sumphead
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Well, I learned a lesson the hard way. For the last several months my 72 Gallon bowfront reef with large sump/fuge had been doing awesome. I was beginning to beag about how stable the system was and the growth. I hear all thea talk about heat issues with Summer coming on. I shrugged it off as I keep my house at a constant 71 all year long and until yesterday nver had temp over 80 in late afternoon and a nice 78 in the morning before the lights some on. Well the tank is located on the second floor in a large bonus room over the garage with vaulted ceilings and a ceiling fan that will only be turned off when it dies. The lamps won the battle. For some reason the door was shut and with rising heat from below and no escape to trigger the thermostat I found my peice of the ocean at a thermal 98 yesterday! 8O While my only livestock loss was a cleaner shrimp scampi. However my coral loss wasn't so limited: large acropora sp. (6-8"), smaller acropora spp (3"), my xenia looked like snot, and a toadstool that stretched nearly 3 times as long as it has ever been to get him head under a shaded rock. Fortunately some didn't even seem to care and all isn't a total loss.
Needless to say this is a warning for oncoming hotter weather. I never though a chiller as necissary except for large systems with ungodly pumps and lighting. I would move the tank to a lower level of the house but there is no room or availality because the larger areas of the house are surrounded by windows and ambient light causes havok with temps and aglea blooms. I have decided then to downsize to a custom acrylic 30G cube SPS only with a high stand, sump/fuge underneath and a kalk resevior auto topoff. So I will be selling a lot of equipment as soon as I get the new tank built. (Halides, tank, sump, etc) No hurry though I have to build it first. I will attach diagrams later for critique.
For the time being I am running a reverse photo period for the temp issues. In designing the new system other than a PITA for getting into the tank are there any other drawback to having a high stand say 38" to 48" tall?
All opinions welcomed.
R-
Needless to say this is a warning for oncoming hotter weather. I never though a chiller as necissary except for large systems with ungodly pumps and lighting. I would move the tank to a lower level of the house but there is no room or availality because the larger areas of the house are surrounded by windows and ambient light causes havok with temps and aglea blooms. I have decided then to downsize to a custom acrylic 30G cube SPS only with a high stand, sump/fuge underneath and a kalk resevior auto topoff. So I will be selling a lot of equipment as soon as I get the new tank built. (Halides, tank, sump, etc) No hurry though I have to build it first. I will attach diagrams later for critique.
For the time being I am running a reverse photo period for the temp issues. In designing the new system other than a PITA for getting into the tank are there any other drawback to having a high stand say 38" to 48" tall?
All opinions welcomed.
R-