Tank overheats

Gsxkid

Well-Known Member
BRS Member
The couple times we have had temps hit 75 my tank overheats. My house temp got up to 78 today. I don’t have air conditioning. My tank temp is up to 80.1. Normally it stays 78 degrees. I’m starting to feel like when we get massive heat waves in July my tank temps are going to go crazy. How many of you run chillers and what’s my best option?
 
Window AC's with my house around 76ish and up to around 80 when we leave them on energy mode when we're out of the house and tank temps stay about 76-78. Personally I don't think a temo swing of 2 degrees is anything to worry about but you could always add a fan to the sump or DT surface before trying a chiller. Would work easily if you had a controller to program it to go on and off at set temps.
 
Ac in the room is the best option if you can. Otherwise when you know its going to be hot I have used the following methods.

- turn aquarium lights off
- remover tank lids
- use fans blowing on/over aquarium
- float bags of ice ( I've heard of people make rodi ice cubes too)
 
Chillers dump heat into the space they sit in so, unless you plumb your tank water to it on a pad that is weatherproof outdoors... you are defeating yourself and wasting lots of electricity. Much better to air condition the room the tank is in and use fans and evaporative cooling as suggested above. Don’t get an in room portable AC either, stick to in the window units. The free standing in room units use indoor air to evacuate hot air off the heat exchanger, creating negative indoor air pressure. This will pull hot air from your attic or wall bays into the room you try to cool through all you electrical outlets.
 
Window ACs won’t work. The tank is in the center of my house. The kitchen living room dining room do an oval around the tank. The house is 3000 sqft. 4 windoW ACs can’t cool my house in the summer. I do HVAC for a living I can assure you window ACs will not cover this area. Also I’ve actually tried it and it doesn’t work.

Someone said a 2 degree swing isn’t bad but my concern is it’s May. We are getting a 75 degree day and I’m jumping 2 degrees then the temps outside drop and my tank cools down. I’m nervous of when we get a 7 day stretch Of weather that’s 85 degrees plus.
 
I’m sure some of you are thinking install central air. It is on my to do list but I’m in the middle of many other projects and it’s not a necessity compared to the other renovations.
 
Reduce your photo period.
Aim powerheads to the surface to agitate the water more to cause evaporation. Put a fan on the tank and one in the sump. Freeze some rodi water in ice trays as a backup or freeze some bottles of it to float in the tank. With proper ventilation it shouldn’t be a problem. Temps in the low 80’s is actually orals normal temperatures.
 
A chiller is needed for sure and it may heat the air around it but in no way
Does it defeat the purpose. Before I got my attic insulation up to where it should of been and central air house temps would hit 85 and turning off lights and a fan won't help from my experience. A down side to the hobby is tempature control in the summer at times. A member is selling a new chiller for a great price. I speak from experience with this and not just theory.
 
Upcoming Events

April 21, 2024
Paul B
Club Meeting

Back
Top