MH and Heat - turning my tank into soup cooking pot?

Chin_Lee · #1 01-02-2007, 03:41 PM

Ansoitgoes, what is the distance between your halides and the water? if you keep a fan blowing across the space between them, it usually does the trick. I'm surprised to read that opening the windows doesn't help with the heat especially at this time of the year.
Another thing you want to check is your thermometer. What brand is it? Hows does its readings compare to your residential thermostat?
Otherwise I would suggest to learn a way to control the heat now before summer comes along..... otherwise you may get 50g of undercooked seafood chowder in July.

andsoitgoes · #2 01-02-2007, 03:55 PM

Okay - first, the low side of chillers I'd need are only about 450 (only, hah) - http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/s...t_ID=ch-pc002i

So that answers that problem.

I've got my light a good 4" from the water surface. And it's a Double-Ended HQI bulb as well. Other than the fan, nothing was taking down the temp yesterday, until I turned off the MH...

As for the thermo - I used 2 different kinds. One from my salinity testing probe and one from a coralife electro thermometer. Both gave readings in the 80's - 80, 81, etc.

In the summer my first thought was to just get a small window A/C which I figured would solve the problem, but I know that means I need to keep IT running 24/7 - Surrey in July, yikes!!

Maybe we should just move to Antartica? =/

danny zubot · #3 01-02-2007, 04:35 PM

Quote:

I've got my light a good 4" from the water surface.

4" sounds a bit close to me. I'd raise it up to between 6-8" and see if your temp goes down a bit.

WWWD · #4 01-02-2007, 04:56 PM

Something about your setup sounds weird, I have a 42 cube with a 250 hqi over it, large skimmer and sizable return pump and I am struggling to keep the tank warm.

Is the top of your tank open and gets circulation around it?
Do you have a sump?
How many powerheads do you have in there?
Are there other contributing factors close by that are adding to the ambiant heat in the room, ie; fridge, computer, heat register?

Btw, a 1/10HP chiller will be cycling on and off a lot on a 50 gallon tank with heat issues. A 50 gallon really needs a 1/5 HP.

andsoitgoes · #5 01-02-2007, 05:06 PM

The house we're in has horrible insulation and my wife and I must just produce a LOT of heat

I have no cover on my tank, previously did have a glass top, but took that off as soon as I got the legs.

No sump yet, but am putting in one in the next few weeks.

I have 4 powerheads (I know this isn't helping the situation) - and I struggle with getting ample flow to the right places. I have 1 PS 20, 1 AC 301, and 1 coraline covered u/k powerhead

There's no computer in the room, there are another 5 tanks nearby, the one below (my Freshwater planted) is a cool 75, and the tanks to the left are all running below 80. There's the standard Aqualight Pro fan installed on the light as well.

Heat register is covered in the room (magnetic cover)

I figured a 1/10 was too much, can't seem to find a 1/5 anywhere, but that's why I'm starting now.

Just wondering if the sump will answer a lot of the problems, but my initial goal is to do a refugium w/ skimmer above as my tank isn't drilled - hoping that won't cause more problems than it's worth.

SeaHorse_Fanatic · #6 01-02-2007, 05:34 PM

No, if heat is an issue, you would only need to keep it running during the hours that your MH is on. Is the door to the room left open or closed during the day? If my tank starts to heat up in our ground floor suite this summer, I will probably get a room a/c unit, which I think is more cost effective than a chiller for each tank. During the winter months is actually a good time to pick one up.

andsoitgoes · #7 01-02-2007, 05:52 PM

that's what I've been thinking about. Gosh this tank is costing me more than I expected

We leave the door to the room closed during the day - we've got 4 cats that would cause rather insane amounts of chaos in the bedroom if we left it open - but I know that's a part of the problem, too.

I'm going to try a few more things, I'm going to keep the surface fan on a timer as well.

How does everyone hook up the PC fans easily? Is there a transformer that will convert the power connection to a standard AC power?

draco · #8 01-02-2007, 07:36 PM

You can get a 450 chiller on ebay new for bettween $500 -$600 right now

fkshiu · #9 01-02-2007, 07:52 PM

Alright, I'll throw my 2 cents in as well.

1. How is your fan pointed? Ideally, you should have it pointing slightly down at the water creating some small waves and ripples rather than entirely parallel with the surface. The reason is that evaporative cooling is dependent on surface area. Your goal is to make your tank "sweat" more. You do this by disturbing the surface to create more surface area allowing more evaporation as opposed to simply attempting to blow hot air away. Aiming your powerheads such that you get more surface agitation also helps.

An additional benefit of more evaporation would be the necessity of having to add more (cool) top-up water.

2. Adding more water via a sump would definitely help since you'd have more water volume to absorb the heat and another surface with which to blow air across for further evaporative cooling.

3. That said, I don't think you have to panic about your temperature being ~80-81 degrees F? Many reefs are kepts in the low 80s.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

This is just one of a number of articles suggesting that such temperatures are fine for reefs.

Chaotic Cricket · #10 01-02-2007, 11:38 PM

Just a quick question regarding your heat issue. How long do you have them on for? What is the kelvin rating of the bulb. I have been told that a 10k bulb will put out more heat than a 14k and 20k will be less than both. If this this is true or not I am not sure as I have never looked into this. I run 14k Hamilton or Phoenix bulbs (aquaconnect seem nice but are pricey and the availability isn't as good as the other two). I also have 20k xm and radium bulbs somewhere. I never really checked to see if the 14k's raised the temp when i switched from the 20k's, and its so long ago i cannot even remember when the last time i had a temp swing in my tank.
As I stated I'm not sure if this information that was given to me is proven or just the opinion of the few who gave it, but if someone else might know, maybe that might help a little. Also for photo period i would have your halides on for no more that 6hours at the most. After all they are to mimic the sun at its zenith (just before and just after as well) and the sun isn't always the same for the full day, so 6 hours is really all you need.

Also remember for some odd reason in reef keeping lower temps than needed are often quoted by people when you ask. I would honestly worry about your tank if it rises in the summer, but for now I would say you are ok.