tidalsculpin Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 It will be in the 90's by the weekend. Could all the experienced sages chip in and help newbies with some tips about heat control? I know there were threads last summer but I am just looking for some good common sense reminders about cooling down the tank during the next week. Chillerless tips for those of us without that tool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriswaters Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I have two window AC's. Both are in different rooms, but I start them early and it keeps the house cool. You can pick them up fairly cheap (less then the cost of a chiller) and put it in the same room as the tank. Ambient air temp will help keep the temp down. Now if you have Halides, try adding a small fan to the sump area to help cool the surface area. Others have floated bottles of ice in the water. Of course, if you have a big tank, with hot lights, you can invest in a chiller! Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Run lights at night, instead of day. Freeze bottled water (remove label) and allow to float in tank/sump. Replace when melted. For long term cooling freeze gallon jugs of water (do two or three so you always have one that is frozen). (my solution) Put the tank in the basement. It never gets more than 65 degrees down there. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 If you run dual light run just one at a time...... One day with out light wont hurt any thing .. Kill all pumps not needed if you start to get hot... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidalsculpin Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 Run lights at night' date=' instead of day.[/quote'] This is the common sense option I always forget about. Killing a powerhead in my tank seems to be a good idea for a short spell. How about putting the powerheads on the same cycle as the lights? The ice is what I use for salmon raising so I know that trick. It can be problematic if you are not always near your tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Break lighting down into 2 shifts, with a couple of hours of downtime between. Fans on the sump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stylaster Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I run a fan over both of my tanks and then went to home depot and picked up a portable ac unit. That works wonders if you have your tanks in a smaller room (ie spare bedroom) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 This is part of where growing up in Southern California might pay off. 1.Freezing jugs and rotating them is good. If you freeze salt water it will last longer then fresh water. 2. Leave you windows open at night while it is cool, and then shut the house up during the day. 3. Running the air intake hose on the skimmer through a cooler filled with ice will continually pump cold air into your system. You can do the same thing with an air pump too. 4. Pointing a fan at the surface of the tank so it is close enough and strong enough to make ripples will do wonders. Bigger the taank bigger the fan. It will increase your evaporation dramatically. (I just hooked up the ATO so I'm straight on that, will be easier for shizzle. ) 5. Lights at night are good but a few days without light is not going to hurt much IME. I've done it a few times. 6. Switching refugiums bulbs out with ones that produce little to no heat are good. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mister crabs Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Its averaging 107 here during daytime and 90 at night so I know what you are talking about. I am running a 29gal biocube with a 175 mh over it so heat and especially evap are my concerns. So far AC has held its own and my temps stay at 81 during the day. but I have had to use frozen waterbottles in the past. my problem is the 1-1.5 gallon PER DAY evap on a 29 gal tank. gonna order my ATO this weekend as Im sick of constantly checking the water level. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAVES Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 IMO it would be better to run NO Lights then lights at night. Unless you want to change your photo period for the whole summer or something, I think simply leaving some or all lights off during the day is better than compleatly screwing with the photo period. so, unless you want to change to nightime lights all summer, Id stick with lights out. An aquacontroller will turn lights off for you based on the tank temperature. You can use the most simple controller without a pH probe for cost savings, and it will still easily do the trick. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
undrtkr_00 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I have two window AC's. Both are in different rooms, but I start them early and it keeps the house cool. You can pick them up fairly cheap (less then the cost of a chiller) and put it in the same room as the tank. Kris This one gets my vote, because it keeps me comfortable, too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyles Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Fans are my lifeline. When it gets hot I run one on the pendant on the main tank to cool the light and then I put a piece of eggcrate on top of the sump and take two fans (12") and lay on top of sump pointing down on water. These are controlled by the acjr and know when to turn on (but any temp control would do), these 3 fans cool more effectively and efficiently than my chiller does by far but I have it as added protection. This method in my little over 100 gallon system chills the water back down in less than 2 minutes (1 degree variable) when it gets really hot. Its going to get really tested this year as the sump is in the uninsulated garage. The only temp control in there will be an attic fan I just installed in garage programmed to turn on at 100 degrees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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