How does house temp effect aquarium temp?

[Philipgonzales3]

I may have asked this already or posted a similar post before but it's starting to get warmer and I live in Texas.

I know, I know...there are too many variables and humidy, and volume, and salinity, and lunar phases, etc.

But any general idea on how indoor temp effects aquarium temp?

Aquarium is 50 gallon PNP and just about 50 gallons net after sump, sand, rocks etc.

My house today was 74F and my tank was 79F. Tomorrow I'm going to verify with another thermometer. Maybe even two thermometers just to be sure.

I could have sworn my old house had gotten to 77F and my tank to the same 79F. Can this be true? Same thermostat (ecobee thermostat) and the houses have the same layout and the tank is about 6 feet from the thermostat.

Anyway I'm fixing to add some sump fans and maybe even one on the DT if needed. Any ides? Like if my temp in my house gets to 80F am I for sure going to need a chiller?

I don't mean like 100% just looking for some general ideas.

 

[DCR]

Humidity makes a big difference. In these shoulder months where it is warm but not enough to run the AC, the tank will tend to run more elevated over ambient. When the AC is running and reducing the indoor humidity, it will help cool the tank by evaporation. You may or may not have an issue this summer.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Humidity makes a big difference. In these shoulder months where it is warm but not enough to run the AC, the tank will tend to run more elevated over ambient. When the AC is running and reducing the indoor humidity, it will help cool the tank by evaporation. You may or may not have an issue this summer.

Well the funny thing is that at 74 this is with the AC on. But it feels hotter than 74 to me. We kept the old house at 77F the whole 4 years we were there. Maybe we are just bigger weenies this year but it feels odd to me that 74 feels hot. But you know what we had ceiling fans in the old house because I installed them. No ceiling fans in this house yet.

 

[KrisReef]

I broke down and bought a chiller and the stability of the water has really helped fish and corals thrive.

A tank with a skimmer is basically a forced air heat exchanger year around.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

I broke down and bought a chiller and the stability of the water has really helped fish and corals thrive.

A tank with a skimmer is basically a forced air heat exchanger year around.

Surprised you didn't just MacGyver one up! Man this is all stuff I would know already I'd you had a build thread! o_O

Haha what did you end up getting? Is it hard to setup? Is it loud? I have servers in my living room that sound like jets taking off whenever they boot up. So I don't think sound would be too big of an issue for us lol.

 

[DCR]

Well the funny thing is that at 74 this is with the AC on. But it feels hotter than 74 to me. We kept the old house at 77F the whole 4 years we were there. Maybe we are just bigger weenies this year but it feels odd to me that 74 feels hot. But you know what we had ceiling fans in the old house because I installed them. No ceiling fans in this house yet.

If 74 feels warm, it is probably because your humidity is high. The AC will run more as it gets hotter. One downside of the newer higher efficiency AC units is that the evaporator runs warmer and does not remove as much water. That may affect you in a new home.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

If 74 feels warm, it is probably because your humidity is high. The AC will run more as it gets hotter. One downside of the newer higher efficiency AC units is that the evaporator runs warmer and does not remove as much water. That may affect you in a new home.

I'll keep that in mind if we go with a new build. The new houses we were looking at have spray in insulation and tankless water heaters and what not. So I'm sure there pretty energy efficient. The house we are in now was built in 1969. 20 years before I was even born. I don't think the AC unit it has is high efficiency.

Here is the inside thingy.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

If 74 feels warm, it is probably because your humidity is high. The AC will run more as it gets hotter. One downside of the newer higher efficiency AC units is that the evaporator runs warmer and does not remove as much water. That may affect you in a new home.

You are right about the humidity it has rained on and off the past few days. Humidity 70% up to 100%. I think it's going down a bit because it's 50% right now I think. It does feel cooler now in the house today.

 

[KrisReef]

I went to a Aquatic Warehouse in San Diego and bought an over sized unit. My wife went with me and she helped carry it out to the car because it was so big. (Not really. She went along and told me to get the higher HP unit "to keep her fish healthy," and my tank is in the garage so it can get fairly warm in there during summer ?90F+? )
I don't remember the mfgr, but it isn't too loud when it cycles on, but ideally the air would vent outside to remove the heat out of the local area. (So then I remembered I hadn't feed the fish yet, "AquaEuro 1/2 HP. )
If your tank is indoors, then just turn on the AC and I would think that would keep the tank cool. You have LED's (right?) so they should not be heating up your water that much. Do you have a heater that is kicking on?

What is a build thread? Never heard of this thing before of which you speak?

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Any tips on sump fans, display fans, @KrisReef chillers etc.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

I went to a Aquatic Warehouse in San Diego and bought an over sized unit. My wife went with me and she helped carry it out to the car because it was so big. (Not really. She went along and told me to get the higher HP unit "to keep her fish healthy," and my tank is in the garage so it can get fairly warm in there during summer ?90F+? )
I don't remember the mfgr, but it isn't too loud when it cycles on, but ideally the air would vent outside to remove the heat out of the local area. (So then I remembered I hadn't feed the fish yet, "AquaEuro 1/2 HP. )
If your tank is indoors, then just turn on the AC and I would think that would keep the tank cool. You have LED's (right?) so they should not be heating up your water that much. Do you have a heater that is kicking on?

