Hot 14g Biocube
- Thread starter LordVega
- Start date
Nemos Boss
New member
82 isnt bad. With a little research you will find that naturally occuring reefs tend to settle in at 84-86 in summer months. i would worry more about the temp swings. The worst outcome could be that your disolved oxygen levels drop and your fish and coral suffocate. I would def make sure you a fan pointed straight at the top of water and a power head aimed near surface. This will help you lower your temp. Windows are a big no no as well. it its getting sunlight; i would move it. Otherwise i wouldnt fret too much. If the tank reaches the 86-88 or higher... place ice cubes in a bag and let them float. watch your topoff with the fan. GL
TundraGuy
MantisOholic
82 is the highest most tanks can safely get to without crashing. Here is a few tips to cool the tank. Open the lid. Point a fan at the tank. Remove extra pumps upgrade to mp10. Get rid of the canapé. Change your lighting to leds like hanging par 38s. Set the ac in the room lower. Run a chiller. Build a chiller out of some hose, a maxi jet 1200, and a cooler full of ice (make sure you have a heater). Move the tank to a different room or away from windows. Pay the nabor’s kid to come over and hand fan the tank. Check to see if you can upgrade the return pump to something using less power with the same flow rating or higher. Build a treff scrubber and point a fan at it (this will evap like craze but lowers temps a lot more then you’d think). Buy a bigger tank that is not closed in (nuvo). Freeze RO/DI water and use the ice for top off water. Re insulate the house. Buy a better house with a bigger AC unit. Or move to Alaska and stock up on fire wood for heat.
Hope at least one of these suggestions will help.
Hope at least one of these suggestions will help.
LordVega
New member
Recty
New member
I'm having the exact same problem, although lower temps.
My ambient temperature is about 73 degrees right now, this is at my place of work and I cant change that temp, it is what it is.
I upgraded to LEDs, thinking that would make it produce way less heat. I was right, sort of. With the stock CF bulbs, it was getting up to 83 degrees (down to about 80 at night) with about 4 hours of lights being on. I turned one switch off so i only had one bulb going, and I got about 2 more hours of lights on before it hit 83 degrees and I turned them off.
Long story short, the LEDs are allowing me to run my tank with more lighting than the stock bulbs for an 8 hour period and right at the end of 8 hours, my tank is hitting 83 degrees. Still not optimal, but better than it was. I've got three or four separate coral frags that have rapidly expanded and are doing really well, plus my little mantis shrimp.
Here is what NOT to do. I added two Koralia Nano powerheads, thinking more water movement would be good. The corals really seemed to love it, so I was happy. I did this yesterday, btw. I went home last night and came in this morning and the tank was 82.9 degrees at 8:00am. The lights had just kicked on thirty minutes ago, the tank should have been about 79.5 degrees.
Those Koralia pumps added a LOT of heat, so now I have them turned off and I'll probably end up having to turn my lights out today too so the tank doesnt over heat.
I cant take my canopy off, being at work my tank has to look good and also not be easy for anyone like the cleaning ladies to accidently put something in or get over spray from chemical cleaners into it.
I think I'm going to have to go with a chiller, unfortunately... that about doubles the price of the tank and everything else in it.
My ambient temperature is about 73 degrees right now, this is at my place of work and I cant change that temp, it is what it is.
I upgraded to LEDs, thinking that would make it produce way less heat. I was right, sort of. With the stock CF bulbs, it was getting up to 83 degrees (down to about 80 at night) with about 4 hours of lights being on. I turned one switch off so i only had one bulb going, and I got about 2 more hours of lights on before it hit 83 degrees and I turned them off.
Long story short, the LEDs are allowing me to run my tank with more lighting than the stock bulbs for an 8 hour period and right at the end of 8 hours, my tank is hitting 83 degrees. Still not optimal, but better than it was. I've got three or four separate coral frags that have rapidly expanded and are doing really well, plus my little mantis shrimp.
Here is what NOT to do. I added two Koralia Nano powerheads, thinking more water movement would be good. The corals really seemed to love it, so I was happy. I did this yesterday, btw. I went home last night and came in this morning and the tank was 82.9 degrees at 8:00am. The lights had just kicked on thirty minutes ago, the tank should have been about 79.5 degrees.
Those Koralia pumps added a LOT of heat, so now I have them turned off and I'll probably end up having to turn my lights out today too so the tank doesnt over heat.
I cant take my canopy off, being at work my tank has to look good and also not be easy for anyone like the cleaning ladies to accidently put something in or get over spray from chemical cleaners into it.
I think I'm going to have to go with a chiller, unfortunately... that about doubles the price of the tank and everything else in it.
Recty
New member
Oh yeah, I also bought a Maxijet 900 to replace the stock return pump. I hear they run cooler. I dont want to do that now though just in case it runs hotter. I'm going to let the tank cool back down over the next day or two, then try that. Even if it lowers total tank temp by one degree, that would be great.
