I run a cheap 6" clip on desk fan on my 150g. One day I want a chiller, but pretty low on the finances list. I do 3/4-1g/day I think evap.

Brett if you have a controller then you are GTG , then use the fan and have it behind the tank facing the back to cool it , i use to do that and it worked really good.

I dont think that a temp swing would cause too much problems when you think about a tide change over a reef crest. Imagine the swing when cold deep water gets exchanged for warm lagoon water thats been baking in the sun for 8 hours? Having said that tho I think we all still need to strive for stability AMAP. You should be able to get away with fans and open windows in all but the most extreme cases. I use my controller to turn my fans on with my MH and to shut the MH off if the temp exceeds 80. Today is the first day that the lights have turned off and that is because no one was here all day and the house was closed up tight.

I expect that if you turned your temperature up to 82, you would then start to have a swing between 82 and 84. You would NOT stabilize at 82. IME, it doesn't work that way.

Well the light has been out for 30 min and I'm sitting at 83. Not good. Recently I started running the Tunze 9002. Perhaps the skimmer pump runs pretty warm hence the difference? It looks like I HAVE to get a fan of some sort as 83 is too high I think. And Brad I think you might be right about the shift in fluctuations...In the back of my head I had conisedered that as well.

Will higher humidity levels in the room make it harder to cool the water? Perhaps I need to leave the window cracked open during the day.

My backyard is west facing so it gets pretty hot back there. Right now we have very thin white drapes over the sliding doors and cheap venetian blinds over the kitchen sink. What can I do to combat the heat on that side of the house? I'm pretty sure almost all of my heat comes in that side. The front of the townhouse faces other houses closely so the sun never hits my livingroom window.

I was thinking heavier white drapes might keep it cooler inside?

One thing you can try if possible:

If you can turn on your furnace fan, and leave it running, it may recirc your house are enought to cool things down. I use to do this until I got my HRV system installed recently. Just an idea. But if you are in an apartment, this would be a no go.

What Global designs said is a great idea.

Brett, all good points have been mentioned already but just thought I might add; if you set you heater to 82 all the time (assuming it would eliminate the temp swing under 'ideal conditions') then you are promoting long term high temperatures. We all know this is not exactly good for 'reefs' (natural or aquarium). I think the minute swing in temperature is not much to worry about and would think it safer to simply stick to a lower temperature setting of 80 (or less).

Just a thought!

Cheers, and hope all is well.

Chris

I use a 4 fan unit that blows across my water surface when my temp hits 80. My temp goes from 77 (at night) to 80 during the day with the halides on. Works well, have never even considered a chiller.

Yeah it's funny because when it started getting hot here I looked all over on the thermostat for a fan switch. I did that when I had a house all the time to freshen things up. I can't see anything on there to do that but maybe I'm an idiot. I can only get the furnace to blow when it's heating?

I'm going to get fans today for a start but I'm still thinking thicker drapes in the kitchen would help out a lot. If someone with small fans can suggest either a 2 fan or 4 fan unit for a 34g I'd appreciate it.

Wish i could give some more insight, but my tank doesn't move off of 79. Fans are the way to go i guess if a chiller isn't in the bufget. Good luck with the summer.