Weekly Discussion - heating and cooling

[Anonymous]

Weekly Discussion - heating and cooling

How do you control the temp of your tank? Do you trust heaters, or do you go with a controller? Fans or a chiller? Are people overly concerned with 3 degree temp swings?

About the RDO Weekly Discussion:
This discussion is meant to get at your experience and to share information that is in your head, so don't necessarily treat it as information gathering. State your opinion and, if available, use material, anecdotal or otherwise, that will back up your opinion.
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If you have topics that you think would be helpful for the RDO community to discuss, please send me a pm or start your own thread! :mrgreen:

 

[jandree22]

I heat my 75gal. with 2 200W Ebo Jagers right in the display.... unfortunately I have no overflows for a sump, but hopefully over the summer I'm gonna get around to building a gravity fed 20gal sump/fuge. Anywho, I don't have major overheating problems as I'm only running 4 NO flourescents hung 8" above water, plus my tank is in the cool basement. I do however blow a Wal-Mart fan across the surface just to be sure I keep the temp down, plus for evaporation.

I do think a 3 degree swing is a big deal. Once is not a problem, but day in/day out, it'll cause much unneeded stress on the critters. Because of my low overheating problems, I'm able to have a tank with 0 degree swings, but I know I'm a rare case and that sometimes swings just can't be avoided in all situations. As long as the reefer is trying as best they can to minimize these swings, that's the important thing.

 

[Bobzarry]

I use a submersable heater and a muffin fan on a temp controller. My tank ranges from 79-night to 82 day. I run 2x175 MH and 2x110 VHO atinics. Its been running that way for several years now and knock on wood all has been realy doing well. I think people can tend to over fiddle and over worry about small shifts. The main thing is consistancy.

 

[Anonymous]

I heat my system with 2 350 watt Won heaters, and 4 250 DE pendants :wink: . I have a remote sump under the house, so I don't feel the need for a chiller. I do have a vortex fan with 3 settings that circulates the air in the canopy - without it the canopy get to be like 130 degrees - and the fan is on the same times as my actinics.

For a total of aobut 3 weeks, spread out over the year, my town gets very hot. When this happens I turn up the speed of the fan in the canopy and add a fan to the sump under the house. I also open the canopy doors to allow better air circulation.

My tank bounces from 76 to 82 pretty regular, and I have notice no problems.

 

[J.Howard]

Here's what I do for my 200

1 200 watt titanium heater set to come on at 77 deg. House is well insulated so no need for big wattage. Never stays on more than 5 min.

Cooling with 1/4 hp chiller (seems small but very efficient Pac Coast rated at about 3100 btu) set to come on at 82 deg. Chiller has built in 2 stage controller which is designed to work with external heater which I have not yet added as only plumbed chiller in yesterday (I'm scared about the electric bill...I think the spinner in my meter is gonna blow a bearing LOL) Oh yes...almost forgot. 2- 100cfm 120V biscuit fans on cheap Honeywell analog thermo controller. 1 draws in cool air, other pushes hot stuff out.

I usually have a quite stable reading of 79-81 deg.

 

[Mikef1]

I control my temp with a 1/4hp inline chiller and a 300w titanium heater ran by a dual medusa controller. Most of the time I just take the heater out since Im in Florida and my lights are so hot to begin with my tank never gets cold. I keep it at 80f.

 

[-JB]

I use controllers. Never used the built in thermostat controller on the heater. Never really understand why someone with thousands of dollars in their tank wouldn't put a controller for their heaters and/or chiller. Basically I have the heaters turned all the way up and the controller turns it off/on. I have a chiller on the tank as well.

My temp swing is about 1.3-1.5F max of 1.8F. Heaters turn on if the temp is .6d below the target temperature. Fans turn on if the temp is .5d above the target and chiller turns on if the temp is over 1d. I always have the heater and chiller hooked up. You never know when a cold spell or unusually warm day might cause the need for the heater or chiller.

I'm using two 300 watt titanium heaters and a 1/3 hp in-line chiller.

 

[Sprattoo]

My 75G has a 350W titanium heater with a digital therm/switch.
I live in a mobile home with an oil heater in NewEngland..... wanna talk temp swings?

