What do you do to cool down the tank without a chiller??

[nycfish]

This summer is hot at my place, I just setup my this tank about 2 months ago, so it has nothing inside yet. The temp is hitting up to 84 now, good thing I do not have anything in there.

What do you do to cool down your tank, is there anything I can do without a chiller? I know the best thing is a chiller, I have a 55g tank, what size of the chiller do I need? Do you know my electric bill will be crazy of running it the whole day non-stop??

Thx!!

 

[artie1209]

1 run a room AC to keep you and the tank happy!
2 Run your lights for less time, 6hrs instead of 8 for example
3 run your lights later in the day when it is slightly cooler outside
4 run a fan blowing over the water of your sump and\or tank. (this will increase evaporation)
5 Float bags of ice (use RO water if that is what you use in your tank, incase of a bag leaking)

 

[PalmTree]

10 plus years ago I had a 180 w/o a chiller. On those really hot days I had 2 honeywell room mans mounted on the wall directly above the tank blowing a breeze across the surface of te water. Even if the room temp was 85 I was able to bring it down to 80 maybe even 79. The down side is that your apartment will be VERY humid. A chiller is the bast bet but keep in mind that even a chiller will dump heat into the room. As long as you have a chiller appropriately sized for your size tank it won't stay on all day long.

 

[nycfish]

My place is really hot in daytime, I go to work the whole day, it seems like waste of money to turn on the AC just for the tank. What I'm doing is already a 4 of those little fans shooting to the sump, but it doesn't take down much. I'm planning to put in fish soon, so I want to prepare the water before the come in for a new home.

To run a chiller do you know how much it will cost per month?

 

[artie1209]

I don't run a chiller on my reef. I am on the 5 step plan.(posted above)
I would assume much like an AC.

Are you running lights? What kind (MH, VHO. PC, T5, LED)?
is it an open top?

 

[nycfish]

My lights turn on only 4 hrs a night now coz there is nothing inside yet, its 2 T5, the top is always closed, so I might ope the canopy door tomorrow and see if there is any difference.

 

[triggerhappy]

+ 1 on the chiller i could not keep my temp down with fans on the sump. i tried and it killed my ricordeas and hurt my acans bad i try to skip the chiller but in the long run it was the best solution especially if you want to keep corals. after i nstalled the chiller no worries my acans started to come back it was much cheaper than losing all my corals and having to buy them again. plus as Palm tree said chiller wont run all day if you have it sized correctly

 

[greggnyce]

I run a small 5000 btu ac and keep it on 75 when I am not home. It keeps the tank cool and I do not run my lights until 6pm, I am work all day anyway so I like the lights on when I am home. The ac does not run constantly, it has an energy saver option and thermostat. In the end it is cheaper than buying and running a chiller.

 

[Arati]

I run a small 5000 btu ac and keep it on 75 when I am not home. It keeps the tank cool and I do not run my lights until 6pm, I am work all day anyway so I like the lights on when I am home. The ac does not run constantly, it has an energy saver option and thermostat. In the end it is cheaper than buying and running a chiller.

I do the same thing. I have a small ac unit to keep the room at 76 and use a fan. The ac unit cost way less then a chiller and dehumidifies also..

 

[DCG1286]

My lights turn on only 4 hrs a night now coz there is nothing inside yet, its 2 T5, the top is always closed, so I might ope the canopy door tomorrow and see if there is any difference.

That would be a good idea ... I am running 4VHO's and a 150W MH over my 120 ... all in a canopy (although it's not COMPLETELY enclosed ... I leave the canopy doors open during the day. I run two Honeywell Fans on the back of the tank keeps it 78-80F ... I also have a room fan which I run on occasion. If you can't keep it cool with the fans ... I agree with Artie ... run the a/c ... everyone will be happy with that.

 

[pak]

do you pay for water bill? if not i have a trick

 

[CancerverO]

I set my AC to kick in when room temperature is 80 and I have a small fan.. no problems.. believe it or not yest I saw my heater on.. :bigeyes2:

 

[Chongpark27]

IMO AC would be the best, it will keep you and the tank cool.

 

[daisy]

I used to keep my AC running - good for tank, good for cats - but kept the AC on thermostat set to 78 when I'm not home.

I also keep a fan blowing over the sump. Open top, keep doors open on the sump, reduce light hours during heat wave.

But my AC broke - so this heat wave has been fans only!

And believe it or not, the temp stays right at 81 all the time.