tank placement and reef soup

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sumphead

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Aug 27, 2003
Messages
852
Location
Indianapolis, IN
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-
 
Holy Crap thanks for calling and telling me ronnie. Please tell me the ricordia made it??? That really sucks. Sorry for your loss man. Anything i can do let me know.
 
Sorry, I was so quick wanting to throw an idea out there, I forgot to say how sorry I am for your loss. I've been there although my tank has never gotten that hot, I havge felt your frustration.
 
Man thats a bummer.. I'm sorry If I can help you with anything I will. I would hook ya up with some frags in a few months as soon as they grow out if you want... You gotta pay for shipping but you can have a frag of everything in my tank just about... Its gotta wait a few months so it can get some growth and stuff..

Again Sorry,
James
 
Thanks all for the condolences. In a short order update since coming home from work, I have found my birdsnest completely bleached and my largest acro colony starting. I am in the process of cutting to try and save some of it.

Buy your bonus room it's own window unit AC, have it on a timer with your halides

I don't think the association would like that too much, LOL. I'll post some pictures later and see what you guys think.

Thanks again,
R-
 
I don't think the association would like that too much, LOL.

LOL, hence my decision never to buy where I must be part of and abide by the rules of an Association. I mean, hell, why am I paying all that money if I can't do what I want with it....
 
Oh, you don't know the half of it. Here the association is "optional" which is why I bought where I did. I live in the middle of yuppyville. Don't get me wrong I LOVE my house and the neighborhood is perfect in that it is quiet and there is a lot of room, but the members who opted to be in the association are the ones who pay lawn services and hire someone to do everything. You know the self-pretentious bast- oops almost got mad at em' again. LOL, I am viewed as the kid on the block who shouldn't be here because I am under 30 and not a doctor or lawyer. They think I paid for my house with drugs because I have the "bright blue lights" in all the windows. Hehehehe. I actually kinda like pestering them a window unit may just be in order! LOL If you didn't notice I opted out of the association. I'll shovel or NOT SHOVEL the snow from my own damn sidewalks!

Oh well back on track- I fragged the biggun and somehow only managed to shed a few tears in doing so. I'll post a before and after shot after I get them mounted (need more superglue). I still find it hard to believe RTN set in after the fact. Probably my knee jerk reaction in dropping the temp.
 
This is the largest frag I could save. The RTN had already covered the entire base. This frag is about 4" tall. As you can see in the closeup above of the same frag it is showing a little sign of stress but will hopefully pull through.
 
Here's a pic of my living room shot from above. (please excuse the mess, my 3 year old finds it fun to setup pillows in the floor and leap from the chair into them) As you can see the windows cause entirely too much ambient light for a reef. I have 38" of wall there to the right where the trunk is but... Thoughts? So I have decided at this point barring all miracles to go ahead with the 30 Cube in my bedroom, much to the amusment of my wife (note the sarcasm). It will replace a much neglected 20 Gallon planted freshy.
 
ambient light isn't a problem, direct light is. The corner you shot the pic from seem like a decent area out of direct sun light ;)
 
I shot from a balcony on the second floor. underneath is open to the stairs and foyer and door to my bedroom directly below. On the other side of the stairs (behind) is a dining room which is never used. I would LOVE to do an inwall in the dining room with the tank in the garage but that would require serious renovations and eat up the wife's parking space, aside from the fact she sayd "no-in walls". Since the back of the house faces south there would be no hard direct sunlight where the chest is? Still think it's too close to the windows and door? But for the record that picture was taken at about 4:30 in the afternoon with a high overcast.
 
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