Cooling down

[kkiel02]

Ok today the temp rose to 84 degrees. The only heat producing items in the tank were the skimmer pump and the mag 9.5 return pump. I turned off the halides right away which are ~12 inches above the water and left the vhos on. The ac is set at 77. I also added a 9" fan to the bottom of the stand to cool the sump area. I was wondering what everyone else did as my temp stayed around 83-82 degrees and I would like it to be cooler. I am wondering if I mount a fan or two pointing down to the tank would help as that is about the only way I could mount one with my light rack.

[kkiel02]

Also am trying to avoid a chilled at this point.

[rz1a]

if you have a sump, you could add a clipon fan for 10 bucks to cool things down one or a couple degrees. youll just be evaporating a lot more water. if not, you could clip it onto your tank

[stoneroller]

I use a fan directed at the water surface of the tank; it dissipates some of the halide heat as well as leads to evaporative cooling. I have also heard that mag pumps tend to run hot.

[Gseclipse02]

cant you run that pump external ?? i would look into that

what size tank ??

[recoiljpr]

I run 2 175W MH and 2 T5 actinics (12 hour actinics, 10 hour MH). My T5's are about 2" above the water and my MH are about 12-13" above the water. I have a koralia 3, Koralia 4, skimmer,mag 5 and a GFO reactor. I have a walmart 8" fan in the canopy blowing from the back of the tank to the front. My canopy is an open back and I also have holes on the top of the canopy to let the hot air rise out. I also have a coralvue 3" fan that blows from the top down. I run no fan in the sump. All of that being said, my temps now top out at the highest around 80 (I keep my house about 74).

[kkiel02]

It's the 180. My 65 runs pretty warm also but only has the mag 5. Maybe tomorrow I will switch them and if it lowers I will know where the heat is coming from. I just thought with so much extra water voulume I would be ok.

[ErikH]

I have two small fans in the canopy and a large one. I leave my ac at 75 and my tank stays at 78. They turn off with the halides.

[kkiel02]

What's really crazy is that kristy lost her ac and her tank stayed below what mine is. Also I went around today to find a clipon but even walmart didn't have them.

[Bill S]

Internal pumps put out an amazing amount of heat...

[kkiel02]

I'm gonna add two fans to the light rack pointing straight down to try and help. Gotta get it cool so I can transfer livestock.

[kkiel02]

Well the sump is drilled for two externals but with my plumbing... Maybe

[recoiljpr]

Internal pumps put out an amazing amount of heat...


I've always wondered if anyone has ever done any testing to see how much heat our pumps put out. It wouldn't be that hard of a thing to do, just need some automated temp probes and some pumps.

Has anyone seen any research like that?

[allan]

I ran a 15 dollar clip on from home depot under my 100 gallon length wise over the sump, worked wonders. Of course it increased my evaporation by at least 50%.

[Gseclipse02]

What's really crazy is that kristy lost her ac and her tank stayed below what mine is. Also I went around today to find a clipon but even walmart didn't have them.

she didnt run lights either i think ....


I ran a 15 dollar clip on from home depot under my 100 gallon length wise over the sump, worked wonders. Of course it increased my evaporation by at least 50%.


thats why i hate fans i always have to top off ... now that the hot days are ending i switched to even smaller fans that dont make me top off as much

heres a link to the fan that i use to run

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=11250084

[Crazyeyes]

I would recommend what others are saying get an external return pump, if you can and place fans on top of the tank. What you want is consistency for everything in the tank, that is what will help the tank out for everything. Some people keep tanks at 82, but they monitor it. Good luck.

[Shu]

I love the weather and was also wondering what the outside temp effects it.

[uriah]

Generally speaking, if you increase your water volume and keep all other factors constant (lighting, pumps, etc.) your water temp will stay more constant. Adding fans will help, but if you can also increase the size of your sump to increase water volume, that will help as well. I have a 55G w/ an 8-48" T5 fixture by current (nova extreme) and was running aroung 82-84, added two of the walmart clip on fans previously referenced and increased my sump to a 30G long and temp stays around 78-80 without a chiller. I run my lights around 8 hours daily...

[kkiel02]

After my fan kicked in I got it down to 79-81. When I add the fuge tomorrow I suspect it ought to drop another degree with another fan.