Well I have my 54 corner bowfront with megaflow overflow feeding a 20 gal sump plumbed with and in sump mag 5 return pump. I'm running a panworld 50px-x in a closed loop with om 4 way and also have 2 skimmers. One deltec HOB and a urchin in sump with a maxi jet 1200. Lighting is 24" 250w mh w/ 2x24w T5. Sump also has a small fuge with DSB and cheato with 24w pc running about 9 hours opp main photo period. I run my mh about 6 hours/day and the t5s about 10 hours/day. I also have a small minijet pump running my phos ban reactor. Anyways, I am dealing with heat issues and have been from day 1. I have an adjustible 4 - 5" dia fan unit in my (open top) canopy blowing across the water. Even though the fans are adjustible, I have them set to the highest (fastest) level. I also have a small 2 - fan unit on my sump and a small 4 - fan unit pointing down on my panworld pump. I have all fans controlled by my RK2 unit via temp control. Fans turn on at 81 deg and turn off at 80 deg. I was thinking of switching out my mag 5 with an eheim 1260 and my panworkd 50px-x with the velocity T4 due mainly to heat issues but also for noise. My fans run about 70% of the day, including from time to time even when the lights are off at night. I have central ac and keep it set to 79-80 deg. As another option, I was also thinking of moving to a jbj 1/5 hp chiller and keeping the pumps as installed but thought trying the mag5 / eheim switchout as the fist option. Any thoughts/recommendations?
Man it's getting hot in here!!!
- Thread starter bbehring
- Start date
BBehring,
I use a small personal fan to blow across my sump that cost around $20 at target. It does a very good job at lowering the temp of my frag tank that has 2 maxi 1200, rio 1400 (return), and 175w mh. If i turn off that fan now my tank goes up to 83-85 but with it on even at the lowest setting it keeps the tank at 78.5 to 80 with a heater because without the heater it drops the temp down too low.
I use a small personal fan to blow across my sump that cost around $20 at target. It does a very good job at lowering the temp of my frag tank that has 2 maxi 1200, rio 1400 (return), and 175w mh. If i turn off that fan now my tank goes up to 83-85 but with it on even at the lowest setting it keeps the tank at 78.5 to 80 with a heater because without the heater it drops the temp down too low.
The eheim may help with the heat as opposed to the mag pump, but the velocity would add more heat. There is a fan mod for the Panworld pumps using a heatsink and computer fan that would cut down on noise and slightly cool the pump.
Given all your pumps and lights I'm surprised you can maintain temps at/below 81 degrees without a chiller. I just set up a 54g corner BF myself and juggling pumps and temperature has been a real challenge.
Given all your pumps and lights I'm surprised you can maintain temps at/below 81 degrees without a chiller. I just set up a 54g corner BF myself and juggling pumps and temperature has been a real challenge.
Hey Brent,
I'd try adding a 12" fan to blow at the sump first. Switching the mag out and replacing it with a eheim may drop the temp as well, but I know that when I switched my mag 12 with a eheim of same rating the tank dropped 2 degrees. Not sure if the same could be said for the mag 5. Chiller is a good idea for piece of mind. Over the summer I ended up purchasing another chiller since it got seriously hot here.
Good luck.
I'd try adding a 12" fan to blow at the sump first. Switching the mag out and replacing it with a eheim may drop the temp as well, but I know that when I switched my mag 12 with a eheim of same rating the tank dropped 2 degrees. Not sure if the same could be said for the mag 5. Chiller is a good idea for piece of mind. Over the summer I ended up purchasing another chiller since it got seriously hot here.
Good luck.
I have the 4-5" fans running on my open canopy. 3 that blow air in across the tank water the 4th blows the air out. The air naturally escapes through the open top. There are also some small openings on the sides of the canopy. The fan on my sump is tied to the temp controller at the same 81 on 80 off. I don't like leaving the fan to my sump on 24/7 as it is a bit on the loud side, even though it's under my tank in the stand. I will try a 3 deg temp setting in hopes that the fans will run less frequently during the night and will take longer to climb in the morning hopefully keeping the tank temp lower when the MH powers up around noon. I keep my air set at 78-80 which is fine temp wise for me and my family. My electric bill is running 400/month during the summer (June-September), so setting lower is not an option. I am looking to upgrade my ac system this coming spring as it's about 15 years old. I think I'll make the temp setting change and switch out the mag 7 for the eheim. I might also just shut off the mj 1200 running the urchin. I might also replace the internal Freedom flow filter/skimmer with the rio 2500 with a deltec HOB 600 MCE skimmer. If I leave the ligths off, the tank temp still creeps up and kicks the fans on. During the day when the MHs are on the fans run almost continuously but the temp doesn't go over 82.5
what kind of fans are you talking about, the computer fans, the box flat fans, or the cheapy fans from walmart or HD? (which are the fans of choice and what most everyone is talking about above)
the box fans will not cut the mustard, they can help disspate heat from the light bulb, ballast whatevery, but to create the wind accross the surface to create the evaporation needed to reduce the temp, the fans have to be able to make waves in the water...
and yes lower ambient humidity will make evap happen easier..
good luck
the box fans will not cut the mustard, they can help disspate heat from the light bulb, ballast whatevery, but to create the wind accross the surface to create the evaporation needed to reduce the temp, the fans have to be able to make waves in the water...
and yes lower ambient humidity will make evap happen easier..
good luck
