How do you guys cool down your tank?

A

atty

New member
How do you guys cool down your tank?
In oz the last 2 days have been a heat wave, my tank hit 33 degrees centergrade and my lipstick fish is in bad shape. I would love a chiller but the wallet is to small for a purchase like that, if i did save it would be winter by the time i had enough money. What do you guys find effective?
 
I bit the bullet and bought 3 chillers for my three tanks. Easiest. But costly.

Many people have had big success by using a small computer fan in the canopy to extract the heat generated by the lights - obviously this depends on the tank's design.
 
do the small fan thing and point it down towards the water the best you can... you'll be surprised at how much it will cool your water and the increased amount of topoffs you'll have to do!! :)
 
Yes, start with fans. If tha doesn't work add more fans. Then raise lights or change photoperiod. Then consider chiller or better AC in the room.

(But never waste your time thinking about DIYing a bar refrigerator chiller. It can't be done.)
 
I have a dual stage controller one set at 77 to start at a 2 degree differential for my fans, and the other set at 78 to start at a 2 degree differential for my chiller. The fans are pointing down at the water. Previously I had the fans pointing at the lights but found that if I point them at the water the temp dropped by 2 degrees! Also if you are having a heatwave shutting down the lights for a day or so shouldn't harm your tank.

Good luck
Harry
 
I put a 110 AC window unit in the room. It blows cool air to the tank, and keeps the room much cooler. I also keep a small fan blowing over the water. Let the heater do its job.
 
Chiller would be the last course of action. Not only are they expensive, but they are big time electricity hogs, and can be noisy. Here in Texas we had 30+ days in a row with temps above 100F this summer. I kept the household a/c at 76F and used a medium sized fan blowing across the water. This kep my daytime highs in the tank at 81 to 82F.
 
Your most foolproof option is a chiller vented outside, set on a temperature controller.
But as JoeESSA posted above, a/c and fans is a great way to go. A/C units act as dehumidifiers so evaporative cooling of the fans becomes much more effective than a fan in a hot humid room blowing hot humid air over your water. You will also get the benefit of a cool and comfortable room, which will make it an easier sell to the wife rather than a $600 chiller which will keep the tank cool, but the room really hot if you don't vent it outside.
 
Ask around ther are used chillers for sale but fans work nicely if you can handle the noise and you will almost double your topoff water
 
I bought a fan few fans one to suck the warm air out of the canopy and the other one blows straight down on the water in the sump. It causes much more evaporation so I bought a float switch for a ATO. All if it cost me a little less that 100 bucks and I dropped the temp 5 degrees...I'd say its much cheaper than a chiller.
 
thanks, im going to get a tempreture controler and some computer fans, 2 for the tank and 2 for the sump/refuge. The main reason why my tank gets so hot is because the MH shines with so much heat. to over come this im thinking of buying 2 140 watt compact VHO's, one being 10k and the being 14k. Im thinking that some light from the MH is lost in heat so the VHO's might be a completly better option.
 
Hmmm, don't know if you want to remove your MH, but that's up to you. Yes, they produce a lot of infra-red (heat), but very hard to beat in terms of giving your corals an intense, full spectrum light source - depending on color temperature you have chosen. Also, nothing competes with the beautiful, shimmering appearance that MH's give in my opinion. If you attempt to replace a MH bulb with equal amounts of VHO power you'll still have heat being produced. If VHO's are much more efficient than MH bulbs or not, I have to be honest and say that I really don't know. T5's on the other hand are supposed to be very efficient.
 
If you have external pumps, make sure they are ventilated properly. Poorly ventilated external pumps can impart a lot of heat to the water IME.
 
so this is my plan on keeping my tank cool:
i going to run 2 135 watt VHO's (10k +14k) for 10 hours a day
150 10k metal MH for 3 hours a day and on a Thermostat (turns off at 27 degreese)
18 watt blue actinic for 13 hours a day
blues LED's for 16 hours a day
And 4 fans on a Thermostat at 27oc

Any more ideas?
 
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