Summer is almost here! How do you keep your tank cool?

[wareagle]

I’m in nyc we get 40 degrees one day 70 the next winter is so easy a cracked window keeps everything good but summers and the location of my room vs the sun rise turns it into hotbox the sun is literally beaming that wall and window the majority of the day

Home Depot sells a window tint that can keep the heat out, I don't remember what it's called, but I used it at my last house that had a massive window in the living room and the tint actually worked.

 

[Miami Reef]

Living in Miami, FL, not using a chiller is basically a death sentence in the summer.

 

[raylinds]

Back when I lived in Sarasota FL and ran MH lighting I never needed a chiller, just ran AC and a fan over open tank. Now that I am in Connecticut and using LEDs I don't anticipate any heat issues.

 

[Sleepydoc]

Thermodynamics 101: if the amount of heat being added to the tank is greater than the amount being taken out the temp will rise. If the temp is too warm you can either reduce the amount of heat going in or take heat out.


The first choice should be to reduce the amount being added whenever possible. The main sources are generally pumps and lights. (Assuming you have your heaters turned off.) switching to a more efficient pump and/or an external pump can help. In terms of lights, MH add the most, followed by T5 then LEDs.


To remove heat, you can either use a chiller or evaporate. Evaporation is by far the cheaper option if it will work. The amount of heat removed is directly proportional to the amount of water evaporated, so you will be adding a proportional amount of water to the ATO. As mentioned above, evaporation is more effective with drier air. The house A/C has the double advantage of drying the air and pumping the heat outside the house. Turning it off will not only raise the ambient temperature but also the humidity, giving a double hit to your efforts to keep the temp down.


You can use a dehumidifier to reduce the humidity, but that’s probably the least efficient and mosey expensive thing you could do. The dehumidifier will simply take all the heat that you’ve removed from the tank and add it to the ambient temperature in the room. Since dehumidifiers are quite inefficient, you will actually be adding more heat to the room.


A chiller would be a better option than a dehumidifier since you will be cooling the water directly. It will still be heating the ambient air, though unless you can place it outside.


If you can get a window unit or a portable A/C unit it would likely do better since it pumps the heat outside. It’s essentially a dehumidifier straddling a window and the cost to operate would at worst be the same as the dehumidifier.

Ditto the comment on treating the windows to limit solar heat gain. That’s (almost) free.

 

[Blue Spot Octopus]

A trick for heating in the winter and cooler in the summer is , use an Iwaki return during the winter= free heat, switch return pump with DC pump in the summer, no heat added to the tank= cooler.

 

[KorD]

A/C cause Texas sucks year round!
And I built this set of fans

 

[lbacha]

Just got a chiller for my tank. Our new aprt is huge so I’m not sure how the AC will do I figured better safe than sorry. I figure if I don’t need it then I’ll sell it but the peace of mind is nice

Len

 

[DHill6]

Cali desert, AC throughout home, in room using a ceiling fan and tunze dual fan on open top tank connected to Apex.

 

[KrisReef]

I have a chiller and this back-

up:

 

[Sarah24!]

Hello,

Here in Boise are weather is kinda sporadic and odd. One day it’s 60 degrees and the next it’s mid 90s. I keep twin heaters and have them set at 75 yet my temp is 80 to 81. So i unplugged one of them and set the temp to 73 and it’s come down, yet my house is at 68 year around. I use leds also which makes it kinda strange I have heat issues. So far at 80 degrees in my tank it’s not showing it’s upset at all. But definitely want it back to 78 degrees.

I would also suggest doing some weather proofing on the side that has the constant sun. Are your heaters even on?

 

[ca1ore]

My tank hit 80 today, so unless my heat exchanger shows soon I’m going to have to hook up the chiller. Rather hoped I wouldn’t have to. Oh well.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I generally run about 80 degrees. I also have central air.
My new tank has a chiller unit and was plumbed for it.

 

[salty joe]

I wrapped 500' of 1/2" PEX around the foundation when I built and have it connected to 100' of 1/2" PEX that is my heat exchanger. It's controlled by a Ranco.
I know this doesn't do anybody any good unless you might build at some point.
The only thing I wish I'd done differently is bury 3/4" PEX. In late summer, the system runs a lot so I included a fan for evaporation cooling, although I could get by without it. It's cheap to operate and works well.

 

[scriptmonkey]

I bought my tank a hat with the brim flat and I canted it sideways. I bought it some Van's as well. Kids tell me that is cool.

 

[Claire Austin]

I try to keep my sea horses at 72F-74F, which was a huge problem in my JBJ 45 gallon AIO, even with A/C and a chiller. I regularly had to float 1L soda bottles of frozen R/O water in the tank. With 2 return pumps and a UV sterilizer, it dumped too much heat into the tank. I now have a 56 gallon tall with a sump, and a Forza 13 canister filter with built-in UV as a return pump. Fewer electrical devices in the water, and plumbing traveling outside the tank in the 72F A/C air keeps the water at a steady 73-74F. I still keep bottles in the freezer in case the A/C quits!

 

[SuncrestReef]

I have a basic 18" fan controlled by my Apex to cool my Reefer XL 425:



Here's my Apex programming:

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Tmp > 78.2 Then ON
Defer 000:30 Then ON
Defer 000:30 Then OFF​

This keeps the tank between my typical 77.9 - 78.3 range.

 

[scriptmonkey]

I have a basic 18" fan controlled by my Apex to cool my Reefer XL 425:



Here's my Apex programming:

Fallback OFF
Set OFF
If Tmp > 78.2 Then ON
Defer 000:30 Then ON
Defer 000:30 Then OFF​

This keeps the tank between my typical 77.9 - 78.3 range.

Gold star for sharing your code!

 

[Yvonne Wong]

Keep the AC in the house year round. Keep a pair of computer fans on if needed. Temp always maintain at 78.

 

[KMench]

I can tell you my tank gets up to 82 during the summer with no I’ll effects. We keep our ac around 75 and the tank stays a few degrees higher. I have a fan in the sump cabinet for ventilation but that’s it.

 

[HB AL]

Leds, a couple clip on fans and central AC. With the tank in my bedroom now, no more MH lights, chillers, etc... Between those 3 and the central AC I don’t I don’t have to worry about the tank temp rising ever.