How can I get my temp down without buying a chiller?

[Chiefmaster30]

My tank is around 81 degrees and that's with my heater off. For equipment I have a skimmer, phosban reactor, 2 800 GPA wavemakers, and a 1 gallon hob fuge. Actually everything is hob. I have a canister filter with everything removed, only media I have in it is chemipure elite and purigen.

 

[SaiBen]

Hi Chief.

Is your water surface moving?

Best Ben

 

[KliJefs]

Surface agitation would be your best bet.

 

[jd371]

A fan blowing over the water surface will help, but your evaporation rate will increase.

 

[ColoDan]

not a long term solution, but in a pinch you could float an air tight ziplock baggie of ice.( I would freeze RO water just in case baggie leaked a little)

 

[Mpierce]

What kind of lights? Canopy? Lids on the tank?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

81 is fine actually. But.......
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-cooling-fan-temp-controller-easy.254168/
this and all the above methods run on evaporation.

 

[GoVols]

My tank is around 81 degrees and that's with my heater off. For equipment I have a skimmer, phosban reactor, 2 800 GPA wavemakers, and a 1 gallon hob fuge. Actually everything is hob. I have a canister filter with everything removed, only media I have in it is chemipure elite and purigen.

What kind of lights do you use?
What do you keep your home's indoor temp. at?
Does your temp drop during the night during "lights off"?

 

[GoVols]

@saltyfilmfolks

What temp do you like for your tanks?

 

[MaccaPopEye]

You can get clip on fans to blow air across the surface. Will generally do a pretty good job of lowering the temp by a degree or two. But having said that 81 is nothing to stress about. I run my tank at 82-84 year round, chiller doesn't turn on until 85.

 

[Chiefmaster30]

I have 2 Mars Aqua lights whites around 20% and blues at 50%. I don't have a canopy but have a glass top. My lights are mounted at max recommended height above tank I think at 17 1/2" above tank.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

@saltyfilmfolks

What temp do you like for your tanks?

Ugggg. Well, all the actual science I read says 78 to 84 to a tank. tropical tems are actually higher.
. But in my house (San Diego) with the heaters I can really only get them to 77 without pulling out my hair. So I figured the tanks were saying just stop poking me. In summer they stay around 78 79 as thats just below the ambient I can keep my house at.
The fan thingy I posted can keep the 30g and 55 about 4 degrees below ambient.
I don't freak about the high end unless its a radical swing. Ie 77 to 87-87-77 in a day.

 

[Chiefmaster30]

My house stays around 76

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I have 2 Mars Aqua lights whites around 20% and blues at 50%. I don't have a canopy but have a glass top. My lights are mounted at max recommended height above tank I think at 17 1/2" above tank.

Have you noted the average ambient temp in the house?

edit. lol. you posted first. Heaters off?

 

[Chiefmaster30]

Around 76

 

[Salty1962]

On my 90G, I had 2x 250W halides and 4x T5's in a hood. My tank temp was always so high(82~83) even with a air conditioner in the room. I put 2x5" fans in my hood, one pushing and one pulling. I did the same for my sump plus one blowing over the top of my sump. I was able to cool my tank to a steady 80 degrees. So maybe something like that would help?

 

[GoVols]

I have 2 Mars Aqua lights whites around 20% and blues at 50%. I don't have a canopy but have a glass top. My lights are mounted at max recommended height above tank I think at 17 1/2" above tank.

Could the glass top be holding the heat in?
If your have jumpers you could get the BRS screen and still let heat build out.

 

[GoVols]

Ugggg. Well, all the actual science I read says 78 to 84 to a tank. tropical tems are actually higher.
. But in my house (San Diego) with the heaters I can really only get them to 77 without pulling out my hair. So I figured the tanks were saying just stop poking me. In summer they stay around 78 79 as thats just below the ambient I can keep my house at.
The fan thingy I posted can keep the 30g and 55 about 4 degrees below ambient.
I don't freak about the high end unless its a radical swing. Ie 77 to 87-87-77 in a day.

Thanks

 

[Nick92515]

Remove your top. Problem solved

 

[Frop]

In summer our house temp is 77-80. The 10 gallon aquarium is 80-81. I wouldn't really worry about it more unless the AC froze up or something.

Do you have an extra mini fridge? Maybe Craigslist. From there here is another option. You wouldn't "buy" it but build it