temperature

GongShow · #1 07-22-2009, 03:34 AM

I was at the LFS today just doing some browsing trying to figure out what kinda setup i want to go with for my first reef tank and the employee told me that since my house gets up to about 82 degrees in the summer (i live in Edmonton) that i would either need to buy a chiller or some kinda air conditioning for my house to keep my house cool. I was just wondering if the guy was just trying to convince me into buying uneeded parts from him or telling the truth

simplycoral · #2 07-22-2009, 03:42 AM

Hi,

There are other way's to cool a tank...

I use small fans on one tank which keeps it a little cooler, although it increase's evaporation.

On another tank i throw in a couple of frozen water bottles to bring the temp down.

One way to tell for sure is to leave a bucket of water in the area where the tank will be and then test the temp over a few days to see how far it rise's.

Regards, Simon.

banditpowdercoat · #3 07-22-2009, 03:49 AM

My house gets hoter than 82 in the summer, even WITH the AC units on. Tanks are fine. House and tanks cool off at night, and I run fan's, and turn the lights out when it gets really warm

triggereef · #4 07-22-2009, 03:53 AM

Quote:

On another tank i throw in a couple of frozen water bottles to bring the temp down.

On my 230 i use three 1 leter frozen bottles to chill my tank down and i live in edmonton to

GongShow · #5 07-22-2009, 03:58 AM

so like i though a chiller would be a complete waste of money because for maybe a month out of the year i would have heat problems and i could easily solve them with frozen water bottles or fans

triggereef · #6 07-22-2009, 03:59 AM

Well exactly why spend money when you dont need to

fkshiu · #7 07-22-2009, 04:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GongShow

so like i though a chiller would be a complete waste of money because for maybe a month out of the year i would have heat problems and i could easily solve them with frozen water bottles or fans

A chiller could be a necessity IF you were also running, say, 400W MHs in addition to having room temperatures in the 80s.

Start off with using fans, room AC, etc and if that still doesn't work then consider a chiller if you are willing to make the investment.

mark · #8 07-22-2009, 05:24 AM

live in Edm as well and though now have CA, tank was fine the first year just with fans though was evaporating 2 gallons a day. This was on a 145g (2x250w+2x40W lights) with a basement sump.

As fkshiu says though, depends what your planning (tank, lights, hood, pumps) but while you're cycling without livestock, run fans etc and monitor your temperatures.

GongShow · #9 07-22-2009, 03:56 PM

I wouldnt be running hallides i would be running either a RSM 250 or a 75 gallon tank with the aquatic life HID high output T5's on them

StirCrazy · #10 07-22-2009, 05:43 PM

personaly I think a chiller is a good investment, cheeper than cooling the house with an AC and more responcive than fans for tank temp increases also you don't have massive amounts of evaporation water to make up as you do with fans so there is less humidity put into the house its self.

Steve