Chilling water

[JMsAquarium]

Ok, here's the thing. My tank water is rather hot. It's about 84-86º in the morning (before lights turn on), and just under 89º after the lights are on for a few hours.

Lights are 2 X 400W 2k bulbs, and are on for about 5 hours a day. Tank is running for about 10 days now and it's stabilizing. Only inhabitants are about 15 hermits.

2 sumps totalling about 50 gals of water with in-sump AC 150 skimmer powered by a submerged Mag 7. Return pump is an Iwaki RLT 40 in line (external). I know that the real option would be a chiller, but this is out of question at the moment. Maybe in a few months, not before. I will have to redisign the whole sump and space inside the cabinet first, before considering a chiller. Putting one outside the cabinet is definitely not an option either, the tank is in my living room and I am space limited.

Now, does anybody have suggestions on how to drop the water temp for the time being?

[michaelg]

Wow- that's pretty toasty.  Multiple fans in the hood (4" computer type fans- I found some pretty enexpensive and reasonably quiet ones- see DIY forum a while back - march-april time),  This will help to both vent the hood, thereby removing some of the daytime heat from lights, and to increase evaporation, which will lower overall temp.  Also put extra holes, 2-3" in size in the back part of the hood and on top.

A bigger fan blowing in the sump if you can fit one.

 

Fun all the fans continually if you can.

Pay attention to water level in the sump, you will find it dropping a lot more.

Michael

[BeltwayBandit]

Place a fan blowing directly over the surface of your sump.  This will cause evaporative cooling of your system.. The downside is you will have to add significant ammounts of makeup water.  

 

You can also increase the airflow over your lights with fans (more fans if you already have some).  This will also aid in getting heat away from the tank.  Do you have glass tops on the main tank?  If so you can take them off and this will also give you more evaporation cooling of the system.  You can turn the A/C down a bit to keep the surrounding room a touch cooler (this gets kinda expensive on the electricity bill).

 

hope this helps a bit.

 

BB

[michaelg]

Sorry Jean Marie, the link was burried in the diy hqi thread.  here is the site I got fans from.  Not as quiet as icecaps, but quieter than most, and they do move a good amount of air.  You will need some power cords for them, otherwise, easy to wire.  Make sure you get finger guards as well.

 

http://www.mpja.com/productview.asp?product=14018+FN

[krish]

I was experimenting with my 120G and my DIY canopy.

The canopy is 12" pine. The lamps are about 8" off the

water surface. The back of the canopy is open to about

6" from the tank surface. I have 2 4" RS 120V fans blowing

into the hood.

In 1 hour of running, the water temp drops from 82 to 78.

In over 2 hours, the temp is around 76.

I had an on/off period of 4 hours and the tank

stayed between 75-76F all the time. Now, i have 4 NO

fluorescents in the canopy. No MH yet.

 

Add the fans and that should take care of it. Make sure that

the draft has some place to go. I can feel a very strong

draft of air coming from the rear opening in the canopy, when

the fans are running. Depending on how much you are able

to bring down the temp with the fans, your heater might

have to kick in at night to avoid a large temp swing.

 

good luck

-krish

[JMsAquarium]

All right, I'll have to check on the fans then. Currently I have none. The bulbs sit at around 9" from the water, no glass canopy. The hood is DIY and the back is fully open. Yeah, even with the A/C on the water still is too warm. Thanks for the suggestions, keep them coming.

 

JM

[OUsnakebyte]

I had that same problem this summer.  I changed to a reverse photoperiod - lights come on around 4pm (an hour before I get home from work) and shut off sometime between 3 and 4 am.  This not only keeps the lights off during the heat of the day, but lets me see my tank longer at night, when I am actually home.

 

I also bought a mini fan and clipped it on the inside of my canopy.  However, I now have to leave the canopy lid open all the time.  So I was thinking of buying two of those mini computer fans and mounting them in my canopy.

 

Now, the jury seems to still be out on this one... but what is the best placement for the fans?  I don't want to bake my corals.  The back of my canopy is open, so should I mount them on the back of the canopy?  both blowing in? pulling air out?  one in, one out?  Should I mount both at the front of the canopy so that when I shut the lid they are blowing down on the water at the front end of the tank?  Any suggetsions?

 

Thanks,

Mike

[krish]

I have my fans mounted on the sides. They blow in, since

i believe that it is more efficient that sucking air out.

You need the airmovement around the lamps and they need

to get out off the canopy as much as possible. So even

multiple fans on the sides would not hurt. Noise would be

an issue.  Moreover, moving air from the salt water will

corrode the fans sooner.

 

-krish

[Larry Grenier]

One problem with fans pullung air out is that the salty air causes corrosion of the fan shortening it's life... so I'm told.  I'd mount the fans on the back blowing across the waters surface so the air has to bounce back of the front and exit the open back.

 

I'd do like Michaelg suggests

Fun all the fans

[michaelg]

Yes fans can be quite fun

 

If the back is open, I would mount them on the sides and blow both in.  Double wammy one side with 2 fans  Not only are you looking to cool the hot air and force it out, but remember the real cooling comes from the evaporation.