Cooling the tank quick ?

[leopard_babe]

My mom is against turning on the air. The chiller in my tank is broken. My tank has gone from 77 this morning to 84 right now. What can I do to lower the temp?
I took the lid off the tank
I turned the lights off
Can I float ice cubes in a bag? Does anyone else have any thoughts?

 

[gbpack]

Wait till mom goes to work and crank up the A/C. LOL Ice won't last long. You would need a ice truck full. I know what is like up north with people not wanting to turn on the A/C. Buy a new chiller. Put a fan blowing across the top of the water. This might give you some relief.

 

[leopard_babe]

I have a new chiller coming in. Mine is under warrenty. so they are sending me a new one. I have already moved some of my fish to my 46, which has a functional chiller. My queen angel cannot go in the 46, so she is in my 180. She is breathing so hard. I heard the fan thing. Maybe I will go buy some tomorrow. thank for the info.
Leopard

 

[gbpack]

You can try dry ice also. It can get expensive but will cool quicker and cooler. Just buy like 10 to 20 lbs and use a couple of pounds every few hours just to keep the temp from rising. Just another thought---if you have some extra 3/4 inch hose and a pump--fill your tub,trash can some kind of big container with cold water(it should still be chilly up there) and make a bunch of coils in the tub with the hose . Pump water from the tank thru the tub or what ever you use and put the other end back in the supm allowing it to mix. That should cool it. That is where you could use a lot of ice. It would be like a chiller. Even add rock salt to make it colder.

 

[bang guy]

My suggestion is to turn up the heaters to maintain 82 and just let it climb to 84-85 until you get your chiller going again. A rapid temp drop could be fatal to a lot of your animals. The heat is not bothering them.
FYI - Carribean corals stop growing when the temp drops below 77.9F. They are just not accustomed to the lower temps. This is not true for the Pacific, then keep growing until the temp drops below 75F.

 

[donmgicwon]

You don't want to lower the temp. FAST its better just to let it come down on its own. Why did it get so hot (not that 84 is all that hot)?

 

[humuhumu]

Ice will work, but it is only a very temporary fix. You can also romove some of the water with a pitcher and pour in back in several times. And of course a fan blowing across the top of the water will help. If you hav an extra power head I would also hook it up to get more oxygen in the tank. The higher the temp, less disolved O2 is available. Good luck!

 

[donmgicwon]

looks like bang beat me.
I keep mine at 80 and with 1- 4" fan it stays there through 5 hours of 570 watts of MH/VHO (about 4"-5" off the water). It sometimes even drops a half degree. I keep my air at 70-71, I have found that if my house gets much more than that the tank temp. does creep up a little but not much.

 

[leopard_babe]

oh ok. the fish are not use to the water being that high. It looked like they were breathing hard. So I was very worried about them. I will set my tank at like 80. It is currently set at 75. So then my fish should be ok? I bought this digial thermometer that read the temp accuratley. I have been using it alot, and seeing how much my tanks change. that is how I found the chiller was broken. Now I am so weird about my fluxuating temperatures. So they should be ok? that is comforting to know that people have their tanks at a higher temp.
Thanks all, I appreciate the quick responses!!!
Leopard

 

[gbpack]

rapid gill movement could be a sign of stress. The O2 in the water is lower as the temp rises. I know air stones are bad and make a mess but try that instead of a power head. A power head will only add heat to your tank.

 

[leopard_babe]

Would other agree that I should turn off the powerhead in my tank? i thought that powerheads created air movement, and the oxygen that the fish needed? They ate dinner like little piggies. There are a couple of white spots on my angel. I think all will be ok. I have the temperature set at 80 right now. Maybe I can lower it a little more tomorrow. Thanks to all that have helped me. I have never kept my tank at this high of a temperature, so I was just not sure.
Thanks, much appreciated!!!!
Leopard

 

[tony detroit]

Originally posted by Leopard_babe
My queen angel cannot go in the 46, so she is in my 180.
Be careful, keep an eye on her sometimes large angels will nip at stingrays, and cause infections on them.

 

[leopard_babe]

I had her before I got the ray. I did not know that until I read the book. She doesn't bother my ray now. I am selling her to my neighbor. He just lost his 15" queen. I told him Ihad to get rid of mine, and he would pay me full price. He doesn't want her till next week. Thanks for the info tony. Hey tony do you have a clean up crew? I have a UV, but I don't think it is all that effective.
thanks for the help.
Leopard

 

[saltymist]

I keep these little bags of "frozen gel" in my freezer, they are often used to cool igloo type chests. When I see my temps starting to raise above 84f, I put a couple of them in the tank, this keeps it from rising any higher, but doesnt really cool it gback down to 80-82f.
But still I keep about 12 of them on hand in my freezer now so that if we have a heat spike, I can dump a couple of them in the tank to keep it acceptible.
So far its' worked out okay.

 

[gbpack]

leave the powerhead on.. aim it so it ripples the water surface.

Have you ever put just a power head in some water to see how much heat it produces? Try it some time. In a small tank it will raise the temp. Not all brands produce the same amount of heat, but they all produce some and heat is not what she needs.

 

[belothsurf]

or, if it get's too warm, try freezing a couple of 1/2 gal or gal size plastic milk jugs filled with water and put them in the tank. I've never actually needed to do that, but it sounds like a good idea......:notsure:

 

[leopard_babe]

WOW kip you have alot of post. i will move the powerhead.
Now that it is night the temp is going down a little.
For the record you would need about 6 trucks full of ice to lower the temp of a saltwater tank.
I have those freezer packs, but I think that all will be ok.
I think this is a good thread, and I appreciate the replies. I know that many people other then me are expereincing outside temperature changes. which are adding to the temperature change in my tank. I can't imagine how hot my tank was before I had the chiller.
Thanks again,
Leopard

 

[tony detroit]

Leopard-just a good skimmer and a UV should be fine. I have a couple crabs, not that many though.

 

[leopard_babe]

crabs don't bother the ray? I would think that they would nip at a ray? I don't have a "good" protein skimmer. That is the next upgrade on the 180. After this damn chiller fiasco. I hate michigan. This weather change happened at an inconvinient time. But her thats MI for ya right?
thanks
Leopard

 

[belothsurf]

You're "complaining" ( I wanted to use a "bad" word) about Michigan's weather? Try living down here in the South. We have 2 seasons......."Hot" and "Muggy".........actually, I'm leaving out a 3rd season..."Hot as Hell"......