cakemanPA
New member
And believe it or not... A lot of people in this hobby have jobs that prevent them from leaving during their work hours... As far as I am concerned that is.a rapid rise in temps.
SAD- NO Chiller-Fish and corals all DIED :-(
- Thread starter aquaskilz
- Start date
And believe it or not... A lot of people in this hobby have jobs that prevent them from leaving during their work hours... As far as I am concerned that is.a rapid rise in temps.
kclewis
REEFER
More of a reason to have procedures in place. Look, I'm just trying to make a simple point. I understand it was initially harsh. I will cease to comment going forward if needed.
Good luck going forward.
M.phenax
not Blondie
I set my a/c and heat for my animals comfort and survival. For three years, I lived in an apartment with only one window a/c unit. I used fans to circulate the cool air-I had no problems. Then, I moved into a house with central air. Everything was hunky dory, until the a/c went out on a holiday weekend. I had no a/c for 4 days. I turned off the lights, opened the windows, and used big gatorade bottles of ice in the sump to try to cool my main tank. The daytime temps were over 100F, and I couldn't keep my tank lower than 95F. I lost most of my animals. Perhaps, a chiller would have been the answer but here in Florida, we can also lose power for long periods too.
I don't think anyone on this forum is intentionally going to do something to jepordize the health of the animals in their tanks. We are all here to learn or to teach from what we have experienced. As teachers, we should be patient and remember when we made mistakes. We should also remember that we don't know everything and when we quit learning, we may as well just hang it all up.
I don't think anyone on this forum is intentionally going to do something to jepordize the health of the animals in their tanks. We are all here to learn or to teach from what we have experienced. As teachers, we should be patient and remember when we made mistakes. We should also remember that we don't know everything and when we quit learning, we may as well just hang it all up.
Curious George
New member
I think a good 1/4 hp chiller will do the trick
Sometimes things go wrong and that's how we know we need to add something else. God knows I've learned expensive lessons that have taught me what equipment was a must have and what wasn't.
Some people are just perfect and need to tell us how perfect they are by rubbing salt in the wound. They never needed diapers, erasers, or insurance....lame
Sorry for your losses. Live and learn and you seem like a nice guy either way. Please don't let the voices of a few curtail your questions and contributions to the forum.
Sometimes things go wrong and that's how we know we need to add something else. God knows I've learned expensive lessons that have taught me what equipment was a must have and what wasn't.
Some people are just perfect and need to tell us how perfect they are by rubbing salt in the wound. They never needed diapers, erasers, or insurance....lame
Sorry for your losses. Live and learn and you seem like a nice guy either way. Please don't let the voices of a few curtail your questions and contributions to the forum.
dkeller_nc
New member
Back to you original question. Given the size tank that you have and that you have LED lights, and assuming you run your house A/C so that the interior air temp doesn't go above 80, one of the smaller chillers made by JBJ or AquaEuro will do the trick (somewhere between 1/10 and 1/8 horsepower).
Note that the size chiller you require sensitively depends on the air temperature inside your house, how much heat is being added to the aquarium by lights and pumps, and the amount of evaporation that is taking place.
Both from the standpoint of initial cost and long-term power usage, taking steps to increase evaporation and limit heat gain by the tank is far more economical than buying/using a larger chiller.
kclewis
REEFER
Seriously? If he doesn't have the cash flow for ac you think a 1/4 hp chiller will be in the budget?
Have you ever done the breakdown on energy use of a chiller????
Who said they were perfect by the way??
We had multiple 110 weeks here in Georgia last year. I run an open tank and keep the thermostat at 79 and run a window unit in the room with the tank between 9am and 8pm (down to about 75 degrees. ). Thermometer stays at about 80 and heaters still run regularly keeping it above 77.
greg1786
Active member
I just had my 125 with 30 gal sump reach 87 yesterday while I was at work. My window unit blew up while I was at work and the room got so hot it cooked the tank. Thankfully i got home in time and nothing was dead but a few fish were laboring pretty hard breathing wise. I just got a new window unit only 160 at walmart and it has a timer and an auto thermostat so it only runs when absolutely necessary if im not home. Maybe check into that, it is much more affordable than blasting your ac all day or buying a chiller. Good luck man
KeepNitReel
New member
You don't consider that a rapid change but two of my fish did and died as a result. I've been in this hobby 14 years (most of it freshwater) and have learned that stuff happens.
I agree with what you said about planning but sometimes people just get caught off guard or life distracts them. No need to pour salt in the wound, the lost was a lesson learned & the thread shows dedication to learn & improve.
Relax guy, lol!! You cool with me kclewis:beer:
I have a frag tank 2' by 4' foot in my garage in Peoria Arizona my tank temp might on a bad day might reach 80 degrees when outside temp today was 106 tank temp was 75. All I have in my garage is a industrial size fan blowing toward my tank and two vent fans blowing through outside vent. The fans they are talking about will work very well, might have to top off a bit more RO water but at least the fan will keep the temp down quite a bit. All I have done was talk to a couple of reputable local reef stores and fellow reefers and made my decisions from there. I understand where KClewis is coming from, but just a little less harsh and a little better criticism would have received less comments and seemed a little more helpful, But this hobby is not to be considered cheap at all and doing your research and asking questions will get you a lot further in this hobby. That's just my 2 cents!
