tank temperature and todays heat

[44santababy]

good morning all... I just realized i left my window A/C off that keeps my room with my 120 cool. The temp is kept at 78 degrees inside tank, will i have an issue when the room starts to get hot inside, like 88 degrees. I'll be home around 7ish...this is my first summer with tank and hot temps outside...thanks

 

[JimmyR1rider]

If you have a chiller definately not- will just come home to a super heated room.

If without a chiller and relying on ambient temp to regulate the tank's temp will probably go higher, but will lower once you cool the room down to where it usually is to keep your tank at 78'ish

 

[bizzarro]

Yes, your tank will heat up.

 

[44santababy]

thanks for the responses, no chiller...my real question is will i get away today w/o running my a/c, will my temp inside tank go above 83 degrees in a 10 hour period? or the 120 gallons should stay pretty stable due to body volume. Or no worries...

 

[akma]

Probably. My ac broke yesterday while i was out and tank webt up to 85. If your room gets too 88 def geat up with the pumps and everything.

 

[bizzarro]

I forgot to mention that other equipment like the lights and pumps will add heat too. The lights, especially if you're using MH or T5s, will add to the ambient air temp and then your pumps in the water.

In the summer months, my tank heats up to 82 the max even with central air set to 78 but it is a 29G.

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Don't worry too much- one day of high temps won't kill anything- corals may stress but they'll survive.

I would invest in a chiller though. This way that worry will be a thing of the past.

I still believe that it isn't gonna go up sky high like everyone seems to be implying. My RSM250 with no chiller at the time and being enclosed with the 6 39W t-5's after a 8 1/2 hour lighting cycle would only get to 82.2-82.5.

Again one day here or there of higher than normal temps won't do you in.

 

[nanoreefer22]

My tank got up to about 84 yesterday, but it's sitting between 2 south facing windows so it's also getting sunlight for most of the day

Have 2 fans over the tank, a larger room fan, a small one at the other end of the room, and a window fan. Should keep the room manageable. My birds are in the room too, so I'm sure they're happy it's a bit cooler. Tank was at 81 this morning, hoping to keep it there all day.

 

[thirty5]

Luckily yesterday I turned the AC down and kept the tank nice and cool. I kept it down for ME not the tank.

I will probably have to keep heaters on all summer in my tank. The only pump in the water is my skimmer pump (external main pump). Sump is in basement so cooler down there. LED's help with no heat

I would try to do something. If you plan on keeping your AC off every day, then you need something. I would not want to stress the tank with such large temp swings.

So either keep the AC on but set thermostat on it to even 79, then just kick it up when you get home, or get a chiller

 

[JimmyR1rider]

Good thing is that it's only gonna get to 81 today which is 10 degrees cooler than yesterday. One of the main reasons I'd say don't stress too hard over it. It mnay go over the 82 degree and hit 83 or 84 but one day shouldn't be bad.

 

[nanoreefer22]

Looks like it's hitting 88 today

 

[Djbetterly]

Here's my two cents, even though I only have a 34 gallon tank. I have two 120mm fans running straight down on the water, my AC was off the entire weekend, and the temp held pretty steady at about 79-80 degrees. This test didn't come without stress on my part though. After a bit of research I found a company that has paired up with ConEdison called ThinkEco. They make a product called the SmartAC that sells for about $70 that you plug your ac into. Ultimately you'll be able to control your ac (turn it on and off) via an iphone or android phone as well as monitor the room temperature straight from your phone. The system also works like a standard central air thermostat, you set the temp on the remote and the unit (modlet they call it) turns the ac on and off accordingly to maintain a room temperature to within four degrees. Let me know if you want more info, I'm pretty impressed so far, and on top of it, the customer service is great, they answered my questions over the holiday weekend.

 

[DA23]

Over the weekend i ordered a kit to hang my MH from the ceiling hopefully the gap will help out, luckily the tank is in my basement so its a bit cooler, i have no space for a chiller so i might have to invest in portable ac unit

 

[44santababy]

My job is awesome, went home and turned A/C on and came back...not taking chances, to much to lose...thanks

Note: I use my window A/C with a ranco controller set at 74 degrees and it keeps my room stable and tank at 78 degrees w/o my A/C constantly on, i also have a heater controlled with a ranco too, i just FORGOT to plug in A/C after vacuuming this morning (cant run both in my apt .... MR suggested these ranco controllers, they are worth every penny...

 

[fifty50]

I keep my central AC at 75 during the day. Tank hit a max of 82f by the time I get home. I have fans kick on to the sump to help control temp. Also when I get home I'll drop in a frozen bottle or RODI in the sump to help cool things down as well.