keeping cool

mellowchef87

mellowchef87

Reefing newb
It is proving pretty difficult to keep my aquarium temp in check. Right now it is hovering around 82.5. I have a fan blowing on it to try to keep it down and even put a screen on it instead of the Hood to try to increase airflow but it still seems to not be moving much. Any ideas? I Only have a 10g so it not that much water to cool, but Idk how to do it. Is it safe to put some ice in? I know that is Only a short term fix. Any more long term ideas? My room doesn't get a/c so it stays pretty warm.
 
That sucks...plus with summer coming, that's going to be hard to keep cool w/o a temp-controlled room. Ice will melt too fast and you'd have to keep putting it, and if you miss putting it in, you'll risk lots of temp swings, which is worse. Maybe buy a chiller? It's expensive though. I don't know too much about them. I found this:

CoolWorks Microchiller

Not sure if you want to pay that much for a 10g. Do you have a sump? Not sure if increasing water volume will help, but maybe a fan in the sump area will also help.

EDIT: Oh and I just aw on that product above you still have to buy the controller. Definitely $$$.
 
Yeah, I had a heck of a time keeping my temp in check in my 10g last summer. A fan cooled it down, but I wasn't home all the time to monitor when to turn the fan on and off in time enough before the temp swung a few degrees. This summer I plan to add a reefkeeper lite with temp probe so that I can program the fan to come on at 80 degrees and shut off at 78. I think that will keep my nano tank more in balance.
 
I have my sump in the basement. The basement is usually around 67 degrees. Ive not seen an issue yet. Are you running t5 or compact? Maybe switch lighting.... Shut off the lights if your temp is to high i guess, that is the cheapest way
 
I gotta hurry up and get my basement sump setup so I can manage the heat in mine. This will be our first summer with an aquarium.
 
Before I had the money for A/C we would take a room fan, zip tie copper tubing to it, and pump ice water through it. Obviously you wouldn't be able to use copper but with some creativity I am sure you could create a homegrown chilling system. What kind of room is it in? Maybe a window A/C unit just for that area?
 
Thanks for the ideas guys. The lights are just the LEds that came withe the Hood. I have a Fowlr tank so I have been keeping the lights off. I don't know how to make a sump, and would it be difficult to add one to an existing tank? And it is my bedroom. I've thought about a window a/c but I might have to get permission from the homeowners association. It would be Nice to take some sort of tubing directly through the tank and chill it that way
 
No, I took the hood off and put a screen on it so there would be more airflow. I came home and it has cooled down outside so the tank is down to 78.6 right now. Im afraid of the temp swings day in and day out eventually affecting things now. everything seems a bit more lively now that it has gone down though.
 
I had major problems with temp swings in a 10g last year. If you don't have it hooked up to a sump I would strongly suggest getting a controller like a ReefKeeper Lite. They run around $100-$200 depending on which options you want with it. The only one you will really need for a 10g is the temp probe. The controller will allow you to program at what temp to turn on/off the fan and on/off the heater. Then you can just let it be and won't have to worry about it. The fan doesn't need to be anything fancy - I have a small table fan that I got for $11 from target pointed at the tank. A controller is your best option for stability throughout the day/night. If you don't go with the controller route, then you can freeze water bottles and float them in your tank for rapid cooling. Just don't put ice directly in the tank.
 
Thank you so much for all the help guys. How hard would it be to set up a sump on an already existing tank? I would love to learn how to do it now so when I can afford to upgrade to a nice bigger tank I will already know.
 
The biggest challenge will be the overflow. Since the tank is already running you would need to set up a hang-on back overflow. Its really not a good idea to drill a tank with water already in it, and 10 gallon tanks are hard to drill without breaking because the glass is so thin. You can get a small hang on back overflow for under $100. The challenge I forsee is that you will need a large sump to give enough water volume to off-set the temp swings - I don't think a 20 or 30g sump is going to be large enough to help significantly. Just my 2 cents!
 
If you're handy, you can also do a DIY PVC overflow. Very inexpensive. This video seems good about explaining how it works and how to make it. You can shorten your pipe to fit your 10g. You can test it with a bucket in the tub.
 
wontonflip said:
If you're handy, you can also do a DIY PVC overflow. Very inexpensive. This video seems good about explaining how it works and how to make it. You can shorten your pipe to fit your 10g. You can test it with a bucket in the tub.
Click to expand...

I made one up from youtube, its worth the money to buy one! You spend 40bucks in pvc unions, and elbows. Not to include glue and primer. They are iffy to keep prime.
 

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