How to cool tank without a chiller

[Ippyroy]

Hi, I am new to all this. I am looking at building a 90 gallon reef tank. I live a very cold climate, 47 below zero is fairly common. Because of this I don't own an ac. It gets up to about the mid to upper 80s a few days a year. I am wondering if this will be a problem with my tank overheating, and what could I do besides running a chiller. Would running normal box fans around the sump work? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Silver14SS]

How hot does it get inside when it's in the 80s outside?

Lots of people use fans that clip to the tank or sump and use evaporative cooling to keeps temperature in check. You can use an aquarium controller to control the fan based on the controller temperature sensor.

 

[lapin]

Fans will be fine as long as its not 100% muggy humidity. At 80F you prob will not have a problem

 

[Greybeard]

Fans blowing over water surface will cool them. Larger tanks change temps slowly... as long as it cools down in the evenings, a couple of hours with an ambient temp in the mid 80's is unlikely to cause a problem.

 

[Silent]

On hot days you can float bags of ice for emergencies.

 

[Ippyroy]

Usually around 20 to 30 percent humidity. What about the heat from lights, pumps, ect?

 

[ruskimax]

Power heads aimed at surface w fans encouraging evaporative cooling will do the trick. Or a bag of ice like someone else suggested, cheap and simple!

 

[zxPKxz]

You can order some clip fan one for display one for sump. Will lowering 2-3 degrees but have to beware water flow away if you’re use kalkwasser.

 

[DSEKULA]

My tank hits 80 a few day in the summer my normal tank temp is 78. Idk if it stunts growth or anything but I haven't noticed any negatives. As long as that's the highest point you should be fine.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Generally speaking tanks in NY have problems during heat wave but that's temperatures ranging from 95-105 outside.

80 outside is very mild - you wont have a problem unless you have like 6 MH lights over your tank for no reason.

 

[Steve_Skullsplitter0]

On hot days you can float bags of ice for emergencies.

Or freeze gallon jugs and float them on hot days.

 

[PatW]

You can get an aquarium controller. It can control your heater and serve as a reliable shut off. Aquarium heaters tend to have thermostats that fail. This is just a bonus. Mine kicks on at about 77.4 and off at 77.6.

Next you get a fan or fans to blow on the water surface. My fans kick on at 77.8. My house is set at 76 degrees. The cooling works well and keeps the tank between 77.7 and 78.4 at the extremes. My lights (led) are set to turn off at 78.6. And this is a 300 gallon tank. If you are using halogen lights, you will probably need lights out.

In your situation, with your low humidity, fans will cool your tank fine. It will increase your evaporation so an autotop off is a really good idea.

Since you only need this a few times per year, just turning on your fans manually would work. But an inexpensive controller would automate it.

 

[braappn]

A two stage Ranco temperature controller will do what PatW mentioned, reliably and at low cost.