TOTM:7-10-05 God, it's hot!!!!

[charlie]

Hey there you all, my long awaited tip of the month is back
As we roll into the summer months, some of us that either can't afford a chiller, or just plain don't have room for one, are having a few heat issues with our little glass boxes. What I am gonna try to attempt here, is offer a few solutions to this sticky little problem.

First off, excessive heat can and will affect your critters. SPS can RTN, STN, and just plain not look real healthy. Softies, at least mine, tend to not open up as fully as they have before. Fish tend to start breathing not so well. In general, HEAT is a real bad thing in your reef.

The first thing I did, was to install one of those cheapy little clip on fans on my sump, and run it 24/7 at high speed!! This will cause your evaporation rate to go up a bit, but evaporative cooling is a good thing. From my personal experience, it has helped bring the temps down by at least 2 degrees in the whole system. Fans can also be mounted around the edges of your tank, and pointed so they blow across the water surface, also help. You can purchase these fans for less than 10 bucks at your local Wally World , Target, Home Depot, you get the idea!!

I don't have a canopy on my tank, but those of you that do can also use fans to get rid of the heat buildup inside the hood. One or two fans mounted on either side of the hood, one side pulling cooler air in, and one side pushing the hot air out really helps. Of course, this will heat up the room that the tank is in, but there again, the placement of another fan, preferably near open open window, drawing the hot air out can help you out too. Central air conditioning in the home will also help you keep the house a might cooler, but that's a whole other monetary concern!!!!

Some people with larger systems use air exchangers that draw cooler air in from outside and pump the hot air back out. I am not real familiar with these, but maybe someone that has this system can chime in here and help me out.

Another way to cool things off, is keeping those gallon milk jugs, that all of us seem to throw away. Fill it with water, throw it in the freezer, and when things start getting toasty, throw the jug in your sump and let the water flow around it. This does work, you just need a few jugs to keep things cool.

These are just a couple ways to accomplish the cooling that we all seem to need around this time of year. I'm sure there are more, so let's hear what you guys do.

Have fun, enjoy the summer, and think about keeping your reef critters healthy.

Thanx,
Charlie

[karloz01]

yeah charlie the fan idea u have works . ive been a close watch on tank with lights on for about 12 hours and its warm now i turn off fans and and check on it again and its now hot about 3 inches away from touching bulb . i thought and tried out ur tip one blowin in and one out . i quickly remember my wife cleans and sprays lysol clearner pot pouuri well u get the pic . i dont want these chemicals in my tank no way so if one fan blowin in wouldnt it take those chemicals in . ive had them on now both fans 1 on each side blowin out after a why u can closey put one hand over fan and feel the hot breeze

[scooterman]

Well fans are my friends:eek3:
I recently got a new chiller & ended up needing it replaced & now have a new working chiller. The thing I find about it is it will not cool well unless I have plenty of air room front & back of the unit, also If heat builds up in the room then your working in reverse & actually pumping heat. humidity & heat down here is very difficult to find a balance, A/C units must remove more moisture from the air to make it feel any cooler, down south water steady drips out of all A/C units, when I park my truck it floods the ground underneath with evaporator moisture. So I think I'll have to redesign things to accommodate the chiller more efficiently & make it worth while having, otherwise I'll be back to fans which I'm starting to think in some locations as in mine may be a better option but the amount & location of each will be critical in keeping ga consistent water temp. Stay tuned for more later as I get this kink worked out

[charlie]

Can you use fans and a chiller Scooty? I take it your chiller is inside.

[scooterman]

Charlie I see no way around it, you need fans regardless, otherwise your making the chiller work even harder, you have to move air to cool water, it helps in many ways. Yes chiller is inside, with 95% humidity & 95 degrees outside I don't see how that would work well LOL.

[charlie]

I know where you are coming from, except without all the humidity. I have three fans working downstairs right now. We are just waitng for it to cool off a bit. Good luck man, let us know what happens, OK.

[scooterman]

Well I have some major setbacks lately so my progress will be in a stall LOL!
I will hopefully this weekend re-plumb the chiller to work more efficiently, I'm finding out that the smallest differences makes a big difference in the operation of the chilling, If you want when I get this done I can post up what I discover & how well it works or doesn't. I've found a lot of misconceptions when it comes to using a chiller, I surely didn't know these things & I've read so much about them. IMO the most effective temp. control will be with the use of fans, with or without a chiller.

[charlie]

Well I have some major setbacks lately so my progress will be in a stall LOL!
I will hopefully this weekend re-plumb the chiller to work more efficiently, I'm finding out that the smallest differences makes a big difference in the operation of the chilling, If you want when I get this done I can post up what I discover & how well it works or doesn't. I've found a lot of misconceptions when it comes to using a chiller, I surely didn't know these things & I've read so much about them. IMO the most effective temp. control will be with the use of fans, with or without a chiller.

Scooter, the only way to know something to it abuse it for a whlie!!!! I am sure you can get to the bottom of things, we would really like you post up your results.
Good luck.

[scubadude]

I 2nd that topic!! I just moved to Kansas from Florida and I think it feels hotter in Kansas Maybe cuz its a dryier heat....I dunno, I sure hope you guys are keeping your tanks cool though.

[chefbenry89]

When i bought my halide my apartment got so hot!!! no amount of fans was enough... i think my tank reached as high as 93 degrees and the surrounding air had to be nearly 100! I got a small ENERGY STAR a/c unit and installed it near the tank and have had NO problems since, steadily 75-78 degrees