The Heat... it is not helping...

[Katze]

Hello everyone,

I have trouble cooling my 100g reef tank it, yesterday it was 28C now with a fan blowing at the sump (+frozen water bottles) I got 26-26.6C. My favites and my discosoma really hates the situation, I believe the favia started to bleach somewhat but it may have stopped for now (I'm not sure), either way the discosoma has really shriveled up.
I wonder what else could I do to decrease the temperature.
I do have a mobile AC, however that is not very cost effective.
Any other ideas ?

 

[BiggestE22]

A $500+ chiller.

 

[Katze]

A $500+ chiller.

I mean that's the same as using the AC

 

[ca1ore]

It’s really not. A chiller cools the tank directly, A/C does it indirectly …. not very cost effective as you note. I use well water to cool my tank, but that has its limitations also.

 

[Aquavaj]

More fans or a bigger one. needs to blow directly across the water for best results. but if the humidity is high there then cooling with fans isn't going to work all that well no matter how fans you add or how big they are.

 

[Katze]

More fans or a bigger one. needs to blow directly across the water for best results. but if the humidity is high there then cooling with fans isn't going to work all that well no matter how fans you add or how big they are.

Hmm... humidity is an interesting question, I open the windows when outside there is 24C (usually around night)

 

[LARedstickreefer]

Is 82degF really a problem? I see alot of people recommending it to fight Dinos and mention no issues with their tank creatures.

I’ve run “hot” and never seen anything act unhappy.

-Matt

 

[disaster999]

The main point of having fans blowing at your tank is not to cool it directly with ambient air, but to encourage something called evaporative cooling. You mentioned having the fan in the sump probably which wont do much esp if there arent that many openings in your cabinet for the evaporated water to escape to. I would install more fans on the display tank and have it blow across the surface to encourage more water evaporation.

But as others have mentioned, If you have high humidity, then the evaporative cooling would be less effect as less water would be evaporated, but still better than nothing.

If that still doesnt cool the tank enough then you really have to evaluate the situation and see if you rather have a low running cost tank, or a tank with your favorite coral and others thriving

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hello everyone,

I have trouble cooling my 100g reef tank it, yesterday it was 28C now with a fan blowing at the sump (+frozen water bottles) I got 26-26.6C. My favites and my discosoma really hates the situation, I believe the favia started to bleach somewhat but it may have stopped for now (I'm not sure), either way the discosoma has really shriveled up.
I wonder what else could I do to decrease the temperature.
I do have a mobile AC, however that is not very cost effective.
Any other ideas ?

I use a fan over the DT, not over the sump. It is more effective that way as the flow across the water is better.

It gets hot here in Summer (>40C) , and I've never needed more than the fans to keep the tank under 27C

 

[Katze]

Is 82degF really a problem? I see alot of people recommending it to fight Dinos and mention no issues with their tank creatures.

I’ve run “hot” and never seen anything act unhappy.

-Matt

yes I'm questioning whether the temperature is the true issue, since these creatures can live in much warmer waters such as 29C

I think I will raise the fan to the height of the DT and if that won't help I'm going to get that AC runing

 

[Katze]

So a quick update, since yesterday evening, the tank has been 26C (25.6 around midnight) what worries me is that the corals still look shriveled. Perhaps they need some time ?

 

[Jekyl]

Float bottles of frozen water.

 

[Katze]

Float bottles of frozen water.

I do use them to control the temperature during the day, so it stays at a steady 26C but is that still too hot ?

 

[Jekyl]

I do use them to control the temperature during the day, so it stays at a steady 26C but is that still too hot ?

I keep my tank between 77 and 78f which is a tad lower. I wouldn't let it go higher than the 26c you're at now

 

[exnisstech]

I keep my home at a comfortable temp which in turn keeps the tanks at a good temp. How warm does your home get?

 

[Katze]

I keep my home at a comfortable temp which in turn keeps the tanks at a good temp. How warm does your home get?

Usually not warmer than 28C (82F)

 

[FUNGI]

dont cool your sump....
cool the tank.

 

[Jekyl]

Usually not warmer than 28C (82F)

I think the recommended range for tanks is 77-78f. Anything above 82 is considered a danger zone.

 

[Katze]

Usually not warmer than 28C (82F)

I've got a more accurate reading, according to which the room temperature is 80°F

 

[BiggestE22]

Usually not warmer than 28C (82F)

82 degrees Fahrenheit is at the limit for a home display tank. You can say that a real reef is at a comparable temperature but we don’t have the currents and many other natural occurring processes that a real reef has.