a gentle progression and a few questions

[duugong]

currently i have 2 frshwater tanks and was thinking about moving to salt water in a year or so maybe more depending on money. i was thinking of running my 4 foot 44 gallon as a fowlr and using the 20 as a sump, then many years down the track ( as in when i have a decent job) upgrading to a larger tank and trying reef, possibly 72" by 24" by 24" and sumping the 44 and using the 20 as a quarintine. ok enought of my dream ramble.

it seems to me a concern is keeping the water tempertaure constant i was thinking if you contained you sump in a cabinet/in a stand would it not be be a good idea to insulate the stand so at least a % of your water will be in this enviroment and you will require less heater/chiller time. Sorry about the big post for a small point .

 

[steve-s]

Actually in this regard, temperature is easily maintained with a quality titanium heater (@78-80°). Large increases in temp are more commonly from lighting. These can be controlled with various means.

I would urge caution in the use of "insulating" an area like the sump. This would to some degree also mean reducing/suffocating free flow of needed air. The result being higher ambient CO2 and reduced or unmanagable pH.

Cheers
steve

 

[greenmaji]

Most of the consern is heat..
and using large sumps and Hot lighting is the big causes of this..

Using a return pump with just enough gph to maximize filtration and using powerheads or larger pumps in closed loops will help..

So will using lighting like T-5 HO rather then large MH lighting units (If possible, tanks over 24 inches deep need MH or Overdrivin T-5 outfits) Fans help alot with disapating lighting heat as well..

Im not so sure that insulating the stand would help (unless for some reason you were having cold tank issues.. wich would be odd to me..)

 

[greenmaji]

I would urge caution in the use of "insulating" an area like the sump. This would to some degree also mean reducing/suffocating free flow of needed air. The result being higher ambient CO2 and reduced or unmanagable pH.

Good call steve.. caution would definatly need to be taken..

I personaly cant think of a good reason to do it at all acutally..

 

[duugong]

thanks it was just an idea and youve helped clear things up. i was mainly worried because in summer were expecting temps up to 40 degrees c or 100 + farenheight. just hope our house cooling systems can keep the temps low enough

 

[greenmaji]

The main diffence between AC in a home without a tank is the humidity level, if your AC is normaly able to funtion fine at those temperatures you should be fine.. if it stresses your AC unit or central air system... try getting a dehumidfer in the room with the tank to help your AC out.. (your AC has to remove humidity from the air to function, too much humidity can bogg the system down..) HTH