Water Temp

[deast7]

I recently added a UV Sterilizer and my H2O temp went from a steady 80 degrees to a steady 84 degrees. I have a 100 gal FOWLR tank. Is this temp acceptable? Besides a chiller are there other ways to bring down the temp? Thanks.

Cheers,

Dave

[GaryP]

I doubt the UV unit added that much temp. I would suggest it might have to do more with the humid weather we have had the last few weeks. Have you had your windows open or running AC. Humidity is usually the largest factor in tank temp. this time of year. 84 is about on the upper acceptable range. If it gets much above that I would be concerned. I try to keep my temp. in the 78-82 range.

Are you running cooling fans on your tank. If not, short of a chiller that's the best thing you can do. If you are running fans then you can replace them with higher CFM fans. That's what I did last year to my tank. I have spare fans I only run when I am having problems. They only get used occasionally. I had to run them quite a bit in the last few weeks because the windows have been open and we have had this overcast humid weather. Spring and Fall are usually the time of year we have temp problems, simply because of the humidity. During the summer, we have the windows closed and the AC unit will keep the humidity much lower in the house.

Remember that the tank primarily cools itself through evaporation. Tanks with a glass cover have a lot of problems this time of year. Less evaporation means less cooling. Less cooling means higher temps.

I hope that helps.

[deast7]

Gary

Thanks - I have not been running fans but I guess I'll get a couple (what size would you recommend) - do you just run them across the top of the tank? We set the temp in the house at 79 degrees and have been running the AC the last week or so.

Cheers,

Dave

[Thunderkat]

I bought a small window ac unit just for my tank. I can keep the temp at 72 if I wanted to. Its cheaper than a aquarium chiller.

By the way don't put the window ac unit in your aquarium, just let it blow on your tank. I have the AC until set at 70 degrees then I just adjust the heater. All bills paid apartment is a good thing ^_^

[eric]

Dave,

Fans are obviously the first step. I'd be uncomfortable with 84. You could start even with a clip on fan or two, found at Walmart, Walgreens, etc. Otherwise, most go with a 3-4" fan (either DC or AC) only the likes of Radio Shack's stock. Those you'll have to wire yourself, though. Just try to get more airflow across the water surface.

There's been many discussions lately on temp and cooling.

I have been able to keep 75-77 recently running a small handmade cooling tower. There are a lot of issues involved. Lights, water volume, humidity, internal heat sources like your pump or sterilizer.

[NaCl_H2O]

Did adding the UV include adding a submerged pump maybe? If so, the pump is probably contributing more heat than the UV. As above said, fans and evaporation are the best route to get your temp down. If you are using a submerged pump for the UV, you may want to look for other plumbing options - in-line with another pump, in-line with the return, external pump, etc.

[deast7]

Steve

I did add a submersible pump and hadn't thought about the amount of heat it was putting out -- I'm going to add a small fan and an external pump. Guys, thanks again for all of your help.

Cheers,

Dave