temp and liverock question??

[jaw88]

hi everybody,havent been on here in awhile,just to update u,i ordered a 20 pound bag of arag alive fiji pink live sand and got it about 4 or 5 weeks ago,put it in my tank,my water would not clear up after 4 days,so i just took all the water out and refilled it with new saltwater,i know this means my cycle will start all over again. The last few days it has been really hot in my apartment,and my water temp went up to 86 ,i put some colder water in yesterday and its now down to 84ish,but i dont have money to get a chiller,so anyone have any ideas on how i can bring my temp down? And my other question is that i have a little money left over from my paycheck and i was thinking about getting a little more live rock,cured, and i was wondering if i shoud wait until my temp goes down to get it or if it will be fine if i get it now?

 

[BigAl07]

Re: tep and liverock question??

You can add a fan blowing across the surface of the water to help in cooling. This will get you a couple of degrees but will also GREATLY increase evaporation.

IMHO I'd watch it and see where the temp averages and go from there. I would like to have the peace of mind of a chiller though!!

 

[Gill Roy]

Re: tep and liverock question??

+1 on the fan across the water surface along with the evaporation issue.
Be sure to add only RO/DI water or equivalent for top off time.

BTW I have 3 tanks (65, 90 and 120 gal) and no chiller on either of them, however I have fans on all. This means fans (when needed) at the tanks top and sump top as well, all blowing across the surface.
No MH but have PC's and T5's lighting.

To go one step further.........
I have looked into a controller that is run by thermostat and this is available. This could be used with your fans to switch them for more consistent temp control. I can't recall or find the URL or I would post it.
Maybe someone here knows of such a device.

Hope this helps!

 

[carlagracie]

Re: tep and liverock question??

I dont know if it does but if your apartment has Air Conditioning you could always turn it on. You said it gets hot in there so I assume you have no A/C. Just a thought. Also if not you can buy a window unit A/C for $69 at Wal-Mart.

 

[rgfast]

Re: tep and liverock question??

you could try two liter pop bottle fill with water freeze an put in sump this is more of an emerg. thing, lot of work a/c with fan best bet.With your temps getting that high your getting close to a low country boil

 

[BigAl07]

Re: tep and liverock question??

A dedicated "controller" might help if set up correctly. The controller can not only control the heater and a fan but you could add more "check points" and if the temp gets higher it can turn OFF your lights to try and help cut temps. My new ProfiLux PII+ can be set up to do this as I know the Neptune and RKL will as well.

Ideally you need to address the AMBIENT room temp or you're going to have to potentially go to some more "involved" measures (chiller).

 

[DaveK]

Re: tep and liverock question??

A dedicated "controller" might help if set up correctly. The controller can not only control the heater and a fan but you could add more "check points" and if the temp gets higher it can turn OFF your lights to try and help cut temps. My new ProfiLux PII+ can be set up to do this as I know the Neptune and RKL will as well.

Ideally you need to address the AMBIENT room temp or you're going to have to potentially go to some more "involved" measures (chiller).

That's a good idea, but a controller, by the time your done, is almost as expensive as a chiller.

 

[jaw88]

ok thanks everyone,i turned off my heater and on really hot days i turn my ac on for awhile,and i also have a pop bottle that i filled and freeze that i do use too...thanks everyone for the speedy replies

 

[CMG]

I got an aqua controller Jr. for around $120 ish a few years back, not sure what they go for now but thats way cheaper than a chiller. The controller allows you to work anything plugged into it on an "if then" basis like back in the day in science class when we used to make a hypothesis, haha. So you can tell it to turn off your lights if the temp gets to say 82 F and turn on the fans when temp gets to 81F and then turn back off the fans at 78 F. I think I got some god cheap fans at Target too.

The fans will really help cool down your tank but as mentioned before there is more evaporation.

I do have to say that buying the aqua controller jr was one of the best moves I made, I have it hooked up to my freshwater tank now since I don't have a SW tank...yet...insert evil laugh