House too Hot... So is tank, How to decrease temp?

[acrylic51]

I understand but vinyl hose isn't a good conductor of transfering heat so really still don't think it would be effective pulling temp down......Something that size might easily be handled with the Iceprobe......But honestly I'd leave the AC on in the house......It takes longer to cool the house after you get home with it being off all day and the heat just building up in the house rather than leave it on during the day

 

[deeze]

I agree with Bang Guy... my water going into my mini fridge project was 80 degrees and coming out at 73. However I also used about 70 feet of 1/4" tubing and half of it was in the freezer part. I got good results but the flow was so low that it would only keep up with a small tank for it to work. My fridge was also a cube about 28 inches square which could be very distracting unless you had a closet to hide it in (like I did).

 

[oreo12]

My advice to the thread starter is take down your tank put it away untill you have time to give to it Any salt tank needs some attion just about every day. If you don't have time to pull out a pop bottol and put in a new one every other day you don't have time for your Tank do the right thing for the fish and wait untill you get the time. The Money and the paticene for it.

 

[travis89]

I agree with oreo12.

 

[sagxman]

It was once explained to me that it is more expensive to leave your AC off during the day and turn it on when you get home becasue the unit has to work much harder than it if were on all day at a reasonable temp.
As long as your home has some insulation you should be fine keeping the thermostat in the neighborhood of 78 to 80 while you're away and turning it cooler when you're home.

 

[chesnutz99]

the bottle idea doesn't work. The ice melts in less than 30 min. & temp decreases 1 or 2 degrees.
the fan idea doesn't work. The air in my house is what is so damn hot, so pointing a fan at the tank, if anything, makes it worse.
the A/C idea doesn't work. All I have is a window unit so there is no central A/C. I agree leaving it on all day would help, but average temp here is 100+ (108 on teusday) and I can't afford to run that unit all day while no one is home just for the fish. Central Texas Electricity prices are ridiculous this time of year.
oh, and oreo. Don't be so damn high and mighty. You don't know me or how dedicated I am. Don't act like you do . I take care of twenty-four 20gal tanks in a flow through system for culturing Pimephales promelas (fathead minnows) for my job. I think I can handle one 35 gal saltwater tank, if I could just get the temp down.

 

[oreo12]

With out spending some cash You will not get your temp down. If you don't have the cash then you can't bring the temp down. So you can not keep a salt water set up. I don't mean to be high and mighty but I keep my ac on 71 deg all day and nite it has been in the 90degs all month here. I also ahve a fan blowing across the top of the tank to help get the heat out of the canopy on my 75 even with the ac on it was running 85deg It is now back down to 77 deg. Maybe if you can't run your ac you could relocate to a cooler area of the world.

 

[fish tv]

Not exactly a solution, but run any lights early in the morning, turn them off mid day and then on at night. Not only will this help to keep the air cool around the tank, but the lights will be on when you can enjoy the tank. And the fish don't seem to mind.
Do fish have an internal clock like (some) humans do?

 

[philgmiami]

Originally Posted by chesnutz99
tank not that high tech. no metal halide lamps.
Really need to think outside the box on this one.
how much are chillers? $300 + ? too much for my pay bracket.
sorry to say but. you should have not got'n into this hobby if your broke,lol..its expensive...either turn your ac down or get a chiller.. chillers go for about $600..not $300....i keep my ac at 72 and my tank stays at about 79-80...if i put my ac to 75, my tank goes up to 83 even 84 sometimes.. i walk around with a blanket in my house in the middle of the summer cause of my tank....forget about me being cold.. my fish need the right temp.

...and yes i have mh.. leave the hobby be4 its to late!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

,lol

 

[chesnutz99]

Originally Posted by Fish TV
Not exactly a solution, but run any lights early in the morning, turn them off mid day and then on at night. Not only will this help to keep the air cool around the tank, but the lights will be on when you can enjoy the tank. And the fish don't seem to mind.
Do fish have an internal clock like (some) humans do?
yes fish do have an internal clock. you can control many aspects of there life, especially breeding, by changing the duration of there light cycle. The light cycle correlates to the length of days during different times of the year in there natural habitat. Increasing the light cycle makes fish feel like it is summer and they alter there habits accordingly. shorter: winter.

