Submersible water...Cooler?

[CoyoteWildfire]

So, for some reason, my thermometer in my tank keeps telling me I have really warm water... 78-82 degrees.

Every time I do a PWC, I try to cool it down, but it continues to warm up. I've unplugged my heater in my tank as I've had no use for it, but I'd really like to know good ways to get my temps down.

Any recommendations?

 

[HUKIT]

You could use a fan to blow cool air across the top of the water.

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

That is an idea, but I do use a canopy as I have a couple of jumpers in my tank. Any other suggestions?

 

[MountainAsh87]

I've been having the same problem. Our AC is broken, they're waiting on a part to fix it, and it's in the 90s today. I'm anxious to hear more suggestions, as well.

 

[MountainAsh87]

Apparently they do make aquarium chillers, but they're super pricey.

I don't know how big your tank is, so it may or may not be the most cost effective route to go. I found a few different ones by Googling, including one for small tanks that's on sale at Amazon. Good luck!

 

[BallinCrew10]

Is this a SW tank ? If so 78-82 is fine. I run my tank at 80 with no problems.

 

[BigJim]

How warm is the room in which you're keeping your tank?

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

It's a FW tank. The room is usually mid-70s that I keep it in, but generally it reaches 79-80 without problems. Perhaps that's due to the T5HO fixture sitting right on top of the tank... Seems to drop some if I leave the canopy open a bit, so it's not gone up that much.

 

[fort384]

One of the first posts nailed it. You need to add a fan to your setup... not to blow across the surface of the tank, but blow across the T5HO fixture to dissipate heat. Radio shack sells AC computer case fans (go for the biggest size you can fit) for like $8. It will probably lower your temp 3-4 degrees.

 

[BigJim]

+1 for fort and adding a fan to your canopy to vent the heat from the T5HOs. A larger fan will be quieter because it has to spin fewer times to move the same air as a small fan.

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

That would actually be a great idea... I work with computers so a few fans wouldn't be hard to come by. Excellent! Thanks guys!

 

[kc2ped]

I am having trouble keeping my bioCUBE 14 cool and can't figure out where the heat is coming from
My target temperature is 79° and was stable there all winter
Now that it is getting warmer outside and we are not getting excessive heat pumped up 24x7 the tank is running around 82° which is warmer than the ambient air
After turning the heater down a couple of clicks didn't do anything I just unplugged it but still no change
I remembered the UV sterilizer that probably isn't producing UV any more so unplugged that
The only other heat source I can find is the submersible water pump whack I can't do anything about
I only turn the tank lights on in the evening
The tank sits right in front of my window air conditioner so will receive some cooling from it once it gets hot enough here to put up with it's racket

 

[fort384]

Sounds like the tank is on an outside wall, which is probably contributing to your problem. Careful with the ac, with it kicking on and off, you could get temp swings which would be bad.

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

Well, tried the fan... Came home to an 83 degree tank yesterday. I was not thrilled...

I removed the glass canopy and used the fixture mounts to mount it over the top of the tank. Less heat will bleed into the water this way... So far it looks like the temp is going back down.

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

The temps have been stable at 76 for the past few days. Seems pretty good to me! No jumpers either, although evaporation has become a bit of an issue. Nothing more water can't fix though.

Thanks for everything guys!