What is a build thread? Never heard of this thing before of which you speak?

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/i...ure-youve-followed-this-one-easy-step.385155/

My old house got up to 85F with the AC on regardless of setting. My uncle checked and he said all the equipment was find. He hooked up manifold gauges and Freon was at a good level. I tested the return air and vent air temps and got the expected temps. I think it was just crappy insulation. I remember measuring the roof from the kitchen and it was high like 140's or something. I may be off on the number but yeah lots of heat in the attic and through the walls. My only guess is that this house will get that hot. My LEDs run at around 90-100F I believe. I'll double check tomorrow as my memory is horrible.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

I went to a Aquatic Warehouse in San Diego and bought an over sized unit. My wife went with me and she helped carry it out to the car because it was so big. (Not really. She went along and told me to get the higher HP unit "to keep her fish healthy," and my tank is in the garage so it can get fairly warm in there during summer ?90F+? )
I don't remember the mfgr, but it isn't too loud when it cycles on, but ideally the air would vent outside to remove the heat out of the local area. (So then I remembered I hadn't feed the fish yet, "AquaEuro 1/2 HP. )
If your tank is indoors, then just turn on the AC and I would think that would keep the tank cool. You have LED's (right?) so they should not be heating up your water that much. Do you have a heater that is kicking on?

What is a build thread? Never heard of this thing before of which you speak?

You using a controller to switch between heater and chiller?

 

[AustinB]

I’m teetering right on the edge of a chiller purchase. I keep my tank at 78.5 and if my house temp goes over 75, my tank raises .2 degrees for every degree the house is over 75. I don’t factor in humidity since Utah does not have any ha ha. Oh yeah did you end up going with the 2 part resin for your DI system?

 

[KrisReef]

Yes and no. The chiller has a controller built in, and put the heaters are on a separate (Ranco?) Temp controller. The Chiller comes on @~77, the heaters come on @~76. On cold nights (freezing outside) the tank may dip down into the low 70's (73 or 74 min). In the summer the chiller keeps the tank lower than 78, and I usually take the heaters out to inspect and store them, or toss them until the weather turns cold around Thanksgiving time.

I used to run the tank closer to 80F, but after time I decided that mid 70's were a much more forgiving target temperature for the livestock.

Put a CPU fan on those lights. That should handle most of your problem in the near future. Not sure what Texas July will bring?

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Yes and no. The chiller has a controller built in, and put the heaters are on a separate (Ranco?) Temp controller. The Chiller comes on @~77, the heaters come on @~76. On cold nights (freezing outside) the tank may dip down into the low 70's (73 or 74 min). In the summer the chiller keeps the tank lower than 78, and I usually take the heaters out to inspect and store them, or toss them until the weather turns cold around Thanksgiving time.

I used to run the tank closer to 80F, but after time I decided that mid 70's were a much more forgiving target temperature for the livestock.

Put a CPU fan on those lights. That should handle most of your problem in the near future. Not sure what Texas July will bring?

Triple digits I'm sure.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

I’m teetering right on the edge of a chiller purchase. I keep my tank at 78.5 and if my house temp goes over 75, my tank raises .2 degrees for every degree the house is over 75. I don’t factor in humidity since Utah does not have any ha ha. Oh yeah did you end up going with the 2 part resin for your DI system?

I have not. I'm going to see how fast the resin depletes this time. I'm thinking I exhausted my resin too quickly by user error. I now run just RO for a few minutes before switching back to RODI so I'm thinking this may help with exhaustion.

 

[lapin]

I live in Texas. Here is what I have experienced.

I have a tank room with an exhaust fan and heater/ ac register in the ceiling. The room is 8 x 10. The tank is 5 x 5. The tank heaters kick on at 78.1. The exhaust fan is on in the day when the lights are on and off at night. I have 9 Kessel's over the tank plus a 165 w led over the fuge.

When its winter and we are having cold fronts my house heater is on a lot because we have concrete floors and 14 foot ceilings. I have to close the register in the tank room or it gets too hot. The tank will go 80F + while the house will be at 72F . Now its spring and the temp is warmer. The register is open all the way. We get that nice gulf moisture sometimes. Where you need a shower after 5 min working outside. We try to keep the house closed on those days and if for some reason the house does go to 99% humidity, we turn on the a/c to take care of it. If its 80 and no humidity, then every window and door in the house is open. A/C is off. Summer rolls around and now its 100F+ outside. We keep the house at 74. I keep the register about 1/3 open or the tank heaters will kick on.

One other note; I have a small fan under the tank that circulates air to keep the sump from causing to much moisture buildup under the stand.
My tank has been up now for a little over a year.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

Weird today is 76F in the house and it feels comfortable and it's 77.5 in the tank. Guess it's the lower humidity? IDK I get confused about the humidity thing.

 

[PatW]

I live in central FL. AC is pretty much universal. The house is at 77 degrees. I have fans that turn on by an apex controller at about 77.8 degrees. The tank never reaches 79 degrees. It goes between 77.6 degrees and 78.8 degrees and usually tighter.

For cooling, there are 3 variables: air speed over the water, air humidity, and temperature difference between air and water.

 

[KyOsIBa515]

Ambient temperature is ambient temperature. If your house is set at 74 degrees I’d say you have lights drawing your temperature up. Might be time for a chiller.