The Heat is On

[SkiFletch]

It's here... For the rest of the week, this is the real deal. High temps and high humidity is our tanks combined worst nightmare. My white LEDs were barely on at all today as the tank hovered around 83. Might have to suck it up and bust out the AC tomorrow.

Remember folks, when the dew point is above 60, evaporation is really tough and fans barely cut it. Don't bother with things like floating ice bags or other whacky options. Just go straight for the vapor compression

 

[AmherstReef]

AC is on and cranking

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

excellent timing

excellent timing

these threads always pop up when we go tropical.

The age old ice debate is bound to appear but let's say it again:

DON'T BOTHER WITH ICE TO COOL AN AQUARIUM!

vapor compression = AC

now to be honest... I hate a closed up house. I'm gonna see how long I can keep the AC off. My controller will shut of halides when the aquarium gets too warm. I figure it'll be 'lights out' around noon.

Now... I had to do it... for old time's sake... it's the annual resurrection of the MOST CLASSIC of URS Forum thread's:
Todd (of T's torch fame) gives us the scientific reason why ICE is fairly USELESS in cooling an aquarium.
You'd better know what joules are!


came to a bad realization

gosh I miss those guys!

 

[terrypercula]

How worth it is it to buy a chiller is my question ha

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

How worth it is it to buy a chiller is my question ha

I sold mine.

A chiller MUST be vented to a remote location. If you discharge it into the house all you've done is create a heat loop and a new best friend in Ni_Mo.

SPEND CHILLER MONEY ON AC UNIT

 

[terrypercula]

I sold mine.

A chiller MUST be vented to a remote location. If you discharge it into the house all you've done is create a heat loop and a new best friend in Ni_Mo.

SPEND CHILLER MONEY ON AC UNIT

Ahh very good I didn't know that.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

if you ARE NOT running AC

if you ARE NOT running AC

and you install a chiller in your house that's not vented/plumbed remotely...

you won't need to cook your dinner in the oven- just set it on a counter top in the kitchen

Probably the biggest (aquarium) mistake I ever made: installing a chiller in my aquarium stand. But cut me some slack: it was before I had internet and I didn't know ANYONE running a chiller on any aquariums at the time.

I thought it was 'cutting edge' :facepalm:

 

[terrypercula]

:dance: Well I'm more than happy to learn from other people's mistakes. Hopefully I'll minimalise my own. So far the worst mistake I made was my first tank. Let's be honest though how many people's first tank has half the rock it should twice as many fish and no RO/DI.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

in the beginning I made more mistakes than everyone here combined. Seriously. NOBODY I knew of had a reef aquarium. Fish tanks yes.

Reef aquariums no.

Not only did I run a chiller in the early 90's but at that time it was believed the best temperature to run a reef aquarium was 75F.

That house had no AC.

No wonder I weighed 180lbs!

 

[lhscouchmonster]

:dance: Well I'm more than happy to learn from other people's mistakes. Hopefully I'll minimalise my own. So far the worst mistake I made was my first tank. Let's be honest though how many people's first tank has half the rock it should twice as many fish and no RO/DI.

My wife doesnt like putting the AC on much so i read into getting a chiller. A few people said that you are better off getting an air conditioner just for that room. Its probably the same price as a chiller.

My mother in law just read an article about running the heater/AC fan constantly on hot days instead of setting it to auto (where it just kicks the fan on when the AC is actively creating cool air). The idea is that the air is constantly circulated so that the cold air is moved around to the warmer spots. My tank is on the second floor and the AC doesnt work as well upstairs. Im going to try that out. Anyone know anything about how that would work?