Dang! Heat buildup mania

[Anonymous]

So I come strolling in today, check on the tank (day 3), and I'm pleased to see some kind of brown algae proliferating. I go to check the water params ... and I notice the temp is 95 degrees F! OMG I turned off the light, took off the top and pointed a fan at it. The temp is dropping now, but what's a boy to do about tomorrow's heat buildup? I guess I will just leave the light off during the day. Afte work I will get some hardware to suspend the light a bit above the aquarium.

Do you think a 95 degree spike killed any important bacterias or stuff forming on the live rock? I hope I didn't just sterilize the tank. I couldn't see any crawlies on the live rock today.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure whether that temp would kill your bacteria but it probably killed most little creatures in your tank. I run my lights late in the day until early morning during the hottest summer months. Suspending the lights and running a small fan over the tank will most likely keep your temps in the low 80's.

 

[Anonymous]

Mine has hit 95 a couple of times. I didn't notice a decline in critters when it happened. my fish at that time were a little upset with me, but appeared none the worse for wear.

Bryan

 

[Anonymous]

hm ok i have my plan and whatnot i will construct the suspension stuff tonight. meanwhile, i hope my jimmy rigged way to keep the lights off the aquarium doesn't collapse and plunge the $400 light fixture into the water and whatnot.

 

[cdeakle]

Keep 2-liter bottles filled with water/frozen in case heat rises too high again. Just float the frozen 2liters in your sump or tank.....

 

[Anonymous]

Hey that's a great idea. I will be sure to freeze some tonight and whatnotxorizer.

THX!

 

[MLVA123]

So should we have a glass cover between tank and hood? wouldn't that keep a lot of the radiant heat out if you have fans in your hood?

 

[Anonymous]

Problem solved. Took 5 minutes.

 

[Anonymous]

Niiiice feet

that looks dangerous

Bryan

 

[CptnJack]

My tank hit the low 90's after a day or two also. Learned a couple things... No need for covers on a tank, and the second was weeds love heat. I would have to say my critter population exploded after I settled the tank down.

http://www.grafics.com/saltwater/sargassum

 

[CptnJack]

My tank hit the low 90's after a day or two also. Learned a couple things... No need for covers on a tank, and the second was weeds love heat. I would have to say my critter population exploded after I settled the tank down.

http://www.grafics.com/saltwater/sargassum

 

[Anonymous]

Problem solved. Took 5 minutes.

I hope you wear a good pair of rubber soled shoes when workin in your tank.......that does look dangerous. I learned the hardway ....took a couple "bites" of electricity trying to save my light from fallin in my tank before I learned to be more cautious. However I am like a Bull in a China Shop so you may be alright. Have Fun!

 

[Anonymous]

It's quite secure.

 

[Anonymous]

Raising the lights should help some.

What you need, though, are fans. You can either put a fan on a timer to run all day, or when the lights are on. Point the fan at the water surface.

If you want to get really fancy (I've done this and it works great!), get a temperature controller. I went to www.diyreef.com and bought a single stage temperature controller. It has a probe to measure water temp, and when the temp gets to a certain level (that you program in) it activates an outlet. I have a big fan plugged into the outlet. The net effect is that as soon as my tank hits 81 F, the fan turns on, and I've set it to turn the fan back off at 80. In combination with my heaters (set to heat my tank to 80), my tank is now super-stable temp wise. If you want to control both your heaters and your fans with the same controller, get a dual stage.

Good luck!

jayo

 

[Anonymous]

thanks jayo! i might do that. for now, however, the goal is to NOT get fancy. this is my first reef tank so i'd prefer to keep things simple. so far, raising the light and removing the canopy seems to have done the trick. if it becomes a problem again, i will probably buy a fan. thanks for the tip!

 

[Lostmind]

Man, I am sooo jealous!

SCII!!!

Gotta go get that game.