Overheating: how not to:

[Sk8r]

June is about to bust out all over, and with it comes heat.

How to avoid heat buildup in your tank...and why.
The max safe temperature for your tank is 84 degrees...with an accurate thermometer. I always keep two thermometers of different types, so if there is a malfunction, I can start checking.
Never trust a heater thermostat. They're the simplest sort of electronics, and prone to failure or imprecision, even the pretty good ones.

COOLING OFF...
Evaporation is your best friend. It cools your tank. This means you will have to 'top off' a lot with fresh water. This may make an autotopoff unit (electrical or drip) a good bet to save your sanity.

Remember that sand and rock heat up and cool off more slowly than the water. Keep checking the temperature over time. If you have gotten too hot, it may take days to see an improvement.

Step 1: Take off every lid you can possibly remove, above the stand and down in the sump. If you have fish inclined to jump, put on an openwork lid of eggcrate and set your lights above it.
Step 2: Put a fan in your sump area blowing straight across the water. Do the same above.
Step 3: Put fans in your enclosed light kit: one blowing in, one blowing out. This cools down the physical area of your lights, but does nothing to stop the light-induced heating going on down in your tank.
Step 4: Reverse your day/dark cycle in the tank to take advantage of nighttime house temperatures. It has to have the day, but day can be at night.
Step 5: Get a chiller. For nanos there is the Ice Probe; for bigger aquaria there are others, which range into very pricey, also in power consumption. And if you are really considering the most pricey, consider just a rollabout room airconditioner, and going back to fans for the tank: the rollabouts cost about 500.00, work well, requiring only a hose exit, and if you're in it for the cost, why shouldn't you be cooled off along with your fish? If your budget can air condition one room, move a mattress in and try sleeping with the fishes.

 

[Ti]

great post!

 

[Sk8r]

Thanks...imho, heat is one of the most insidious things...real easy for new reefers to have it build up and tip right over the edge before they realize they're in danger. I wouldn't have believed how much heat this 'new' equipment generates. In dino days, we never had this much problem with it, and you think you're ok---and the very first thing that went wrong in my tank was an 85 degree spike and a little coralline bleaching that took a month to heal.

 

[tashari]

I've heard that putting frozen water bottles in the sump is a good idea. what r ur thoughts?

 

[Sk8r]

One of the bennies of having a sump is having nothing alive down there (much) that can be affected by sudden changes. It is a way to try to get temperature down once you've had a problem. And on the hottest day of the year, again, or on the 3 days your airconditioning fails in an Arizona summer and there's no way you can get off work, it's not going to hurt much, particularly if you have a really big sump. It may not last long in the heat of a sump, but every smidge of heat you can pull out of your tank, you know that heat isn't IN your tank. In the aforementioned situation---I'd arrange that my lights didn't come on until midnight, and that I blew every fan I owned toward that tank. If you have a simultaneous power failure, get down to the store and get ice. Put it in ziplocks and pack it around the OUTSIDE of the sump [it's freshwater] and hope the seals are good, for the sake of your carpet. Plus hope you have several of those battery-powered bait-bucket bubblers you can get in the fishing department of your local Walmart, and you put those in your main tank and hope the power company moves fast. I mention this scenario, because when heat gets the worst, the thunderstorms roll and power can go out, whether by lightning or brownout: I've lived in the south. And an emergency plan in case of simultaneous stifling heat and general power failure is a good thing to have. The higher the heat, the greater the need for aeration.

 

[JFK_Jr]

I can fit 3... 2 liter frozen water bottles in my Berlin Sump. I keep more in the freezer so I always have a constant supply ready. Saves on A/C and I've spent the money I've saved on a chiller on other cool toys.

 

[Sk8r]

Good tip.
Anyone got others? Canny experienced reefers with some ideas that can help the newbies get through this summer?

 

[chaseracing]

Here is a tip:

Don't play with your heater when its late, or you might adjust it without knowing and cook your tank.

-=E=-

 

[Sk8r]

That's for sure. The way I have to squidge sideways into my wedge base to work, I'm never sure which way I'm turning the thing. I insist on having a flashlight in hand and my glasses on when working with that item.

 

[WaterKeeper]

The frozen water bottle trick is really only in case of a dire emergency, when you need to get the tanks temp down pronto. Following Sk8r's advise to prevent temperature problems in the first place is better than letting things get so far out of control that ice is the best solution. A home with good air conditioning usually will compensate for not having a chiller in tanks under 150 or so gallons. However, if the air is off when you are not at home then a chiller may be the only solution.

 

[Sk8r]

Thanks, Waterkeeper!

 

[smcnally]

I agree. A fan can lower your temp more than you think. My tank was at 87 on friday (luckily with no losses). I mounted my fan finally (I'm a BIGTIME procrastinator), and since I mounted it, my tank hasn't gone above 82 degrees (and we've had hotter days). Not bad at all...5 degree drop with a $10 fan.