Gozer_1

So, my current living situation has me living in an unair conditioned house in 90+ degree weather. My tank is getting up to 86 & 87 in the day. It is only rock and one fish but, I need to cool it down. It is a 50 gal tank with about 5 gals in filter capacity. I have looked at chillers but I have no idea what size/type I need. They are very expensive so I want to know I'm getting the right thing. Anyone have any suggestions? I'm swapping water for cool water right now. I can't keep up with that. Please HELP.

Newtankdude

the only thing i can think of is turning the light off for a couple days (they'll be fine) and cover it with somthing light weight for the temp. but will keep light out. after like, a day or two you can take the cover (blanket or whatever) off and keep the light off. If you have a heater take it out. chillers (never herd of em) might help too. all i can really say to help. hope it does help.

Newtankdude

by the way, do you have a light with different brightness settings?

agsansoo

Hey Gozer,
I have a heat problem sometimes, It can get pretty hot here too ! First try to run the tank without a glass cover if you can. This keep unwanted excess heat in your tank. Next get plastic (NOT GLASS) water bottles ( 2 liter or I like the little 16 oz bottles) and start freezing them. Throw in one or two bottles in you main display tank every 20-30 minutes until the temp goes down. Keep cycling from the tank to the freezer, and back to the tank. Good Luck !

Newtankdude

he i never could of thought of that...I say you take his advice over mine lol

Mike

You can also direct a fan to blow over the water surface to increase evaporative cooling.

Gozer_1

LOL Great minds really do think alike. I looked at prices for a chiller and was shocked, so I went exploring for a different option. I ended up with a fan next to my tank, and water bottles in the freezer. Thanks for the advice though.

simo83

sounds good to me i too looked for chillers there are some good ones on ebay not bad price to, if u have plastic hood u can always pirce little holes in the top to help the air pass out or just take the top off, but as mike said u can always have a fan or a pc fan over the top of it. if u have a external filter u can also place it ontop of freeze packs this will then slowly cool the tank hope it helps

Gozer_1

Fortunately I have moved to an air conditioned house but, the filter pumps seem to be a fair source of heat. I think I am going to install a ventilation fan inside my stand. Maybe some air movement around the canisters will cool them down. I also want to do something with my lighting. I have a Current USA Orbit PCFL/Actinic hood. It gets pretty warm and it only has one fan. There is a port for a second fan on the other end, but they only include a second fan with the next size up. I think I'm going to try to do something with the second openning, maybe a small clip-on fan. I don't know, I guess when you live in a place that hits 100+ in the summer you have to plan ahead. My FWs are fine, but they don't have nearly the pumps heating them up. I'm considering an all in one temperature solution. A chiller/heater, I just have to for the sake of my fish. Like I said "It's freakin hot in here".

Amnagrla

I had a big heat wave a few weeks back. I started putting a few ice cubes into the filter itself and letting them dissolve (quite rapidly) and I did that a few times a day. Then I started putting ice cubes in a zip-lock bag and putting it in the tank. When I saw they melted, I'd leave them in a little longer so all the chill came off and would start all over again.

My tank is unfortunately next to a window.. but I keep the windowshade down and have a background on the back so no light gets in.

Basically, and obviously, the issue here is heat for the fish.. but you have to remember to do things gradually.. fish don't like change too well!

Terry

Hi. I have a current USA Outer Orbit HQI/T5 fixture on my 34 gallon. I don't think having a fan blowing on the cannister filters will do much of anything IMO. I got a clip on Azoo dual fan and it keeps my tank temp at about 79-80. But, I keep my AC at 68-70. I think evaporative cooling by blowing air across the water surface will do a whole lot better job than blowing it at a closed in cannister. The fans do evaporate a lot of water though, so if you use fans be prepared to top off a lot. I was adding 3/4 gallon a day of top off. I just installed a Tunze Osmolator to do it automatically & love it! Expensive though, but the fan & Tunze ATO avoided me getting a chiller and using more electricity.

Gozer_1

I have a a box fan of sorts tha blows across the whole tank. I'm planning to pick up a small clip on fan to move hot air away. The heat source is definitely the lights. The moving air does definitely suck the water out. I'm using about a half gallon of RO/DI water a day. Oh well. I would still like to get a chiller for back up but I think the clip on fan will do the trick for now.