Dexters Reef
New member
Just get an energy star rated air conditioner that turns on and off with a digital temperature control. It really isnt that expensive to run, if you set it to 74 or 75 when you leave it will turn on / off as needed.
Chillers are all very expensive, take up a bunch of space, and will just raise the ambient temperature of the room, which will just warm the tank and make the chiller run more. An air conditioner however, will keep your tank and room cool.
Chillers are all very expensive, take up a bunch of space, and will just raise the ambient temperature of the room, which will just warm the tank and make the chiller run more. An air conditioner however, will keep your tank and room cool.
goochesfish
New member
We hit 100 degrees in SoCal last weekend and of course my chiller blew a fuse. So even with the best planning **** happens. I only noticed when my lights shut off. I have a Neptune that shuts lights when it hits 82. Needless to say, the fuse crumbled inside, brought chiller in and it had to be sent to manufacturer. I'm out of a chiller for 5 days now. I opened my hood, attached a fan, opened my stand doors, attached another fan and opened the windows in my house, by morning , tank was 77. I know, too big a swing. So the fans work very well. Evaporation draws the heat and energy from the tank. You just have to top off more often when it's hot. Fans are ugly though.
Dingo44
New member
How about one of those ductless Fujitsu AC units? Just stick it at the top of the wall in the room where you keep your tank. I've heard they are pretty efficient and it only cools the room the unit is in while not needing a window to hang out of.
I had an idea a while back for a design of a poor-man's chiller. It came to me when I was making a modification for a fog machine on Halloween. To turn a regular fog machine into one that emits ground covering fog, you drill two holes in an igloo cooler, one on each end. Run a wire mesh cylinder through the cooler connecting the two holes and fill the cooler with ice. Hook up the fog machine to one end and as the fog goes through the cooler it cools down and hugs the ground.
I figured that if you used the same concept but instead of wire mesh use PVC and do a few coils in the cooler before exiting the other side of the cooler. Pump tank water through the cooler and it just might work.
I've never tried it or built it, it was just an idea I had and I might make it one day since I do live in AZ. A few times the power has gone out during the summer here and luckily I was home to float ice in big ziploc bags. I also have a battery powered airstone and a UPS for the powerheads.
I had an idea a while back for a design of a poor-man's chiller. It came to me when I was making a modification for a fog machine on Halloween. To turn a regular fog machine into one that emits ground covering fog, you drill two holes in an igloo cooler, one on each end. Run a wire mesh cylinder through the cooler connecting the two holes and fill the cooler with ice. Hook up the fog machine to one end and as the fog goes through the cooler it cools down and hugs the ground.
I figured that if you used the same concept but instead of wire mesh use PVC and do a few coils in the cooler before exiting the other side of the cooler. Pump tank water through the cooler and it just might work.
I've never tried it or built it, it was just an idea I had and I might make it one day since I do live in AZ. A few times the power has gone out during the summer here and luckily I was home to float ice in big ziploc bags. I also have a battery powered airstone and a UPS for the powerheads.
Thank you again for all of your advice from those who truly understood what my real dilemma was. So I ordered some fans last night after muggin a few ppl because thats what we's do in the NYC LOL. Also put some frozen bottles in my sump and took the glass canopy off my tank and WHALA!! Temp went down and stable for now. Also going to invest in an energy efficient A/C for that room. If all else fails, I will get the chiller. I appreciate everyone's input and suggestions. I will give an update real soon.
SIDE NOTE: I apologize I did not loose ALL my fish. Just my Coral Beauty and Ornamental Shrimp.
Inhabitants: Yellow Tang, 3 stripe damsel, blue damsel, maroon clown, pajama cardinal
Corals Lost: Colt, Candy cane, hammer, peachtree, mushroom polyp and a Micronesian
I will overcome
SIDE NOTE: I apologize I did not loose ALL my fish. Just my Coral Beauty and Ornamental Shrimp.
Inhabitants: Yellow Tang, 3 stripe damsel, blue damsel, maroon clown, pajama cardinal
Corals Lost: Colt, Candy cane, hammer, peachtree, mushroom polyp and a Micronesian
I will overcome
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power boat jim
Well-known member
Glad some of us could of service. You should be fine with a the AC unit and the removal of the glass tops of death. Good luck restocking.
Thanks PBJ appreciate that. BTW Do you order your corals online or go to a LFS??
power boat jim
Well-known member
I was just looking at the amount of coral in my tank last night and was figuring out where they all came from. Early on I got most of them from a local shop that is no longer in business. Then I went through a phase of getting things from Fosters and Smith online. Lately its been 75% from local reefers (Trades and donations) and a few others from some newer local shops.
I still have corals in my tank from 10 or so years ago so I have pieces around from all the sources I listed. My tank is full so I now must tade out stuff to get anything else in. All the sources listed have produces very succesful pieces.
power boat jim
Well-known member
Your welcome. DFS are a good group I would order from them again.
