Too Hot!!!

[saxerphoner]

First of all, you guys are probably tired of me and my mini crisis by now but I wanted to let you know how much I value every opinion that's been given so far. Thank You.

Now... I've recently purchased new lighting and put it onto my 20 gal. My lighting is not much: Actinic 03 NO "High Lumens" and 40w 6500K fluorescents. I've completely unplugged my heater and have two thermometers in my tank. The temp is reading nearly 84 now. I like to usually keep it between 76 and 78 depending on the time of the day. I need to get the temp down and my AC in the apartment has been shotty (pretty sure it's unrelated to the heat in the aquarium because the aquarium started heating up more than usual when the ac was working fine).

Is it alright to put distilled water ice cubes in my filter to try and get the temp down? and what are some opinions about what the problem may be and how to fix it?

Thanks again!!

saxer

 

[JC VT]

What else are you running in your tank? How many pumps and of what type?

Fans are the easiest way to cool a nano tank. The cubes will be a temporary fix.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

do you have any lids on the tank? like glass lids? (or plastic ones) if so, they keep heat in. But just throw a 5 dollar fan from walmart over the tank to grow across the surface. That will bring it down to 80. Oh, and imo 76 is on the low side, and you say you normally keep it at that during the day? what about night? does it drop below that? imo, i'd try and keep it a steady 80. Everyone here seems to keep theirs 78-82...i figure that neither one is wrong, but 80's right in the middle, so that saves me from trying to decide which one lol

 

[saxerphoner]

I'm running:

HOB Tetra (i think) whisper 20 filter
Maxijett 1200
Skimmer: on the way
Actinic 03 NO "high lumens"
40 watts 6500K fluorescent

Just blow the fans towards the lights?? That's a good idea, I thought about buying a computer fan to hook up to one side of the lighting but I like this idea better. I do have a top on it that would definitely keep the heat in (typical freshwater type of lid... on my list of upgrades) And I'll keep it around 80 from now on... Thanks!!!!

 

[JC VT]

I would blow the fans across the water, more so than the lights. You want to evaporate the water; cooling the lights would not help as much.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

ya at the water not the lights. If you have it directly on the lights, they wont heat up to the right temp which will make their output less (so i hear)...but then again yours are only NO lights so it prolly dont matter

But still, you want it on the water surface because that make water evap faster.
Its like sweat. When it hot and you're sweating, and then a breeze comes by (or you fan yourself off) you feel a cooling sensation. Thats because the sweat is evaporating.

Same thing with the tank water. Blow air across it to make it evap. That will make it cool off more. Yes, you'l proly need to top off more, but imo, people make that more of an issue than it needs to be...just top it off!

 

[jefathome]

Neither?
IMO what you really want to do is blow out the air between the water and the lights. Blowing on the water causes the temp to drom b/c of evaporation. What you want to do is keep the water from getting hot to begin with.

I think that the lights would still get plenty hot enough to work, and you don't have the increased evaporation/top-offs from blowing on the water.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

well by blowing air across the water thats also gonna take out any warm air thats above it, so there wont be any getting to the tank. I mean you dont wanna have a fan pointing directly to the bottom of the tank lol. Just across the top of the water. Many people swear you need a chiller. I say nay. Fans always drop my temp down to 80, and i'm in stinkin arizona.

And there was a thread a couple few months ago about the airflow directly onto the lights causing them to loose par or eficiency..i'll start a thread about it in the nebie forum right now.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

heres the thread just in case anyone wants to watch it. its only been up for like...a minute and theres already a reply

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=932825

 

[saxerphoner]

Wow... thanks guys, this info really helps a lot!! I have a little problem since I have a hood that I don't like that fits tight to the top of the tank. It's a freshwater style hood that has the strip of clear plastic for the light to shine through in the middle (remember those?). I have additional lights shining through where the flap in the front is supposed to be. It works decent but I hate it. I'm trying now to find a way to use a piece of glass I have to lift the lights up off the top of the tank and do away with the hood completely (trying to find a cheap way out for now). We'll see how it goes...

Any more suggestions or discussion would definitely rock and be appreciated!!!

Jake

 

[sir_dudeguy]

is this a rectangle tank? i dont recomend having anything blocking the light, even glass.

 

[saxerphoner]

yeah, it's rectangle... you would have your bulbs exposed? Most pc's come enclosed don't they?

 

[sir_dudeguy]

heres how i built my canopy...then i just drilled my lights into it (actually i just drilled the reflector into it...you'll see)

as you can see i suck at woodworking. But anyone who knows how to work w/wood can make that way nicer. But it works to keep the thing very ventilated and to keep fish in (i've now got egg-crate on the side gaps which allows air in and fish NOT out) and it keeps the light in the tank too. Before this light was just hanging above the tank and it was going everywhere into the room and not much into the tank...now its all in the tank (tho i still need to get nicer reflectors)

The reason i dont put glass under pc lightng is cuz it blocks out some light. with mh tho, it puts out uv rays so they put a glass cover over some. I really dont know why they put the glass over some of the pc fixtures...they say something like "splash protector" or something...i dont know bout you, but i dont remember the last time i dove into my tank making a splash lol.

 

[Agu]

I personaly prefer to protect my investment in lighting by using the lenses provided with a fixture. From the amount of salt creep I clean off the lens I can't imagine the bother it would be to clean the bulb and reflector.

If you want to use the same lights here's how I raised a fixture above the tank.

and with the light,

Ventilation is through the sides with the eggcrate.

 

[sir_dudeguy]

From the amount of salt creep I clean off the lens I can't imagine the bother it would be to clean the bulb and reflector.

I dont get salt creep at all for some reason so i dont even worry bout that lol. Didnt even think about that till you meantioned it.

thats a really cool design tho...any chance you'd go more into how you made it (or a top view?)

 

[Agu]

That's probably because your lights look to be 6" or more above the water.

Sorry but no other pics, I just made it up as I went along.

 

[saxerphoner]

**rookie question**

Agu,

What's the thing inside of the tank? The black thing towards the back... sorry, prolly a stupid question

 

[sir_dudeguy]

sax...the black box thing in the back of his tank? is that what you're refering to? If so, that looks to me like its just an overflow...but i guess it could be just a sectioned off compartment and the water doesnt really go anywhere...but i'm guessin overflow to his sump or fuge.

Agu, lights are 5 inches from water lol I really dont know why i get no salt creep and everyone else complains they do. I mean i do have really good surface agitation (so good i sometimes think the water is just gonna blow over the edge of the tank ) but if you watch it you can tell that theres nothing splashing in there...and no bubble popping at the surface, which imo, is the worst cause of salt creep.

And does temp and/or humidity have anything to do with salt creep? The temp in my room is about 79-80 with what must be 60-80% humidity. ya i know thats high...i got the room completely sealed (except for the wall unit a/c) and a fan on the tank..might that have any crazy affects on the amount of salt creep? Just curious...

 

[Agu]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8188680#post8188680 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saxerphoner
**rookie question**

Agu,

What's the thing inside of the tank? The black thing towards the back... sorry, prolly a stupid question

It's an overflow that doesn't go anywhere, it's just to hide the equipment,

The pump and return,

I can also fit carbon and a heater in there , that way nothing but the nozzels are visible in the tank.