Temporary covering or top for open aquarium at night

[wunderlong88]

I have a 6' long aquarium that we built custom mesh lids for that stay on all of the time to prevent jumping accidents. We keep our house fairly cool with a/c in the summer (in TX) and even cooler in the winter with attic fan/open windows, cool nights, etc. I was thinking about having some kind of padded/foam/other lightweight 2x2 squares or 6x2 to lay on top of the mesh lids on colder nights. My heaters have to work hard with a/c and I'm afraid to open my windows run the attic fan on cool nights. Also, seems like the electric I save is spent on heaters then.

Has anyone done this? Does anyone have any ideas of prefabricated items that might work or be cut easily to make work?

Thank you,

Linda

 

[Submerge]

2” styrofoam insulation board comes in 4x8 sheets pretty cheap from the big box stores. Comes in white. Easy to cut. Would be an easy test for you. Also sell thinner.

Air exchange would be lowered. Something to watch out for.

 

[wunderlong88]

2” styrofoam insulation board comes in 4x8 sheets pretty cheap from the big box stores. Comes in white. Easy to cut. Would be an easy test for you. Also sell thinner.

Air exchange would be lowered. Something to watch out for.

Yes I was going to ask about air Exchange. I figured it'll be on there 10 hours out of 24. I thought about not cutting it to fill the entire top. Maybe leave one inch around the perimeter? Would that be enough to be helpful without compromising what I'm trying to accomplish?

 

[exnisstech]

I wouldn't bother. I've been keeping SW tanks for the last 9 years with no lids and kept FW before. I currently have 6 tanks running all set at 77. The house is 68-70 in the winter and 74 with the AC on.

 

[wunderlong88]

I wouldn't bother. I've been keeping SW tanks for the last 9 years with no lids and kept FW before. I currently have 6 tanks running all set at 77. The house is 68-70 in the winter and 74 with the AC on.

We keep our ac at 69 at night in the summer and if we open windows with the attic fan it might drop to 60. Also in the cold winter nights we use a wood stove only and the heat only kicks on if it drops below 63. I don't know if my heaters can deal with this or how much cost to run them.

 

[gbroadbridge]

I don't understand the problem?

If you wish to run your house cool, then you need bigger heaters for the fish.

They have their required environment and you have your desires.

One thing the tank does need 100% is air exchange.
Cover the tank and a power failure will wipe out the tank faster than lack of heat.

 

[exnisstech]

We keep our ac at 69 at night in the summer and if we open windows with the attic fan it might drop to 60. Also in the cold winter nights we use a wood stove only and the heat only kicks on if it drops below 63. I don't know if my heaters can deal with this or how much cost to run them.

I heat with wood as well with my furnace set to 64.
I always over size my heaters and run them in pairs and never cover my tanks.
TBH With the price of gear, salt, livestock etc I've never even thought about how much it cost to run the heaters. To me they are just a necessity like return pumps and everything else needed to maintain life in glass box. If your worried about cost maybe set your AC to 71 instead of 69 and you'll probably save more than it costs to run a tank heater

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I have a 6' long aquarium that we built custom mesh lids for that stay on all of the time to prevent jumping accidents. We keep our house fairly cool with a/c in the summer (in TX) and even cooler in the winter with attic fan/open windows, cool nights, etc. I was thinking about having some kind of padded/foam/other lightweight 2x2 squares or 6x2 to lay on top of the mesh lids on colder nights. My heaters have to work hard with a/c and I'm afraid to open my windows run the attic fan on cool nights. Also, seems like the electric I save is spent on heaters then.

Has anyone done this? Does anyone have any ideas of prefabricated items that might work or be cut easily to make work?

Thank you,

Linda

We keep our house at 65 (I know we freeze it out here), and never once was my temperature low on my tank. If you have a good enough heater on your tank, you will be fine.

 

[wunderlong88]

I heat with wood as well with my furnace set to 64.
I always over size my heaters and run them in pairs and never cover my tanks.
TBH With the price of gear, salt, livestock etc I've never even thought about how much it cost to run the heaters. To me they are just a necessity like return pumps and everything else needed to maintain life in glass box. If your worried about cost maybe set your AC to 71 instead of 69 and you'll probably save more than it costs to run a tank heater

As a middle-aged female I burn up even at 69 sometimes. Wish I didn't. But if it's not cold enough I don't sleep.

I have two 250 w Jager Eheim heaters.

 

[BrianneG]

I am in California and we are just starting to have cooler nights. We are the same way, keep the house open at night and we run a whole house fan anywhere from 2-4 hours at night. I actually have acrylic lids for my tank during the winter so it keeps in the warmth in the tank, that being said my heaters are still kicking on. I don't think the heaters are wasting ro much energy. They seem pretty low wattage.

 

[fishyjoes]

A solid lid of any kind will help retain heat. I use clear acrylic "twin wall" material from home depot.

I experimented using 1" xps "pink board" and while it does retain a bit more heat than the clear acrylic, it's much more of a hassle because it blocks your lights so if you forget to remove it in the morning you have a problem.

 

[JayM]

A 500 watt heater running 24 hours a day (at a full 500 watts) will cost less than a dollar a day to operate on average. And considering that heaters rarely, if ever, are actually heating 24-7, the cost is likely far less.

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

I have a 6' long aquarium that we built custom mesh lids for that stay on all of the time to prevent jumping accidents. We keep our house fairly cool with a/c in the summer (in TX) and even cooler in the winter with attic fan/open windows, cool nights, etc. I was thinking about having some kind of padded/foam/other lightweight 2x2 squares or 6x2 to lay on top of the mesh lids on colder nights. My heaters have to work hard with a/c and I'm afraid to open my windows run the attic fan on cool nights. Also, seems like the electric I save is spent on heaters then.

Has anyone done this? Does anyone have any ideas of prefabricated items that might work or be cut easily to make work?

Thank you,

Linda

Perhaps consider getting a custom poly carbonate lid for your tank to replace the mesh? Even with some vents for air exchange it will still help retain some heat and slow evaporation.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/request-for-custom-made-nano-lid.1059863/#post-12695108
https://walterlids.com/

 

[BryanM]

I am a bit of a temperature nut. Tanks with failed heaters (worse failed ON), are some of the worst stories I've read on this forum.

I would run two heaters, separate controllers (and in my case a 3rd, neptune) to control all of this. Each heater should be able to solo run the tank. If you have an Apex or other controller you can program them that one heater runes midnight-11:59am, the other heater runs 12pm-11:59pm. This helps extend their life, and you can add more code to deal with failures.

Now that I said all that, the styrofoam idea is fine, I'd consider it an experiment, worth a try, but I kinda doubt you're going to see much of a benefit.

 

[fishyjoes]

Now that I said all that, the styrofoam idea is fine, I'd consider it an experiment, worth a try, but I kinda doubt you're going to see much of a benefit.

A lid definitely makes a difference.
Some time ago I did a test in my garage with a ten gallon tank and 50 watt heater set to max.
With no lid I could get ~20 degrees over ambient (garage temp was ~45, tank was up to 65 - heater constantly on). Adding a 1" xps (pink board) lid I could get ~30 degrees over ambient (tank temp went up to 75f)

 

[exnisstech]

As a middle-aged female I burn up even at 69 sometimes. Wish I didn't. But if it's not cold enough I don't sleep.

I have two 250 w Jager Eheim heaters.

I totally get it. I live with a middle aged female and we have a dedicated bedroom window AC unit set to 68 and we usually have a window open in the winter. I have a 20g in the bedroom and the heater does work a lot but it keeps the temp steady.
I have 6 tanks running and my Gal says it's like having a radiant heater in each room lol