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Thread: Overheating + Solution

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    Apprentice jeepjon's Avatar
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    Overheating + Solution

    So...I get home yesterday....my 4 line has ich, my corals don't look happy, and the tank temperature is somewhere over 82° (don't know exactly how high or for how long. The apartment was roasting, and we had a power outage that day.

    SO....I decided to kick this in the butt.

    I have an extra 4" 30CFM fan. I also have a power filter on my nano. SO...I removed the cover on my power filter (should have been done a while ago), and made an eggcrate "cover", ziptied the fan to the "cover". The air blows over the rushing water, creating a nice little A/C unit for the tank! I have a 150 watt heater in the tank (it is what I had), so I'm not too worried about overcooling the tank.

    The tank is now a toasty 78°...and holding!

    -Jon

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Great idea. We haven't turned on the AC yet and my tank got up to 82 yesterday. So, I went to the store looking for a clip on fan to blow over my sump and they didn't have any. Anyhow I turned on my chiller. I think I will modify this idea for my sump. That fan has to use less power than my chiller.

    Carmie

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    Site Owner Rob's Avatar
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    floating frozen 20 oz or 2 ltr bottles are a great way to get a quick cool down, but dont make the best permanent solutions.

    i dont have to deal with overheating since all my stuff is in the basement, but fans to help, and are a more permanent solution for many people
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    Master Reefer pham411's Avatar
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    the fan thing works ok if need a temperary fix. watch out for the rapid h20 evap
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    Apprentice jeepjon's Avatar
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    Yeah, I filled it up to the rim to see how much evaporated in a day. basically I evaporated about a liter of water. I can deal with that...not much more, though.
    -Jon

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    Apprentice jeepjon's Avatar
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    alright...last night temp went down to 74 last night...so I moved the heater temp up a bit...now the temp went back up to 83, and finally I *hope* I have it stable at 78. I'm evaporating about a liter per day...and the heater turns on a lot during the day. BUT...I turn the fan off, and the temperature will start to climb. If I leave the fan on, I'm evaporating a lot out...DARN the stupid weather starting to heat up.
    -Jon

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    Master Reefer pham411's Avatar
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    jeep, becareful of fluctuation in temp like that. it could seriously harm the guys in your tank. try to keep it consistant. try setting the heater in your tank on a level where it stays the same at nite even with the fan on. might keep stress levels in the tanks down.
    good luck
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    Our Brotha Down Unda
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    manual, but cheap cooler

    even though it gets hot here, i dont have the temp problem anymore because a reverse ducting systems heats or cools the house. but it was not always the case.
    i have tryed party ice bags in the tank, ice melts way to quickly and frankly leakage of the bag was a problem, i then rigged up an esky(u guys call them a party ice box i think) i drilled a hole ether end with a pipe running straight though it.(thought about using a copper pipe, but then i realise that would be plain stupid) then filled it with straw and dried ice, and after sealing everything with trusty duct tape _-pumped the water from the tank through the box and back again. had to be there to watch the temp didn't get to cold to quick . thought straw would even the temp flux, it does to a certain extent, but shit, cold is.......well, cold!

    upgraded latter to a camping cooler that runs off the main power, or a car or marine battery.
    they have a themostat that kicks once it gets warm enough. same pipe job as above but didn't really have to be watching it, it was a chiller essentially, but very cheap and portable.

    power cut outs were not a real biggy. so long as its didnt stay out for too long! it was taken care of by ether a UPS and/or the sealed battery.
    camping stores have a the good stuff,just got to tinker



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    Apprentice labman's Avatar
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    cooling ideas

    This is one of the main reason I plan to put my new tank sump in the basement if at least part of the water a chance to go to the basement and cool I keep my tank abit cooler then most about 76 I find all the corals are happy and the fish as well. I doubt many fish or corals are gathered in a area where the water temp is 80 degrees I have even had the temp go lower with no problems down to 72. if the basement sump doesn't work I will have to invest in a cooler. I thought of moving my tank to the basement like Rob but I spend most of my time in my living room. I would be missrable not to look over at my swimming friends.

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