to circulate the water usually adds more heat to the water making the whole thing even less efficient. All of these methods would be temporary at best.

Fans and evaporation are your best inexpensive option with a chiller being the most expensive. I found the chiller heated the room so bad it raised my air conditioning needs tremendously. Once I switched to LEDs, got rid of the chiller and shut the fans off, my tank was easier to maintain 79 degrees year round, the humidity, evaporation and top off were cut in half and best of all my power bill went down $75 a month with no other changes.

Could you link some fans that would work? Its a shallow 22g frag tank

Reef Pets · May 18, 2015

You can probably get a window unit air conditioner on Craigslist for next to nothing. Probably for the same price of a couple new fans.

Pete polyp · May 18, 2015

I use a 5000 btu window unit in the room with the tanks as well. I just keep the room around 65° and run the ceiling fan and it keeps the temperature from getting high.

Shep · May 18, 2015

Reef Pets said:
You can probably get a window unit air conditioner on Craigslist for next to nothing. Probably for the same price of a couple new fans.

I have one but I am trying to hold off on putting it in until June just because of how much it jacks my eletric bill up.

NanaReefer · May 18, 2015

I float frozen ice packs in my ATO reservoir [emoji2] You could also keep your top off water in the fridge.

Reef Pets · May 19, 2015

In that case I suppose you have to make a decision on what cost more, 2 weeks of additional electric running an A/C, buying fans or the possible death of your reef. Not to mention the responsibly us hobbyist have of doing our best to keep our coral alive and thriving.
In all, it sounds like you have the solution to lower the temp in your reef. At 82 degrees, it's not much of a concern. Maybe running your lights in the evening or night make fix the heat issue.

AZDesertRat · May 19, 2015

Wal Mart and many palces have small 2 speed clip on fans that work great for less than $10 if looks isn't an issue or if you can hide it under the stand over the sump. There are others such as this too:
http://www.marinedepot.com/UP_Aqua_...ium_Lighting-UP_Aqua-AZ64048-FILTACAF-vi.html

I would always recommend trying fans before spending a bundle of other remedies.

PatW · May 21, 2015

You want your tank no higher than 78 degrees. But, 82 degrees is not terrible. I dive in the Caribbean and coral reefs there hit 82 and high without problems. At temperatures of 85 and above, you get coral bleaching. I think if you can keep it at 82 degrees, you should be OK.