 

[chesnutz99]

Phil, not quitting. no way. I Will find a way!!!

 

[sleasia]

if you have a glass tank, the fans and frozen bottles should help...but I went through all of this previously, and its a pain to keep on putting frozen bottles in the tank. In the end I bought a chiller, and never had to worry again...you don't need a big chiller, just a small one...try the big auction site, many people upgrade their tanks and sell this kind of stuff. you will be glad you don't have to keep on fighting the heat.

 

[ktsdad]

JBJ chillers has just released a 1/15 HP model for up to 40gal tanks, $335 list price.
You say money is tight, but this may be your only answer.
I also live in a very hot climate, today was 113, so I feel your pain!
Good luck

 

[mikeyjer]

I keep my house on the cool side all year long to keep my tanks cool. I have multiple tanks, IF I had to run a chiller on every tank, it would cost me more in the long run then to just run the air on the cool side to keep ALL the tanks cool. I keep mine around 70 and my tanks run around 76-77 My bill comes around $200 a month and I haven't even install the new 2-250w MH's on my 90g bowfront yet....So I need to consolidate all of my freshwater tanks into one bigger one to save on electricity when I install the new halides. But I have to keep all 3 of my salt running just the way it is. :happyfish

 

[snapperboy]

what about just buying a couple of ice cube trays and make ro-di or distilled cubes and use them as your top off water, melting in daily? .. anyone else.. is this a viable solution?

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by snapperboy
what about just buying a couple of ice cube trays and make ro-di or distilled cubes and use them as your top off water, melting in daily? .. anyone else.. is this a viable solution?

You will use A LOT of ice cubes to really lower that temp. It's not worth the time in the long run. It would be easier to just lower the AC unit to really be effective or get a chiller. Like I've mentioned before, I have mutiple tanks, it's easier to just run one thing to keep ALL the tanks cool. :happyfish

 

[shinok4]

ok simple solution... save up your money for a while and buy a chiller... that way incase your AC craps out on you (like mine did this weekend....) you dont have to worry about your tank gettting too hot... or if ur electricity goes out... instead of trying to get your AC running by a genrator.. or running around grabbing ice you can just get a small gas powered generator and run all of your fish stuff off of that with no worries... just a thought. Because I DIDNT HAVE A CHILLER and my fish are now residing in the LFS until my AC gets fixed... luckily my LFS is cool and they are going to just hold em for me until i get the AC fixed... but IMO save up and get the chiller...

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by shinok4
ok simple solution... save up your money for a while and buy a chiller... that way incase your AC craps out on you (like mine did this weekend....) you dont have to worry about your tank gettting too hot... or if ur electricity goes out... instead of trying to get your AC running by a genrator.. or running around grabbing ice you can just get a small gas powered generator and run all of your fish stuff off of that with no worries... just a thought. Because I DIDNT HAVE A CHILLER and my fish are now residing in the LFS until my AC gets fixed... luckily my LFS is cool and they are going to just hold em for me until i get the AC fixed... but IMO save up and get the chiller...
Your right about that, I had my AC go out on me before, thankfully I have a maintenance man to comes to fix it ASAP when it goes out. He knows about my tanks so he gets here to fix it ASAP when I call. I will have to invest in a Chiller just in case though. At least run chiller in two of the more expensive tanks with corals. :happyfish

 

[shinok4]

yep.... wish i had thought about it b4... lol

 

[hagfish]

Stability is key in this hobby. I think putting ice cubes in makes stability pretty hard. What if you can't make it home all day until 11:00 or something? The tanks going to go up considerably and it doesn't take much of a change in a short period of time to have major problems.
Hot air or no, a fan will still help. If you were running MH's even in a normal house you would realize that the air around the tank is still pretty hot.
Any chance you've got a basement? It would probably be much cooler there.
I would save up and get a chiller or find a way to run the AC. Personally, I would run the AC. I say if you can't afford to do one of those then this hobby isn't for you at this time. The fact that you said you aren't home often worries me too since SW requires frequent maintenance.
You could always start up a frag tank and sell the growth to pay for the AC.
Get a part time job to help pay for this stuff.
Sell a kidney, then buy the chiller. Try to think of other expendible organs. You said think outside the box.