Aquarium Temperature Help

[redzfit]

Reef2Reef,

I have had my 36 Gallon aquarium for 6 years and just recently upgraded my light and bought some corals which are all zoa's. Things seem to be going pretty good until the last 2 days or so. Then I noticed my tank temperature was 84-86 degrees. So I went to the store bought a small fan for the top of the tank and a water pump. My tank now is around 82 degrees which looking online still seems hot for the corals. My space under the tank is limited. The heat here in Socal I am sure will be 100+ regularly.

My questions....
1. Do I need a chiller? If so any recommendations? I've looked into a JBJ Artic Chiller 1/10 HP and an Aqua Euro Max Aquarium Chiller 1/10 HP. The Aqua Euro Max is much smaller and will fit inside the cabinet no problem

2. Anything else I can do instead of a chiller?

3. Are my corals done? How long could they last?

My setup
36 Gallon Bow Front
Fluval 407 Canister Filter
2 AI Prime 16HD lights
Air Bubbler
Water Pump
Small Fan On Top of the tank.
Tank sits inside of a cabinet with a glass canopy.

 

[mkereefer]

Reef2Reef,

I have had my 36 Gallon aquarium for 6 years and just recently upgraded my light and bought some corals which are all zoa's. Things seem to be going pretty good until the last 2 days or so. Then I noticed my tank temperature was 84-86 degrees. So I went to the store bought a small fan for the top of the tank and a water pump. My tank now is around 82 degrees which looking online still seems hot for the corals. My space under the tank is limited. The heat here in Socal I am sure will be 100+ regularly.

My questions....
1. Do I need a chiller? If so any recommendations? I've looked into a JBJ Artic Chiller 1/10 HP and an Aqua Euro Max Aquarium Chiller 1/10 HP. The Aqua Euro Max is much smaller and will fit inside the cabinet no problem

2. Anything else I can do instead of a chiller?

3. Are my corals done? How long could they last?

My setup
36 Gallon Bow Front
Fluval 407 Canister Filter
2 AI Prime 16HD lights
Air Bubbler
Water Pump
Small Fan On Top of the tank.
Tank sits inside of a cabinet with a glass canopy.

Is there a fan in the room its in is there a ac?

 

[fishguy242]

hi, 82 is about as high as you want to get.
as far as chiller, either one,
putting under tank in stand will just fight itself ,as chiller is cooling ,also exhausting heat.

 

[redzfit]

Is there a fan in the room its in is there a ac?

This is an older picture but the tank is apart of the kitchen area. So there is AC that runs through the house.

 

[mkereefer]

This is an older picture but the tank is apart of the kitchen area. So there is AC that runs through the house.

you could try a chiller just gotta pay attention to temps and regularily monitor it.

 

[JNalley]

Can you show us a picture of the top of the tank presumably with the cabinet doors open?

Edit: Nevermind, I didn't read the last part of your post. You have a glass canopy. Take the glass off.

If you need top of tank protection, you can do a Red Sea DIY Screen top, or you can get a lid made of acrylic and screen from

www.clearviewlids.com
www.toplids.com
www.krakenreef.com

I am sure there are more, but those are the ones I look at the most.


Edit 2: This will save you from having to buy a chiller, but will also mean you need an ATO for sure. A Fan across the surface of the water doesn't work for you because it cannot evaporate with the glass lids. Fans speed up evaporation which lowers tank temps. But, if you take off the glass, evaporation can happen naturally, and then if you need more cooling, the fan is there to speed that process up.

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

Im just going to say it....Where's the tang police?

 

[redzfit]

Can you show us a picture of the top of the tank presumably with the cabinet doors open?

Edit: Nevermind, I didn't read the last part of your post. You have a glass canopy. Take the glass off.

If you need top of tank protection, you can do a Red Sea DIY Screen top, or you can get a lid made of acrylic and screen from

www.clearviewlids.com
www.toplids.com
www.krakenreef.com

I am sure there are more, but those are the ones I look at the most.


Edit 2: This will save you from having to buy a chiller, but will also mean you need an ATO for sure. A Fan across the surface of the water doesn't work for you because it cannot evaporate with the glass lids. Fans speed up evaporation which lowers tank temps. But, if you take off the glass, evaporation can happen naturally, and then if you need more cooling, the fan is there to speed that process up.

I want to try and keep the glass canopy because I don’t want the water to destroy my cabinet over time. Here is a picture

 

[JNalley]

I want to try and keep the glass canopy because I don’t want the water to destroy my cabinet over time. Here is a picture

Then a chiller is your only option, because tanks normally cool themselves using evaporation (which a fan is supposed to speed up) and if evaporation can't be handled by your cabinet, then the only option is the chiller.

 

[redzfit]

Then a chiller is your only option, because tanks normally cool themselves using evaporation (which a fan is supposed to speed up) and if evaporation can't be handled by your cabinet, then the only option is the chiller.

Thank you. The Euro Max chiller is 1-2 weeks out. Can my zoas make it that long?

 

[JNalley]

Thank you. The Euro Max chiller is 1-2 weeks out. Can my zoas make it that long?

It's pretty common to run a tank at 82 degrees for a week or two to combat Dino's, so I don't see why they wouldn't. However, until the chiller arrives, you can open the cabinets and take out the glass tops temporarily. That will drop the temps to a normalized rate.

 

[redzfit]

It's pretty common to run a tank at 82 degrees for a week or two to combat Dino's, so I don't see why they wouldn't. However, until the chiller arrives, you can open the cabinets and take out the glass tops temporarily. That will drop the temps to a normalized rate.

Thank you!