While the room temp may fluxuate the heater in my sump is quite reliable. My girlfriend even turns the heat in the house down when she leaves for the day!
There are 2 175W MH hoovering over the wide open tank at about 10".

The tank itself is has open air on all 4 sides and will have a ceiling fan circulating the room and I'll have an A/C on this summer in the room.

The tank fluxuates about 1.5-2 degrees max currently from night to high noon. shrimp, snails all reproducing like mad - corals all healthy and spawning- fish all happy and active, no signs of stress that I can see

This setup is only 2 or 3 months old. The tanks they moved up from were not so steady in quality and temp, but everyone survived for a year while I was saving up $$$ for the new setup.

 

[Anonymous]

I have one heater in my sump, it keeps the temp right around 80

the only other thing I do is I have a fan on the sump that I turn on during the heat of the summer. It causes the tank to cool down, but the heater keeps up.

I am going to be putting 2 fans in my new canopy to deal with the heat of the metal halides, they will only be on when the lights are on

Bryan

 

[Anonymous]

I have an 11000 BTU air conditioner.That's my chiller. I bought it after I came home and my tank was 92degrees. Heat wave in july. My cats also dig it in the summer time. And hey, when I'm home I like it!

I've got 1 50w heater in my 10 and in my 15. They're both set to 79. That's it. I don't monitor temp that closely to know if it's swinging +/-3 degrees.

B

 

[npaden]

On my 415, I have a measley 300W titanium heater and it has it's own controller. It is set to come on if the temp drops below 80.

I have 8 - 50 cfm fans scattered around my canopy on a controller that come on when the temp gets above 81. If the temp goes over 86 (hasn't done this yet) one set of 400W MH shuts down.

Winter time temps drop down to 79 and up to 82. Summertime temps drop down to 81 and get up to 84. I think this is good to have seasonal swings.

FWIW, Nathan

 

[ReeferAl]

I use an AC II with heaters and a chiller. The temp would go up to 84 everyday before I started the chiller. That's in the winter, but since it is in the basement the time of year really doesn't play a role much.
Allen

 

[Ralphyhp]

I use for my 125g SPS tank an 1/4 in line chiller and 4 fans. I have to upgrade to a 1/2 hp in line chiller because the one that i have are not giving me the capacity to chill out my tank.
I have over this tank 1530w of lighting and on a hot day here in PR.(98 to 100 @) the temp runs at 86 to 88 and thats not good for corals.

On the other hand is my 55g repro. tank and it use a DIY 1/3 in line chiller that a friend customized for me and two 4" fans. I have over this tank 2 250w M/H and two VHO 110w for a total of 820w of lightning and i never had proble to keep this tank on the right temp.
Ralphy.

 

[pcragg]

Why is there such a concern for temp swings?

In nature, doesn't the sun contribute to a fairly large daily temp swing?

 

[WannaBeReefer]

I use a Dolphin DP800 in sump pump to heat my tank my 2 200watt titanium heaters never come on. Keeps the tank at 78 in some pretty cold north east temps. Have not been through a summer yet but am hoping the central AC will keep things cool.

 

[tangir1]

Why is there such a concern for temp swings?

In nature, doesn't the sun contribute to a fairly large daily temp swing?

Reef zone has a pretty constant temperature thru out the day, esp. if you compare it to the air temperature of a AZ desert.

 

[playfair]

I keep the daily temperature variation on my 120 pretty minimized at about 1/2 degree F. Maybe you don't have to (there are occasional swings), but it's "free" with a controller.

For heating, I have a 300w titanium main heater running off an ACII. It's external thermostat is set just above 83 "just in case" the controller locks on. I also have a 150 watt ebo that is set to ~79 on it's own control for a backup in case the main heat doesn't come on, or if it can't keep up. If this one sticks, it's not enough to overheat the tank.

For cooling I run 2 4" canopy fans off the ACII based on water temperature. Never are the fans and heater fighting each other, as that wastes energy. In the summer I add an additional fan over the sump set a little higher so it only runs when needed.

This setup allows the house to be 68 in the winter, and 78 in the summer. I run the tank temps at 78.5 winter, and 82.5 summer (slow seasonal swings). I also have the lighting period longer in the winter (13hrs) and shorter in summer (11hrs) to help conserve energy.