Too hot to touch

[schulz1616]

Hi,
I just added 20 lbs. of LR and 2 inches of sand to my aquarium . Everything looks really cool and healthy, but with the reduced water volume (I'm assuming this being the cause) the temperature of the tank won't go below 80 degrees. I have a power compact light, any suggestions for bringing the temperature down?

Thanks
Jesse

[Alice]

Jesse;

80's a good temp. I run my 125 at 82 and my nano at 80. Most of the animals in our tanks come from water that ranges in the 80-85 range.

If you don't have A/C in your place though, the ambient room temp could make the tank temp raise too high in the summer, however. Built in or clip on fans usually take care of that problem.

I'm sure others will answer and you can take a look at their tank temps.

Alice

[MontanaRocknReefer]

80 is an excellent temp for your reef. Why people run their tanks below this is a mystery unless you have critters that require it but there is not that many. I run mine at 82-86 most of the time! Johnny

[reefguy]

i agree with johnny. i really try to keep my tank between 80 and 82 F, and i NEVER try to let it get out of the 79-83 F range. i've found that it works well for me and i haven't had any problems with the livestock taking objections to it

[Hommeworks]

I'm still deciding on my tanks aquatic representation. If I do temperate, water temp must be 48-56. If I do Indo Pacific deep water reef, then my temps need to be a consistant 75. I know I'm looking at a chiller thats bigger than a bread box. I'm in Northern California w/o household A/C.

I thought a chiller was standard equipment for bright light arrays??

[FishDaddy]

I set my tanks for 80f and they stay right between 80-82. Older books suggested temps between 75-77f but most current thinking is that higher temp promotes coral growth and more closely approximates average tropical reef temperatures.

Hommeworks,
Many run tanks with heavy MH without chillers. Some factors are ambient room temperature; distance of bulbs from the water surface; and fans for ventilation and to promote cooling evaportation.

You might even consider a pendant lighting system whereby the lights are suspended above the tank so that there's open ventilation.
Dick

[fishinchick]

Mine usually stays between 80 and 82 but in the summer if I forget to turn on the A/C it gets warm so I throw in what the kids call 'freezy pops'. They are 1 litre bottles with frozen water in them. Drop one or two in your sump and it should keep the water temp where you like it. I do this cuz I dont like chiller prices. :-P and it doesnt happen that often so I cant justify it.

[schulz1616]

Thanks for your advise everyone, I guess I don't need to panic about this.

[cubera]

We run our tanks between 76-92F. Tropical reef animals do very well in this range but if/when things go wrong it is wise to get a handle on it in a hurry. Higher temps. accelerate metabolic demands of all the animals so high water flow and good gas exchange are a must. 80F is an excellent temp. to shoot for on any brightly lit reef with tropical animals IMHO. HTH. Enjoy

[tdwyatt]

Originally posted by Hommeworks
If I do Indo Pacific deep water reef, then my temps need to be a consistant 75...

Just curious, Hommie, what area of the Indo-Pacific are you trying to mimic??? Minimum temp in all areas of the Indonesian ocean are 79F, and that is during the seasonal upwelling of deep (cooler) water...Temps in the areas from the Gulf of Thailand through the Banda sea to the Timor Sea all run at an average 82F to 83F (28.0 to 28.5C) most of the year, with some seasonal highs of 84 or 85F. If you would like references, check with T. Tomascik's work (Ecol. of the Indonesian Seas) or in Dr Veron's books or Milleri, et. al. (Chemical Oceanography). Hawaiian waters are only 2 to 3 degrees cooler, but even there they only reach a minimum average of 76F for a 2 to 3 week period. At 75 F, many corals will survive, but fail to thrive due to the reduction in metabolic rate. Although 75F for some Pacific spp. of temperate water fishes would be fine (especially fishes from the Catalina waters of California, especially the little Catalina goby...), Indonesian Sea spp. of corals will need the extra temp to thrive. Temperature is the primary limiting factor (light/turbidity and nutrient load are the other major factors) to the range of hermatypic coral reefs. This is why there are few coral reefs on the western coast of N. America and locations of S. America where cold upwelling keeps the temps in the lower ranges (even at latitudes less than 15 degrees N or S of the equator where average ambient temp is relatively lower than the areas where hermatypic corals thrive). Although there are species of corals that live as far north of the equator as Japan, (and routinely survive periods of 12 to 15 C temps), these are but a few species of corals, and are not considered to be hermatypic for the most part.

Don't take this as a flame by any means. It is just a means of presenting the information correctly. There is a large field of study in the scientific literature that directly deals with this specific topic.

[Hommeworks]

Hey tdwyatt,

No flames received here. That is good information you provided. I'm brand new to this hobby and I'm in the research stage. I guess I'm easily impressed by the writings of the authors I've run across as I gather information before I make any finacial plunges.

My reference is from John Tullock's book, Natural Reef Aquaruims. Chapter Nine, Indo-Pacific Deep Reefs & Caves. He states 'First, keep the temperature at 70 to 75 degrees F or less, using simple fluorescent lighting that contributes only a negligible amount of heat to the system.' He further states that 'Second, remember that the organisms that do not contain symbiotic algae depend upon plankton and detritus for food. He recommends choosing LR with good coralline algae growth. Corallines are found at the greatest depths of any algae.

He doesn't state specific geographical regions. I don't take this guys word as gospel, might even be dated. So I'm searching out more reference material on the topic. Even trying to get in touch with a Marine Biologist I dove with once.

When I dive, I really enjoy the subtle earie darkness ambiance. Thats what I'm trying to recreate. Backdrops of black or midnight blue water with flashes of brilliant color that are not over-whelming. Black coral would be really cool. And I guess I have to stay away from gorgonian.

So hit me with some research pointers. I promise I will read them. Thanks for your response.

[Timur]

I try to keep mine at 80-82. But in the summer it's hard to maintain stabil levels. When I have extra $$'s I'll buy a chiller. Why are they so expensive?

[Hommeworks]

My refrigerator didn't cost $1k.

[Timur]

What happens if I pass my tank water inside my freezer, than return it to the sump. Will it cool the tank water??? I think it will but I have to make 2 holes on my freezer

[cubera]

Hi, Timur. I have coiled tubing before and put the coiled tubing in a small freezer compartment and pumped tank water through it slowly. My experiement did not work too well but I have heard of people using this DIY chiller method successfully in the past. We decided to go chillerless because of the additional power demands AND expense. In one room with 2400 watts of MH and 440 watts of VHO burning, tanks commonly run in the mid 80s during the day. This is too hot for my liking and I don't recommend anyone run temps that high on a consistent basis at least. Having said that, the inhabitants seem quite happy and are growing very well. We just put two new 30 amp services in so maybe now we can run a chiller......but I sure hate to pay for one now since things are doing fine (it seems) without it This is an interesting topic