 

[Spare time]

you could try a chiller just gotta pay attention to temps and regularily monitor it.

I think inkbirds can control a chiller

 

[mkereefer]

I think inkbirds can control a chiller

yeah i believe they just plug right into it.

 

[ZombieEngineer]

First, use another source to verify your temperature. You only have enough latent load for your tank to be 1-2 degrees above ambient unless that cabinet is really trapping the heat from your lights.

I would install some ventilation fans into the cabinet to keep humidity down and replace the glass lid with a screen top.

That blue tang is gonna turn into an ***** real quick. They get more than a foot long and won't even be able to turn around in like 6 month to a year at most.

 

[JNalley]

First, use another source to verify your temperature. You only have enough latent load for your tank to be 1-2 degrees above ambient unless that cabinet is really trapping the heat from your lights.

I'm currently testing something that so far has proven this false. I have 2 wavemakers (Current USA 660gph pumps) and a Reef Octopus Return pump in my 20 Gallon Brute (I just swapped out the Fluval 1500 L/H pump for the Reef Octo which is 3000 L/H) mixing can, and if I put the lid on, the water gets to 88 degrees, and the ambient temperature of the room is 70 degrees or less... So I'd be cautious using perceived heat loads...

Edit: I just checked to make sure I had the temp correct, and it's at 90.6 degrees, and the ambient temperature of the room is currently 71 degrees. When testing using the same Hanna Salinity and Temp pen on my tank, it reads 77.6 degrees and my InkBird reads the same. So it's definitely calibrated correctly. (Don't mind the 5.9 salinity rating, I just filled it with RODI 2 days ago and there was still a bit of saltwater left from the last waterchange, I haven't added anymore salt to this can yet because I've just been trying to see if it was my heater, which it's definitely not as I disconnected it prior to filling this with RODI).

 

[ZombieEngineer]

I'm currently testing something that so far has proven this false. I have 2 wavemakers (Current USA 660gph pumps) and a Reef Octopus Return pump in my 20 Gallon Brute (I just swapped out the Fluval 1500 L/H pump for the Reef Octo which is 3000 L/H) mixing can, and if I put the lid on, the water gets to 88 degrees, and the ambient temperature of the room is 70 degrees or less... So I'd be cautious using perceived heat loads...

That isn't proving that false. You have almost 100W of load in that setup in a covered and insulated 20g volume. That kind of rise is 100% expected.

The OP has less than 50W of latent heat, and maybe 30W air transfer in twice the water volume and glass conducts better than brute can plastic. Even assuming 3/4" fully insulated sides, bottom, back, and glass top (which is conservative high estimate not accurate) I only get 4 degrees above ambient running the heat transfer calculation. Using more realistic values, this drops to like 2 degrees.

 

[JNalley]

That isn't proving that false. You have almost 100W of load in that setup in a covered and insulated 20g volume. That kind of rise is 100% expected.

The OP has less than 50W of latent heat, and maybe 30W air transfer in twice the water volume and glass conducts better than brute can plastic. Even assuming 3/4" fully insulated sides, bottom, back, and glass top (which is conservative high estimate not accurate) I only get 4 degrees above ambient running the heat transfer calculation. Using more realistic values, this drops to like 2 degrees.

75 watts of load, 20 gallons

vs

50 watts, 30 gallons (when you account for rock and sand)


Also, the bubbler is adding heat to the equation, not taking away from it, so how are you arriving at 30W air transfer?

I totally understand that Plastic is a better insulator than glass, but not by a factor of 10 is it?

 

[ZombieEngineer]

75 watts of load, 20 gallons

vs

50 watts, 30 gallons (when you account for rock and sand)


Also, the bubbler is adding heat to the equation, not taking away from it, so how are you arriving at 30W air transfer?

I totally understand that Plastic is a better insulator than glass, but not by a factor of 10 is it?

If the thickness were identical, plastic is 5-10x more insulating than glass. Actual thickness is half what the glass is so more like 2-4 times. The aquarium has evaporation that also cools about 15-20W worth of heat. Even more if the fans don't suck (which they might. I assumed 1 gallon per week evap).

30W for air heat transfer is an educated guess based on the wattage of the lights being at most 110W at 100% but likely run less and a lot of that heat being able to escape through the cabinet. Could very well be less than 20W worth.

 

[JNalley]

If the thickness were identical, plastic is 5-10x more insulating than glass. Actual thickness is half what the glass is so more like 2-4 times. The aquarium has evaporation that also cools about 15-20W worth of heat. Even more if the fans don't suck (which they might. I assumed 1 gallon per week evap).

30W for air heat transfer is an educated guess based on the wattage of the lights being at most 110W at 100% but likely run less and a lot of that heat being able to escape through the cabinet. Could very well be less than 20W worth.

Well, that's my point though, his tank isn't evaporating because of the glass tops. It's holding it all in (just as my lid on my brute is even though it's not sealed it's just resting on the top to prevent dust and bugs from getting in). When I had glass tops on my 55-gallon, I wasn't even evaporating a gallon a week, it was probably more like 1/2 a gallon per week, maybe less, and that has far more surface area exposed than this bowfront. That's why I was saying not to assume heat loads (or evaporation rates, which I didn't explicitly mention). Because it might surprise you that he could have closer to 60 watts in 36 gallons with no evaporation. So being 6-8 degrees above ambient is entirely possible. Heck, my 32.5 Gallon Fluval used to sit at 78 without the heater running or the lights turned on in a 70 degree room... which I found to be nuts, but as soon as I removed the lid, it was more like 71-72 degrees and I needed to add the heater back into the equation, lol