Temperature issue

[wartooth1]

Hello SWF people!

I'm having a bit of a temperature problem in my 90 gallon reef. The temperature is warmer than I would like it to be. My basic thermometer usually shows the temperature somewhere in the low to mid 80's. I've tried installing fans under the hood, filling plastic water bottles with frozen saltwater and letting them float in the sump, and running my lights at night only. Thankfully none of my seal life seems to mind, although I have a few corals that aren;t opening up fully and I suspect its the temperature since my last water test did not show anything out of whack. I am thinking I may have to bite the bullet and shell out for a chiller.

So I guess my two questions are; are there any other cheap tricks I can try or if I need a chiller, would a 1/4 HP chiller be fine to keep a 90 gallon tank at a comfortable 77 degrees? If it helps, I live by LAX airport, so that means coastal California weather where my tank resides.

Thanks!

 

[bang guy]

Before buying a chiller:

Can you lower the temperature of the room the tank is in?

Can you lower the humidity of the room the tank is in?

Do you have fans blowing on the water surface to increase evaporation?

Forget the ice bottles, more harm than good there.

Most corals we have in the hobby handle mid-80's just fine. What they cannot handle is a fluctuating temperature (80 at night & 85 in day) and they have trouble with the lower oxygen content of the water at higher temperatures so, again, blowing air directly on the water surface of the display and the sump really helps them.

I know nothing about chillers other than they consume a lot of power... apologies.

 

[wartooth1]

Thanks for the reply Bang Guy!

To answer your questions quickly (sorry I'm at work):

No

No

Yes

Gotcha... ditching the bottle idea.

 

[mandy111]

can you remove or lift the hood when temp starts rising,
If your tank can breathe it stays cooler ?

 

[wen tom]

What is ideal temp.?

 

[bang guy]

What is ideal temp.?

What are you keeping? There s no single ideal temp. Typically you need to see where on Earth your animals thrive best and then maintain a temperature they all can thrive in.

 

[geridoc]

It is a bit more trouble, but converting your submerged pumps into inline will solve your problem. This usually requires drilling and plumbing, but it works. I have been running a chiller on my 220 for 2 years, but am in the process of setting up a sump in the basement with an inline return to replace my submerged mag. Between the cooler basement and the inline pump, I fully expect to need to provide heat rather than chilling.

 

[bang guy]

Geridoc, The cooling basement has a great effect in my experience. Be sure to find some way to remove the humidity in the basement though, it can be significant.

The inline pump helps but it is slight. The MAG series of pumps are very efficient and the more efficient a pump is the less internal heat it creates. But to your point, every unit of heat you don't add to the water is one less unit of heat you have to remove from the water.