Tank too hot?

[jdeb101]

My tank has been reaching up to 84 degrees this summer. From my understanding this is pretty much the peak temp it should reach, correct?

Would any of these be good to keep the temp down?

1) Take off the glass cover
2) Only run actinics before and after daylights (although this will prob negativaly affect coral growth...)
3) Only run the skimmer at night, rather than 24/7

Any advice/tips appreciated.

btw...Everything has been looking pretty good, except I noticed my duncans were closed up most the day a few days ago. Not sure if thats heat related.

 

[UncleJT]

Take those glass covers off. #2 will not have any effect either way. #3 would be more detrimental than beneficial.

 

[Cherokee_Dude]

Yes, that is peak (Although significant fluctuations are just as bad)

1) Take off the glass cover
Yes, and have a fan blow across it and the sump (If you have one)

2) Only run actinics before and after daylights (although this will prob negativaly affect coral growth...)
Couldn't hurt... your corals will not be significantly affected by a lack of Actinic lighting.

3) Only run the skimmer at night, rather than 24/7
You could do that... But the better option would probably be to do reverse lighting schedule so the warming occurs during cooler hours.

HTH

 

[MikeG]

Glass tops should never be on in my opinion to get the best gas exchange possible. This should bring you temps down a bit. If you can blow a fan across the waters surface to utilize evaporative cooling. You can drop the temp a few degrees this way.

IME it is the temp swing and not the absolute # that causes the problems. A tank that runs between 82-84 degrees will not have the problems of a tank that swings from 75-82.

 

[jdeb101]

Thanks for all the tips guys. The tank usually is 80 in the morning and then during the day peaks at around 84 degrees.

 

[UncleJT]

Thanks for all the tips guys. The tank usually is 80 in the morning and then during the day peaks at around 84 degrees.

Just removing the covers would reduce this swing. Start here first.

 

[Reeferer]

I have heard that you can freeze a 2 liter bottle with water and drop it in your sump to cool down the water. This way you will not be putting the water into your system.

 

[jdeb101]

Unfortunately I do not have a sump.

 

[frank180reef]

I think the fan will help as well as removing the cover.............

Also be my guess you could go w/o lighting on the really hot days

Frank

 

[Miller]

Unfortunately I do not have a sump.

Get a window AC for the room the tank is in. Turn it on during the day when its hot. Then turn it off and night when it cools down and open the windows. We did this when we lived in Providence and set the AC to 75. It felt cool to us and the tank stayed cool as well.

 

[jdeb101]

Get a window AC for the room the tank is in. Turn it on during the day when its hot. Then turn it off and night when it cools down and open the windows. We did this when we lived in Providence and set the AC to 75. It felt cool to us and the tank stayed cool as well.

Well we do have central AC, however the room my tank is in is really small and prob the hottest in the house. Unfortuantely I still live with the parents and dont think they would be too happy with me raising the electrical bill and higher for my hobby.

I'll try keeping the cover off and blowing a fan across the surface. I did do this for a while (except without a fan), and didnt notice much difference so just threw the cover back on. I'll have to invest in fan.

 

[ReferReefer]

Glass covers off!

If you can shoot a powerhead straight up toincrease gas exchange.

Even better, fan oversurface, but keep an eye on evap. (ATO would be handy if you have it.)

Even better , window AC or chiller.

First two are as far as I needed to go, but beware with the fan, it will drop the temp quite a bit, so make sure you don't produce a negative temp swing.

Regards,
Lee

 

[jdeb101]

Thanks Lee. I didnt think of aiming the ph toward the surface. I will prob try that and removing the glass cover.

 

[Blueflu1]

I was having the same problem, except I was getting 6 degree swings at times. My central AC is broken in the downstairs (until today). I would sometimes have to put frozen bottles of water in my sump. I finally just got a chiller off a fellow reefer. Such piece of mind now.

 

[stingythingy45]

Definitely get the glass cover off.I'm even going to remove the one I have over my refugium when I get home.Going to get a small fan blowing on the surface of the sump water.Then I'm going to get some water mixing to add more volume.
I have room for at least 20 more gallons in the sump.
We'll see what the combination of that does before resorting to anything else.
I've also been running close to 84 deg.
Odd as the basement is only maybe 76 degrees.

 

[jdeb101]

Odd as the basement is only maybe 76 degrees.

Ya that is strange. Sometime my room will be about 76 degrees and the tank just never wants to dip in temp.

 

[stingythingy45]

It takes a long time for water to drop in temp.
Like the fog over lakes in the fall time shows.
I'm going to pull my heater to just check them in case one is on.
I have a 250 watt in the sump and a 100 watt in the tank.
Always best to have 2.

 

[afboundguy]

You could also run the lights at night and have them off during the day when it's the hottest. Have the actinics turn on anywhere from 7-9pm so you can still view the tank before you goto bed.

 

[frank180reef]

I would both double check the heaters, they tend to turn on and off when they want

 

[jdeb101]

I actually disconnected my heater the other day. No difference.