Nemos Boss
New member
"82 is the highest most tanks can safely get to without crashing." citation please? If your ambient temp is 73 then you should have no prob running 78 unless your lights are heating your tank or its near a window with sunlight. the stock nuvo pump is tiny. it wouldnt heat the water. my nuvo runs at 79-82 if i dont have a fan on my reef keeper light. im tell you. invest in a reef keeper. its cheap and will keep you temp in check. providing your ambient is too high. it creats fail safes for your heater, lighting, and much more. all you need is a small fan blowing accross top of water. have you bought one yet?
Nemos Boss
New member
Your tank can easily reach 84-86... if it does go past 86; run for ice. otherwise i wouldnt fret. its big swings in temp that hurt. going from 76 to 82 or 84 is bad. This will kill fish but likely not soft corals.
Recty
New member
Your pump statement is completely false, sorry. I added two small Koralia nano powerheads, each of which draw 4 watts, and they are heating my tank up. It's almost four degrees hotter this morning than it ever is, the only change was adding the two small powerheads. 8 total watts of power...
By the same reasoning, the return pump that comes with the Coralife is not expensive, is probably not very efficient and from what I've read it draws more watts than the Maxijet.
Based off my experience with the very low wattage Koralias, I'm quite sure the return pump is also putting heat into the water. I'll find out when I switch in the Maxijet just how much.
Nemos Boss
New member
This 8W pump is likely not heating the tank, but lets say it is. A tank at 82 without a chiller or fan is normal and lucky. Did i tell you i have the same tank. i had a koralia and a biocube pump in back. my tank never went above 78. i since went back to stock, but pickup flow from my fluval g3. my tank sits at a constant 78. I have a FAN and rkl. GET A FAN! Placing your tank in the home has a huge affect on what kinda swings it could incure. like placing it too close to a ac unit will cool it quickly and run up you electric bill cause the heater is always on. Circulation in the area as well. If you home gets 90 in the summer.. this is not the hobby for you until you buy a chiller.
Recty
New member
Where exactly do you put a fan on this tank? I bought it specifically for the clean, enclosed look, I dont want to remove the hood in any way.
If I removed the hood and blew a fan on it, sure, evaporative cooling would take hold, but that's not what I want.
SOMETHING is adding heat to the water. One thing I'm sure is the lights. I wasnt real sure the return pump would be adding heat but after the minimal power Koralias were added and my tank was almost 4 degrees warmer the next morning, I'm sure that the return pump is causing a heat buildup.
My work is 72-73 degrees steady all day all night 365 days a year. My tank is sitting 10 degrees above that at it's peak. I'm sure the lights are part of it, it raises to right about 82.5 to 83 degrees during the light cycle, but it never drops below 78 or so even when I leave the lights off for days.
I'm really hoping the more efficient maxijet will help with my heat.
Nemos Boss
New member
i hope the maxijet works... Ill take my bet a five dollar fan before i replace the pump. Give us an update after you add a fan or find a way to ventilate your tank.
LordVega
New member
yea im with you there
SaguaroSteve
Moved On
I had issue with temps due to my heater thermostat malfunctioning...I had a Marineland Visi-Therm and pitched it for a Fluval heater and since it's been spot on, I've got a lot of stuff crammed in there too...
Recty
New member
Kind of like a bull in a china shop, you're just avoiding all the problems and stating it over and over again. I'm glad you think you've got the perfect solution to a problem, but you're pointedly ignoring my question about where to place a fan with the cover/hood of the tank still in tact.
A fan is not even an option at this point for me because I have to have my tank looking good in an office environment. So if you want to keep repeating your fan statement over and over again, at least answer me as to how you have your fan set up that still meets the requirements of keeping the hood on in and place.
I agree, all things considered a fan with no hood would be the cheapest fix. However, I never stated I want the cheapest fix...
I'm hoping to get the time to swap out my super extravagant and expensive $18 pump sometime this week and I'll see how it goes. Even if it only helps lower the tank one degree, that makes a difference between pushing 83 degrees or staying slightly under 82, which is what I'm trying to get below.
Recty
New member
I dont even have a heater, so there isnt anything I can replace. The kit didnt come with a heater and so far I havent needed it, as the tank never gets below 78.5. I did buy a small 50w heater but never placed it in the tank. If for some reason I have to do lights out for a week or two, then I'll probably have to put it in... but for right now the heater remains in the box and is just for emergencies.
Nemos Boss
New member
little that you realize my initial solution was for the origional poster of the thread. your enclosed tank will take a bit of diy to add a fan. your obviously not interested in modifying the hood. what else can be suggested. add an ice cube ato? ive seen people put a 5 gallon bucket of water in a mini frig and run ato. this was a larger tank tho. Lower room temp? Are the fans you have working? maybe you need to cut a few slots in the back(unnoticeable) to allow air to escape. increase the current to your fans to speed em up?
