winterizing your reef tank

[MikeDeL]

So now that its starting to get cold is there anything I should do to prepare my tank for the winter months? I noticed today I had very little evap. in my tank. Anything I should expect to be differant during the winter?


Thanks,
Mike

[NaCl_H2O]

Anything I should expect to be differant during the winter?

Keep the glass cleaner, you will spending more time indoors looking at your tank! :-D

[Reef69]

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing..at night, the temp. drops to like 75...and its at 77 steady during the day...

[eleyan]

I keep a heater in my sump set to about 74-75 just to avoid too much of a temp swing in case it gets really cold at night.

[scuba_steveo]

I just bought a chiller and it gets here tomorrow :)

[Instar]

MikeDel,
Be perpared for algae shifts. Watch for crashes of some species of algae and the growth of others. If you have a refugium that is dependant on one species that is seasonal and it crashes all at once, you need to take it out quickly and replace it with something else. Eleyan's advice for a heater in the sump to prevent cold shock temp swings at night is excellent. Do it. Temp shock at night can set off ick if your fish and tank are not mature enough of fortified enough with their diet changes in captivity. I set mine for 78 to 79 and keep an eye on it. Evaporation rate is a factor of the outside weather and the amount of heat you use vs the type of heat you use on any given night. Don't assume that winter evaporation rate is less - its been raining! Cold north winds mean dry air and that equals sudden fast evaporation rates following the rain. Sudden evaporation and temp swings at night can cause you troubles, but with heater in sump and RO water ready to go, you're fine.

[Tim Marvin]

Run a heater and keep your house set at the right temp for your tank. My house needs to sit around 74 degrees in the winter.

[MikeDeL]

74?!?! Thats warm how bout I have 2 heaters for the tank and leave the heater at 70?LOL Seriously though would having 2 heaters be a bad thing. Asuming the heaters you use have good thermostats you wouldnt run into any problams with over heating would you? I would think having 2 heaters would keep each heater from working as hard to keep the tank warm.


Thanks,
Mike

[Tim Marvin]

Two will work fine.

[kaiser]

Heck just poor a gallon or 2 of antifreeze in the tank. You won't have to worry about a thing after that. Largly because their won't be a thing left to worry about, but that's just details.

[sithspeed]

^^^^^^^^^^^^
ROTFLMAO!!!! :lol:

[Instar]

Experts recommend 2 heaters in case one fails. Trouble is you have to be able to tell if one fails so that you always have a back up for those days you forget to turn the heat pump on and return to find it 50 on the inside of the house. It'll take both heaters on days like that. Or cold days when there is a power failure and no fire place. Two will be better to bring the temp back to normal.

[GaryP]

I've started turning off my cooling fans. I'm only running 2 instead of 4 fans.

Gary

[Tim Marvin]

Larry, how do you get 2 heaters to run in a power failure? LOL... You must be a real reef fanatic with a generator.

[Tim Marvin]

GaryP thanks for reminding me to turn off some of my fans!

[MikeDeL]

Larry, how do you get 2 heaters to run in a power failure? LOL... You must be a real reef fanatic with a generator.
I totally missed that one. He must plug them into his excercise bike and start pedalling.LOL


Mike

[Tim Marvin]

I am betting as much as Larry grows, and experiments with he probably has a generator. For those of you that have not met Larry, you should! He is a very talented and interesting guy, not to mention he has the midas touch.