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Water Temperature Issue.......

S

sandysylvester

Good morning everyone. I had a quick question concerning my water temps. This tank was set up this year everything has been fine until warm weather moved in. Once the weather warmed up my temps want to run over 80. The tank is located in my kitchen, and yes during the hot summer days it is also the warmest. Yesterday I checked my temps and they were at 86!
I have unplugged my heater, I basically have been running no light or just my leds, Friday I topped off my tank with 3 gallon of cold, yesterday I got desperate and put a 2 liter soda bottle frozen w/ice in the tank to try and drop it. I generally like to run about 78.

My question is, what options do I have to alleviate the problem on a long term basis?

I am at this time shutting the blinds and turning the a/c on, but I assume since the water is at 86, it isn't going to want to drop anytime soon.

Tank is a 72 Gallon, t5ho light, pump external and I have a reef octopus hob as well.
 
downbeach

downbeach

Do you have any internal pumps that could be running hot? What kind of thermometer are you using? You might want to check its accuracy. Is there anyplace you could install a fan?
 
natesreef

natesreef

If its getting all the way up to 86 then you might want to look into getting a chiller. you would be looking at a 1/10 or 1/8 hp chiller.
 
S

sandysylvester

I am not sure about the thermometer. I bought it at the fish store. If I run cold water over it the merc drops. I am sure it wasn't high tech one, but not the cheapest either. There are no pumps in the water either. Over the winter it seemed stable. I do notice during the afternoon I get a window time around an hour the sun is setting right on the tank.
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
Running a fan over the water surface is a quick and easy way to drop the temp a few degrees and keep it there. Just be carefull as this also accelerates evaporation which could raise your salinity. The sun hitting the tank could also be a factor so shading it would help. As the others have said, your last ditch measure is a chiller but they can be pricey and they generate a lot of hot air which could be an issue in your kitchen.
 
S

sandysylvester

Skimmer pump is external. Its the hang on back reef octopus. The temp issue was before I got that. Only had that running for the past 2 weeks. Now my pump for my tank if anyone remembers is that weird black box system, then its pumped by an external mag drive utility pump. I did just feel that and it is warm but not hot. I wonder if I should turn off my pump for a few hours and see if it drops? I am just a little clueless since all winter and spring was fine, now its crazy.
I also elevated my lights to get at much heat dissapated away from the top water. I will go get a pic of the tank.
 
arvin

arvin

NJRC Member
One of the things you want to make sure is that the temperature swing is not too drastic. In your situation, I would suggest try to maintain it between 82-84. Don't try to bring it down to 78 until the summer is passed.

As others have mentioned, a simple fan brings down the temperature by couple of degrees. $10 fans from Walmart make wonders. If you have a sump get two clip-on fans and put it on sump. If not, you can put in on the display such that the water is blown directly on the water surface.

Here is an article that discusses different methods to cool off http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-06/nftt/index.php
 
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