help! To much heat

inawe

Member
Just when I think I have it all done...new problem.
The temp in my tank is running between 80 and 82. This is no heater...just my lights. I have a canopy with coralife PC's - about 120w, and a glass cover on the tank. Is this to much? what are my options?
 

mopar9012

Active Member
IMO 80-82 is nothing to panic about...but that that you have on is probablythe reason why it is 80-82....it traps the heat, take it off and you will probably get a little cooler.
 

jtrzerocool

Active Member
IMO i dont think that that is too much heat. however you could install a fan in your canopy to keep things cooler. it would probably bring the temp down and is a great investment IMO.
 

legoalie31

Member
i agree with the fan or you can stick ice in a bag and put it in the tank if you really feel this is a problem.
 

oceansidefish

Active Member
Just grab a fan from Radio shack and wire it inside the canopy. We are doing the same thing today. Definately remove the glass top if you have not already. If you are worried about things escaping go to home depot and pick up and grate for flourecent lites for about 5 bucks and cut to fit. I know other people have used clip fans over the top of the water too.
 

lovecraft

Member
Try taking the glass canopy off and see what your temp swing is. My temp fluctuates between 80-81 with it off, and 79-84 when it was on with lights.
That's with 192wtt PC's, I'd hate to see the heat swing with MH.
I added eggcrate to the top cause I was scared my sixline might jump.
Advantage of a glass top: No jumpers and reduces evaporation(less topoffs).
Disadvantage of a glass top: Higher heat, less gas exchange, more cleaning.
The eggcrate alleviates my fear of my fish jumping so the only disadvantage is I have to topoff every 1-2 days.
Got the suggestions from these boards and I fel this has worked well with my setup. I may try a fan with the glass top on as an experiment later.
 

farslayer

Active Member
I hung a $14 fan from wal mart on the side of my hanging fixture (4x250W MH and 4x39W T5), plus I have a chiller just in case. The fan isn't very strong, but it was so effective that I have to turn it off at times as the tank temperature can drop into the low 70s without the AC on. I don't have a heater (am going to get one) because the halides keep the tank at 80 and in the morning the tank is sitting at 79 or 80; needless to say, the fan quite surprised me.
 

reefrunner

Member
When I first got my 250w MH, My temp shot up to almost 90 in two days!!
Now that is something to panic about! Yeah....I did lose some of my corals with that spike.
I now run my tank with no cover, and a small fan behind the light, and my temp is consistantly around 78-79. I lose almost a gallon of water a day due to evaporation now, but having to do daily top offs is better than cooking my corals.
 

inawe

Member
If I take the glass top off, what about my lights? My canopy is 8 inches high, so my lights are probably about 6 inches from the water. Is this going to be a problem?
 

jtrzerocool

Active Member
being that they are 6" above the water i dont see a real problem with it however you couls always go to home depot and get a clear plastic shield that you could fit around the lights to keep them safe!
 

reefrunner

Member
Originally Posted by jtrzerocool
being that they are 6" above the water i dont see a real problem with it however you couls always go to home depot and get a clear plastic shield that you could fit around the lights to keep them safe!
That's what I'd do.
 

inawe

Member
Thanks, ya'll for the help. My plan...go to HD for a plastic shield for my lights, take off the glass top, put on eggcrate, add fans if necessary!!!
 

oceanlover

Member
There seems to be a heat wave in many parts of the country. It was a 110 here in northern California yesterday.
Do you have air conditioning in your house? Turn it on for the room you keep your tank in (and do the other stuff above too).
 

inawe

Member
I live in East Texas...no heat wave here! We are dealing with record low temps and catching up on our rain we lost in our 2 year drought, and according to the lake levels, we've caught up! It has been in the 80's for the past 2 or 3 weeks! Even so, we keep our AC set at 74.
 

kilhullen

Member
Originally Posted by inawe
I live in East Texas...no heat wave here! We are dealing with record low temps and catching up on our rain we lost in our 2 year drought, and according to the lake levels, we've caught up! It has been in the 80's for the past 2 or 3 weeks! Even so, we keep our AC set at 74.
And I am so sick of rain, I feel like I should be out building an ark instead of a reef tank!
 
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