HEAT ISSUE RESOLVED

[Ram_Puppy]

ok, so I have yet to put lights on the cube.

My thermometer went bad a couple weeks ago, so I chunked it.

Current stocking is:
2 maroon clowns - happy as can be
90 lbs live rock
6 nassarius
6 trochus.

without lighting ont he tank, it's allready running at 84/85 degrees.

I can't imagine what it will be like when the halides come on.

So here is the deal. I live on the second floor of an apartment, the room I have the tank in has always been warmer than the rest of the apartment.

The way I see it, is I have 2 options.

1) buy a small window AC unit to cool that room.
2) buy a chiller. <-- not excited about the energy costs involved here, not to mention start-up cost.

I am sure the apartment complex will not like option 1, but it is where I am leaning. My apartments windows look out on a 100 year flood plain so no one will be looking.

problem 1 I see is don't these things condense a lot of water and I will need to run a drain hose down to the ground right?

Problem 2 is making it as little of an blight upon the complex as possible, this means probably keeping most of the unit Inside, mounting it in a non-traditional manner.

Before I do any of this, i am switching out the complex's cheap thermostat for a digital one, and also having the AC serviced, as it seems to have problems keeping up regardless. (I think it is undersized for an apartment with a western exposure.)

I guess what I want to know, is do you guys have any other thoughts? Any other ideas on what I can do, or thoughts in general about the AC unit?

am I missing something critical?

oh, as far as evaporative cooling goes, I have no canopy, and my stand is open right now, the cieling fan causes 2 inches of evaporation out of my sump daily allready, this is not something I want to push any further.

[Ram_Puppy]

oh, and the really depressing thought...


it's not even summer yet.

[blueboy]

were's all that heat coming from? just the pumps? is teh room that warm? most window units vent out the sides as well as the back. this should be a consideration if you go that route.

[Ram_Puppy]

yeah, the room has always been warm I didn not want to put the aquarium in there, but we all make compromises with our wives right? :)

the room's ac duct is the very last one in the chain, so I think it doesn't get as much pressure to push the cool air out into the room as others do, and I have adjusted all the vents in an attempt to alter that, doesn't seem to do much good.

here is a floor plan for my apartment.

http://www.cwsapartments.com/imageFile/22/furniture/274.html

the room all the way on the right, the tank is on the outside wall (to the right) sort of closer to the bay window.

I would say the heat is coming from a few sources:

1) a generally warm room.
2) the sun (nothing protects this room for a full blast of western sun)
3) 2 reeflow darts. (there are 4 pumps on this tank, the darts (return and closed loop), a mag 7 drives the skimer, and a weensy little maxi-jet 400 driving the phosban and purigen reactors.

It just occured to me, I might need to calibrate the heater... man it would be awesome if that is the issue. cheap fix.

here are some measurements I took today:

Bedroom (Vents closest to the AC unit) Ambient Temp 72.2 F
Living Area (kitchen, living room, dining room) Ambient Temp 74.4 F
Fish Room Ambient Temp 78.8 F

The tank was at 84.9 (but the two thermometers I used both flopped around as high as 85.2)

so it's running 6 to 7 degrees above ambient temperature.

[Ram_Puppy]

AC-s at lowes:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productList&N=0&Ntk=i_products&Ntt=air% 20conditioners

[jrhein]

Well its that time of the year again. You have to keep a eye on the temp.

What type of lighting system do you run and have you ever thought of putting a fan on it?

Sorry about that. I now see that you don't even have your lights on yet. That is to weird.

[Ram_Puppy]

no problem Jr.

the lights aren't on because every time I am supposed to get around to building the canopy, I get called into work. It is almost to the point where I am scared to even think about working on it!

[loans_n_fishes]

You may want to try some really good insulated curtains. They can make a big difference.

Also, is there any way to put an awning on the window---maybe some solar screens?

[fishypets]

Or you can do what I do and crank your A.C. down to 72.

[Ram_Puppy]

Fishy, my AC IS cranked down to 72!!!

part of the problem I know is that my wife believes in the myth of turning up the air when your not home to save money.

