Help with temperature

[BkReefBaby]

I have a Innovative marine 40 cube....I have a PLS-50 skimmer and 2 rw 4 s that I know are producing heat in my tank and I also have Geisemann spectra over the tank 12" over the tank....I've never had a problem with temperature stability till this year where the temperature in NYC is all over the place
One day it's 20 degrees next day it's 60 degrees so my ambient room temperature fluctautes. Which I know makes my tank fluctuate temperature fluctuate I have a small fan blowing over my tank but it's not helping the stability
I really don't want to buy a chiller but does anyone have any other ideas on keeping the water temperature stable?

 

[Sabellafella]

Lol sucks right. This weather drives me nuts but i got a controller for my heating. Your best bet is to try increasing surface agitation and have the fan on it

 

[BkReefBaby]

Lol yeah it's the worst lol yeah I just might be another 2 fans I just thought some one on here may have a trick or something

 

[Brian Kim]

Can't believe it got to 60 today! and to think we got close to 30" of snow just a few days ago lol

 

[BkReefBaby]

It's ridiculous lol and then the temp drops in the 20s tonight my tank is going crazy

 

[Oceansize]

If the fluctuating ambient air temp doesn't get above 82 degrees or so, I don't see why you'd need a chiller. If the air temp fluctuates dramatically, but still stays below 82, then all you need is an efficient heater. Efficient being the key word. As in, get one rated for your size tank, and then get another one. Two heaters are definitely better than one, both for temp stability reasons and heater failure reasons.

If the temperature fluctuates dramatically AND stays above 82 for any length of time, then yeah you're also going to want a chiller, assuming that will cost you less than air conditioning for the home.

Our house didn't have AC but the hottest time of the year would usually not raise ambient temp above 82, so while it would get unpleasant, it didn't spell doom for the tank. Except for the last two years, where the hottest time of the year raised our ambient temp to 90 for several weeks. Tank temp got up to 87-88 degrees even though I had been using fans and ice cubes in ziplock bags once the temp got above 82 degrees. It wasn't enough, once the tank temp stayed above 82 for more than a week, I lost a goby and some inverts. In our case, we had been debating getting AC for a few years so the fish deaths were what caused us to get off the fence.

It sounds like you don't have any way of knowing your water temp for certain. Make sure you get a thermometer and know what your temp is. Using fans will increase your evaporation rate...don't want to do that unless you're sure you need to.

 

[Duke4Life]

Are you not able to keep your house temperature regulated at a constant temperature?

 

[BkReefBaby]

Are you not able to keep your house temperature regulated at a constant temperature?

Yes I cannot keep the temperature in my apt regulated. Right now with the temperature outside in NYC fluctuating so much my apartment temperature also fluctuates. So my tank temp is going from 72/74 some days to 78/80 some days, meaning today and I like keeping the tank temperature at 74. With the water warming up im starting to see some algae nothing crazy but it still bothers me....I know all this temp fluctuation in my tank is not good for my corals

 

[Duke4Life]

Yes I cannot keep the temperature in my apt regulated. Right now with the temperature outside in NYC fluctuating so much my apartment temperature also fluctuates. So my tank temp is going from 72/74 some days to 78/80 some days, meaning today and I like keeping the tank temperature at 74. With the water warming up im starting to see some algae nothing crazy but it still bothers me....I know all this temp fluctuation in my tank is not good for my corals

Totally understand once you said apartment.

 

[Oceansize]

Yes I cannot keep the temperature in my apt regulated. Right now with the temperature outside in NYC fluctuating so much my apartment temperature also fluctuates. So my tank temp is going from 72/74 some days to 78/80 some days, meaning today and I like keeping the tank temperature at 74. With the water warming up im starting to see some algae nothing crazy but it still bothers me....I know all this temp fluctuation in my tank is not good for my corals

Is a window A/C unit not realistic? That would probably be less expensive than a chiller.

 

[KorD]

Is your sump in a cabinet or out in the open?
I noticed that since my sump is in a cabinet area, the temp raises and lowers drastically like you are talking about, but since I added a fan to pull air out of the cabinet, there is no issues with the temperature.