Major temp issues

[pearsont74]

OK...this temp in my tank is gettin out of hand....
Here is my situation.
My 80 w/ 30 gal sump is in the back Florida room...with a flat roof....so the insalation is not very good and we basically use the ceiling fan and keep the room closed off cause it is pointless to attemp let the AC try to cool off the room to equal the rest of the house.
Because of this my tank temp is high....I did at least 15 gal water change and even after that it is at 85 F. URRRG
My hood is closed in except the back is open and there is only about maybe 6" space between the lights and the surface of the water.
I have excellent current goin now and only have 4 40 watth NO bulbs and was thinkin of getting a fan to blow over the surface but I serious doubt it will not lower the temp enough.
Any other suggestions before I break down and buy a chiller???
Also....does anyone have a chiller and if so...whats a good one for a decent price??

 

[pearsont74]

How is this chiller?
CoolWorks’ IceProbe Small Aquarium Chiller (IPAC-50W)
anyone ever use this?

 

[FuzzButt]

Hello,

I have had a similar situation. My 58gal fowlr tank is in my computer room and it isregularly 5 to 10 degrees warmer in there than other places in the house. At the price chillers cost I looked for other solutions.

I run a 120mm PC fan and blow air across the water surface. Just hook t up to a 9vdc or 12vdc transformer that you might have laying around and it works fine. It is also important that you have good airflow around and under the tank. My ballast was under my tank and was acting like a heater.

Only problem with this is the evaporation is quite high. I loose about a gallon a day with this setup running during the summer.

If you go the chiller route and your ambient room temp is really high expect it to run a lot. You are now using the tank to cool off the room.

Another option is insulate the room. Or add a room air conditioner in that room only. There are several windowless type room a/c units that work quite well.

 

[klam]

If it's the same Iceprobe chiller I have it will not work for a tank your size. the Iceprobe has problems cooling my 14g tank so I also run a desktop fan that blows across the water surface.

Try a fan before you buy an chiller. For a tank your size the chiller might cost $300+

 

[pearsont74]

ok....WOHOOO
my tank is a steady 80-81 F

I went to HD and got 3 clip on fans...small ones for 4.99 each and put 2 blowing on the surface and one blowing on my sump and it brought it down from 85 to 80-81....guess its time to add the heater to get it a constant temp.

 

[malkore]

or put the fans on a timer and run them an hour, off an hour, etc...

One thing I did too is switched my lighting to come on about 8pm and run overnight. Less time to view the fishes, but I'd rather them have a healthy, stable temp during hte warm summer months.

 

[Brenden]

If the room is staying warm and causing the water temp to rise why not just buy something like.
Fedders® 9000 BTU Portable AC $454 at sams and then your room will be cool also and you can enjoy your aquarium more. When the outside temp drops you can put it in storage. Just my two cent.

 

[bawla47]

wow, you gave me inspiration on the fans, i was thinkin about 1 degree max, but thats a big drop!

my tanks at 83.5ish or so, would like it down to 79-80. so i think it can be done now!. thanks pearsont for the update.

 

[GoodFish]

hey, I saw this in a post before....Put a baggy full of ice in your tank and float it in the water...sounds pretty resonable to me.... I'd ask around before you accually do that i duno if thats a good or bad idea....i just read it on another post..