I have told her not to do this, but it falls on deaf ears... she believes what she believes and keeps on doing it. I am gonna tell her it will kill my tank next time. :) see if that has any impact! :)

I think that the AC on the apartment is simply under powered.

[greatwit]

Like others have said, you should be able to get down a few degrees if you install some fans over your sump or on top of your tank. Also, you could consider one less pump.

[fishypets]

I just realized you were on the second floor. You might have to set up a auto-top off and install some variable speed fans. I keep my tank with enclosed canopy and over 900 watts of light at a steady 80 with only two fans.

[matt455]

Press your apartment manager to install a solar screen on the window (or do it yourself). It will knock 15 degrees off the room in the cheapest manner possible.

[GaryP]

Apartments seem to believe in a one size fits all scheme for AC units. The fact is that a 2nd story unti needs a bigger unit then a first floor unit. It has to fight gravity to pump upstairs and you have more exposure. I won't even go into what I went through in a 3rd floor unit. What a nightmare.

The problem with a chiller is that it is going to pump the heat back into the room. On the other hand, a window unit is going to cool the entire room, just to cool the tank. Not really efficient.

Unless you add a chiller, the tank is still going to be primarily cooled by evaporative cooling. The room temp. does not really make as much difference as the humidity in the room. Not only is the humidity from outside coming into the house, the tank itself is raising the humidity. Without any AC, there is no de-humidification going on. The window unit will help with that. When your wife cuts off the AC during the day, the temperature is going up, but so is the humidity. High humidity = less evaporation = less cooling.

This time of the year is the hardest for me to control temp. because the AC isn't running much and the weather is relatively humid.

When we have wild swings in temp. and humidity like we have had in the last few days it makes it even harder. I have had a couple of wild swings in temp. in the last few days and I have finally decided I need a heater in my sump to at help eliminate the downward swings. My fans and heater may end up fighting it out, but at least the swings will be minimized and I won't end up with sick fish as a result.

You may also want to consider adding a dehumidifier too. AC will help when its hot, but not when we are having mild weather and its not running and the outside air is humid.

[brewercm]

What size tank is this.
There are many things you can do to attempt and hope they work or do the one thing that you know will work (chiller). It probably won't run a whole lot more to run as far as energy goes than the windo unit, but may cost you more up front. The benefit is your problem will be taken care of (for sure) and you will have less evaporation per day also. You may get the window unit in and find that with all the pumps and lights you still can't get it down to where you need to be, at which point you now still have to get the chiller.
Look around for someone trying to sell theres or put out a WTB post here, RC, RNR, MARSH. RC may be your best bet, depending on the size you need you may find a new one that will work for you at a decent price.

[Ram_Puppy]

well guys the heat issue appears to be resolved for now.

I had the apartments maintenance guy come out, turns out we have a new one. where all the other guys just jiggled stuff and said 'it feels like it's working fine to me' this new guy realyl knows his stuff.

He came prepared with temp probes he stuck in the vents, and re-calibrated the thermostat.

Then, he went and looked at the AC which has a leak, we think in the compressor.

now that that is fixed, I am getting ice cold air out of the unit!

Here's the specs!

Before he got ahold of it:
Digital thermometer reading 76.6 degrees in the apartment.
Thermostat reading 72
Air coming out of vents - 2 to 5 degrees cooler than what was allready in the apartment.

After he got ahold of it;
Digital thermometer readin 68.6 degrees in the apartment.
Thermostat reading 69 degrees.
Air coming out of vents - 46.2 degrees!!!!!!

I checked the tank before maintenance - 82 degrees.
After maintenance (1 hour) 79 degrees.

When my wife checked a little while ago - 76 degrees, and the heater had kicked on. :)

YAY!!!!!

I just put my next specimen on hold!

[GaryP]

Not only is your air cooler, your humidity is going to be lower too. See how much difference it makes in your evaporation rate.

[Ram_Puppy]

Yeah, next priority is auto top off...

I have decided to go with solenoid valve and the system here.

http://www.top-off.com/viewitem.php?it_id=16