Who here does NOT use a chiller?

[marrone]

no chiller here, just fans.

FWIW, Ron Shimek's book "Marine Invertebrates" indicates that:
"Most coral reefs have temperatures that range between 78F and about 86F. The average temperature of about one thousand coral reefs spread throughout the world is about 81F. Virtually all coral reef animals will do best within this range, and I consider the temperature range of 81F to 84F as the optimal and normal temperature to maintain all reef animals."
page 15.

Since this is a fish tank and not a reef tank you'll find that the fish do alot better at lower temp 76-78 range than temps over 80.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

central A/C house stays around 70degrees in summer. I'm not knocking chillers but I cant see using electric to cool just the tank when you can cool the whole room or house so everyone can be comfortable
Just my .02

 

[ctxmonitor]

no chiller here too, but temp is not as good as mike. My temp have got up to 85 when it was very hot.. But usually stay on 81 on a cool normal day like today. I'm using two fans on the canopy.

 

[michael stern]

Any other help? The tank is in a 73-74 degree a/c room. Why so hot?

Last night, I moved the fans. One is now blowing on the sump, the other helping to exhaust the canopy. THis morning, temp @86 with lights off. I'm going to try moving the canopy one to blow accross the ampmaster and sequence. Still have exhaust fan in hood.

Michael

 

[regal]

How do you measure the temp? thermometer, temp probe etc? Make sure your temp reading is correct. My temp this am is 80 before the lights went on. I would definitely have the fan blowing across the tank to get rid of the hot air from the lights. Do you have an enclosed canopy or open?

 

[momof6kids]

regal, that tank is awesome. Wow!!

 

[herman]

Fans. Multiple fans! Suck air in accross the water. Suck air out the other side. Suck air out above the lights. One blowing accross the sump. That generally suffices in an airconditioned room.

For those who dont leave the ac on you can always have a ghetto emergency chiller. 2 liter plastic bottle with frozen water in it. That will bring the temp down. The only thing that sucks about it is that you will be constantly taking the bottle in and out.

For the cost of the chiller and running it you might as well get an ac unit!!

 

[michael stern]

How do you measure the temp? thermometer, temp probe etc? Make sure your temp reading is correct. My temp this am is 80 before the lights went on. I would definitely have the fan blowing across the tank to get rid of the hot air from the lights. Do you have an enclosed canopy or open?

That's a thought, I'll definitely double check the temp. I'm using one of the remote digital thermometers.

 

[michael stern]

Fans. Multiple fans! Suck air in accross the water. Suck air out the other side. Suck air out above the lights. One blowing accross the sump. That generally suffices in an airconditioned room.

For those who dont leave the ac on you can always have a ghetto emergency chiller. 2 liter plastic bottle with frozen water in it. That will bring the temp down. The only thing that sucks about it is that you will be constantly taking the bottle in and out.

For the cost of the chiller and running it you might as well get an ac unit!!

I currently have a large fan blowing on my sump, a double fan blowing in my base accross the pumps, and an exhaust fan sucking out hot air from the enclosed canopy. I don't know what else to try,and the room temp is 73. Tank is still reading 86.5.

 

[cali_reef]

Evaporation cooling via fans will not be effective if the humidity is too high. Do you have any pumps that are submerged in the tank water? What kind of lighting are you using?

IMO and IME, you either have to AC the room or have a chiller if you use MH as lighting, our summers are too humid for fans to work effectively, especially on large tanks.

 

[herman]

I currently have a large fan blowing on my sump, a double fan blowing in my base accross the pumps, and an exhaust fan sucking out hot air from the enclosed canopy. I don't know what else to try,and the room temp is 73. Tank is still reading 86.5.

Thats really strange!! Can you post a pic of all your equipment and give a brief description of the location of the equipment. Check your heater for malfunction. Maybe its stuck - quite a common thing. Are there any hotwater pipes running around the tank. I have never had such a temp difference in an room that is cool.

Basics first - check the heater and thermometer.

 

[jhale]

true, I once had my heater and chiller fighting each other for a day. the heater dial got moved when I was rearranging wires.

 

[michael stern]

Evaporation cooling via fans will not be effective if the humidity is too high. Do you have any pumps that are submerged in the tank water? What kind of lighting are you using?

IMO and IME, you either have to AC the room or have a chiller if you use MH as lighting, our summers are too humid for fans to work effectively, especially on large tanks.

No pumps in tank water
2 pcs (1 2x96 watt, 1 4x55)
Room is A/c'd.

 

[michael stern]

Thats really strange!! Can you post a pic of all your equipment and give a brief description of the location of the equipment. Check your heater for malfunction. Maybe its stuck - quite a common thing. Are there any hotwater pipes running around the tank. I have never had such a temp difference in an room that is cool.

Basics first - check the heater and thermometer.

There's no heater on the system. Too cold is never a problem.

 

[Reefer420]

Maybe one of the pumps is shorting out and running excessively hot? I have a 16g w/ a closed top and with my 80w of PC lighting on the tank seems to stay around 80-82 with an Ice Probe chiller. Thats with my Remora skimmer's pump and 3 mini tunzes in the water as well. They seem to raise the temp a lot- much more than the PC's by themselves ever could.

 

[cali_reef]

No pumps in tank water
2 pcs (1 2x96 watt, 1 4x55)
Room is A/c'd.

I am not sure how it is possible to raise your tank water temp 10 deg above the room temp with 300W of PC lighting and no pumps in the water. Have you tried using another thermometer to make sure the one you have is not faulty?

 

[Reefer420]

btw- i meant that my tank runs that hot on hot days. I don't keep the AC on all day when I'm not home.

 

[inkblue]

cant afford a chiller... i just turn on the AC. it's cheaper, you can get one on Craigslist for $40