High temps in my new 14g Biocube

[Oldsalt01]

Anyone have a solution to high tank temps in 14g Biocubes? I FINALLY have mine set up, beginning to cycle it, but i find my tank temps running from 82 (+/-) to almost 85 if I run the (stock) lights for a time, even w/the fans running. Obviously, it's either the fans being inefficient or the CFL's running hot. I can either upgrade the fans (recommendations?) or bite the bullet and retrofit w/LED's. Anyone have any other ideas?

 

[Tahoe61]

Yes you can add fans, but I would upgrade to Leds without a second thought. In the long run you'll be happier you did.

Start window shopping here.

http://www.rapidled.com/

 

[D maul]

Seems like the hood traps the heat in had the same problem. LEDs will help so will a chiller.

 

[ngvu1]

Location: Palm Bay, FL?
I think it is very humid there so a fan might not be your solution. I don't know if a windows A/C to keep the whole room cool is an option there
I had a fan on my 12 JBJ and in CA, dry weather, I was able to keep the tank under 79 during the summer for the most part.

 

[Oldsalt01]

The only time the temp gets over 81 (and that may be heat input from the pump) is when either of the CFL's are on, but temps really spike with the actinic turned on. I am not about to add a chiller to this little dude. There were fan upgrades on Amazon about 6 months ago, but it looks like they're unavailable now. I guess the only option is to go full LED, which my wife is not going to be crazy about. I'm also wondering if the high temps are contributed to by the tank cycling (literally started the cycle w/ammonium chloride and Fritz-Zyme on Saturday). Ammonia was 8ppm+ at 6 PM last night and I'm wondering if this is partly a biological side effect. Haven't checked it yet today. As for the house, we're keeping it at 78 all the time and yes it's humid here, but our house humidity is less than 60%. Window a/c is not an option. I may pop the top open today to see how that effects the situation, although my evap levels will probably go way up. It just seems as though the stock fans are way too inefficient for the heat output of the CFL's.

 

[Aqua fire/medic]

What happens if you leave the front good door open while the fans run? Do the temps drop even a little?

 

[reefwiser]

I have a. 14 gallon bio cube for a Qt tank. Never had a heat issue with it. What temperature do you keep you house? My wife keeps the house at 70 Thou this tank is upstairs an it is warmer upstairs. But it never gets over 80

 

[glb]

What happens if you leave the front good door open while the fans run? Do the temps drop even a little?

I had the same problem with my jbj 12g nanocube. I propped up the lid about an inch and was able to run the tank at 78-79 with the lights on. I eventually changed to LEDs but this could work in the meantime. You could also run a fan across the surface of the water. This will cause evaporation though so you'll need to topoff more often. Good luck!

 

[Oldsalt01]

Update; running a slightly modified in-tank sump. Bioballs gone, replaced with reticulated foam block and polishing pad on top of that. That's all I've done to the sump. Approx 10lbs of dry rock and 14lbs of dry sand, to avoid the hitchhiker issues. As of 9 A.M. my ammonia's still running 8+ppm (day 2 of the cycle). I'm going to leave the lights off today, open the feeding door and monitor tank temps to see if they drop. I'm beginning to wonder if my fans are not running per specs, or if this is just a design flaw. I've not seen many posts alluding to high temp issues in this type tank, so I'm kinda scratching my head.

 

[glb]

Update; running a slightly modified in-tank sump. Bioballs gone, replaced with reticulated foam block and polishing pad on top of that. That's all I've done to the sump. Approx 10lbs of dry rock and 14lbs of dry sand, to avoid the hitchhiker issues. As of 9 A.M. my ammonia's still running 8+ppm (day 2 of the cycle). I'm going to leave the lights off today, open the feeding door and monitor tank temps to see if they drop. I'm beginning to wonder if my fans are not running per specs, or if this is just a design flaw. I've not seen many posts alluding to high temp issues in this type tank, so I'm kinda scratching my head.

Fwiw, you don't even need to run the lights during the cycle. But you're right that you've got to find a way to lower the temp. How long are you running them?

 

[madtownguy]

Update; running a slightly modified in-tank sump. Bioballs gone, replaced with reticulated foam block and polishing pad on top of that. That's all I've done to the sump. Approx 10lbs of dry rock and 14lbs of dry sand, to avoid the hitchhiker issues. As of 9 A.M. my ammonia's still running 8+ppm (day 2 of the cycle). I'm going to leave the lights off today, open the feeding door and monitor tank temps to see if they drop. I'm beginning to wonder if my fans are not running per specs, or if this is just a design flaw. I've not seen many posts alluding to high temp issues in this type tank, so I'm kinda scratching my head.

Are the posts you are seeing people living in Florida? What is the highest you let your house get inside? The smaller the tank obviously the more increase in heat you will see, I'm running a 29 biocube and I'm looking at a chiller right now. That being said depending on your end game some things aren't as picky about temperature changes and you may be fine. I'd love to upgrade the fans in my hood, they don't move a lot of air through them. What's your favorite fish store? You are a neighbor so just curious if there is anything down that way I should check out.

 

[glb]

I ended up mounting the lid above my tank to help with temp and to make more room in the sump area.

 

[IdahoNano]

I've got the 29 and have had to prop the lid open and run a fan toward the tank, that seems to drop temps....the little exaust fans in the hood just can't keep up. More permanent solution would be to swap out the CFLs for LEDs.....thats my plan anyway.

 

[Oldsalt01]

I am with you on THAT, my friend. LED's at some point in the future. But for now, my LFS suggested going to a computer place and finding a similar sized fan, cover the electrical line outlet slot on one side with packing tape to seal it off, and put the new fan over the other hole so that it's drawing air IN. I've already reversed the fan's in the hood (that voids the warranty) and it made the tank temp about 1 1/3 degrees cooler than the stock setup, but still not enough. So, all three fans would be pulling air into the hood and and the new fan would exit it thru the larger slots on the front sides of the hood and I'm hoping the additional fan will drop my top temps 2 degrees to the low 80's rather than where they are now with the lights on. Some of this heat may be biological as I have a very high ammonia pulse right now, due to cycling, but I certainly can't imagine bio activity helping to raise my tank temps to the mid 85's. The fan in back would blow across the light cover cooling the air around it as well as cooling the water surface. Yes, my evap will go up, but I'm willing to top off more often if it means I can keep the top closed and actually keep fish and some zoas, instead of just warm water. I've been in touch with the company and a very nice rep made several suggestions, so they're aware there is a problem. Someone suggested I up grad to the new biocube with the LED's, but I think I'll hold off. In 45 years, I have never had this much trouble setting up a tank, including when I had my tank maintenance business. I will post results of my experiments. I just have to find a fan that has it's own power transformer.