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Cultivated Reef

Ugh. Summer is killing my reef


Brownbearhair

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Brownbearhair

I know of a few ways that can help but it's just not gonna happen with my funds right now. So I guess I'm just kinda being a whiner right now

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Is it the heat? Put a fan on it. I put a giant box fan on top of mine once on a particular hot day last year. Worked great.

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Brownbearhair

It is the heat, my tank is going above 90 degrees due to where I live and our a/c going out.

I've put a stand up fan next to it. And it didn't seem to do much.

Can I seriously just drop one on top of by bc lid?

I've also stopped running the daylight bulb and it's kinda helping too

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Kellie in CA

A fan blowing directly on the water helps, but be sure to watch the evaporation closely. In extreme situations I have floated a bag of ice cubes.

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It is the heat, my tank is going above 90 degrees due to where I live and our a/c going out.

I've put a stand up fan next to it. And it didn't seem to do much.

Can I seriously just drop one on top of by bc lid?

I've also stopped running the daylight bulb and it's kinda helping too

 

Next to it? You need to evaporate the water which will bring the temp down so the air needs to be blowing on the water. The evaporation is what causes the temp to go down, heat is removed.

 

If stuff was dying, I would just put the fan on top and take the lid off. Corals can go a week without light, but slow cooking aint no good.

 

I don't have a biocube but maybe you can just open every door/lid on it and put a fan on top.

 

Be sure to top off for the increased evaporation.

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squamptonbc

Fan as suggested. I have in the past frozen water in 500ml coke bottles and floated one to help bring the temp down.

 

Now I run a small window a/c unit in the room with the tanks, easier all around as the fresh water stuff don't like hot water either and my crested gecko doesn't like above 80F temps, so cooling the whole room was easier.

 

Any chance you can find a used window a/c unit on the cheap? (Obviously depends on the size of the room. May not be an option if its a large room.)

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fishfreak0114

When it was hot, I either float frozen water bottles, a ziplock of ice cubes or a ziplock of ice packs. It works pretty good.

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Brownbearhair

 

Next to it? You need to evaporate the water which will bring the temp down so the air needs to be blowing on the water. The evaporation is what causes the temp to go down, heat is removed.

 

If stuff was dying, I would just put the fan on top and take the lid off. Corals can go a week without light, but slow cooking aint no good.

 

I don't have a biocube but maybe you can just open every door/lid on it and put a fan on top.

 

Be sure to top off for the increased evaporation.

Daaaamn that makes sense. I might be able to rig a fan up there I'm definitely going to give it a shot.

And yes things are dying off. It's really quite sad and I feel like a jerk

Fan as suggested. I have in the past frozen water in 500ml coke bottles and floated one to help bring the temp down.

 

Now I run a small window a/c unit in the room with the tanks, easier all around as the fresh water stuff don't like hot water either and my crested gecko doesn't like above 80F temps, so cooling the whole room was easier.

 

Any chance you can find a used window a/c unit on the cheap? (Obviously depends on the size of the room. May not be an option if its a large room.)

I may try the ice it just seems sketchy to me hahaha. A window ac is out of the question atm my funds are looooow hahah
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fishfreak0114

As long as the ice/water bottle isn't leaking into the tank it should be fine. I do it all the time. The other day I floated a big ziplock of ice packs through the feeding door when my tank hit 85

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Daaaamn that makes sense. I might be able to rig a fan up there I'm definitely going to give it a shot.

And yes things are dying off. It's really quite sad and I feel like a jerk

I may try the ice it just seems sketchy to me hahaha. A window ac is out of the question atm my funds are looooow hahah

 

+1 above, make sure the bottles of ice don't leak!

 

Sorry to hear about the tank, hope some of it makes it. Next time something going wrong, come ask for help :) Most of us have dealt with the same problems at one point or another.

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Brownbearhair

As long as the ice/water bottle isn't leaking into the tank it should be fine. I do it all the time. The other day I floated a big ziplock of ice packs through the feeding door when my tank hit 85

For sure gonna give that a shot tomorrow it just starting to cool down for the night. Might do a bottle on a bag to be sure it doesn't leak

 

+1 above, make sure the bottles of ice don't leak!

 

Sorry to hear about the tank, hope some of it makes it. Next time something going wrong, come ask for help :) Most of us have dealt with the same problems at one point or another.

Thanks man I hope it does too, I'd be so bummed if I had to start all over.

I definitely will come you you guys first. I just recently found this site and it has given me so much information.

You especially have been an amazing help. Literally every question I be posted you have provided a knowledgeable insight. I greatly appreciate it

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For sure gonna give that a shot tomorrow it just starting to cool down for the night. Might do a bottle on a bag to be sure it doesn't leak

Thanks man I hope it does too, I'd be so bummed if I had to start all over.

I definitely will come you you guys first. I just recently found this site and it has given me so much information.

You especially have been an amazing help. Literally every question I be posted you have provided a knowledgeable insight. I greatly appreciate it

 

It happens to the best of us, many a TOTM thread has been through algae woes, pests and coral die off so you're not alone.

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Remove the hood or open it, then run a fan. It won't cool doen with the top completely closed.

 

Yes you will have evap, topping up once a day fixes this.

 

Unstable temp and increased temps is more harmful than evap.

 

My tank is now completely open, i have to run a fan on hot days, there is barely any noticeable change in evap but there is in temp.

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Clip on desk fan on top , works a treat will knock off 4-5 Celsius In a short time, just aim it down at the waters surface.

Be sure to top off frequently with rodi water as the fan really wicks away the water.

Emergency just freeze rodi in Icecube tray and pop them in to quickly drop the temp.

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Brownbearhair

So I finally got a fan rigged up to where it is blowing in the water with the hood about half way open. It is definitely helping. The evap is like mad though I'm topping of once in the morning and once at night.

I'm keeping it below 90 for the most part which is amazing considering my house reached 100 degrees yesterday. Not like oh Damn it's like 100 degrees, that was literary the temp in my house hahaha.

At this point the only things I feel are going to make it the whole summer are my Rbta and my silver eye leptastrea (which seems to be flourishing for some reason)

Fish are also doing fine.

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fishfreak0114

Have you tried frozen bottles too, if you kept one in there and switched it pretty frequently I think it would really help. At least a couple more degrees. Glad your fish are ok at least, I hope more of your stuff pulls through :)

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I had a problem when my AC went out recently. I tried ice in bags and it honestly didn't do much. I had lots in there. This helped a bit https://www.amazon.com/iPettie-Aquarium-Cooling-Chiller-Adapter/dp/B00M9UV9LI/ref=pd_nav_hcs_bia_t_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=Q5J5JBF4FGSFSFYD9W00

 

But in the end I got a window AC unit for that room, and returned it to Walmart when the AC was fixed. Shhhhh...

 

Real water chillers are expensive from I've found, but you may be able to find some DIY solutions.

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So I finally got a fan rigged up to where it is blowing in the water with the hood about half way open. It is definitely helping. The evap is like mad though I'm topping of once in the morning and once at night.

I'm keeping it below 90 for the most part which is amazing considering my house reached 100 degrees yesterday. Not like oh Damn it's like 100 degrees, that was literary the temp in my house hahaha.

At this point the only things I feel are going to make it the whole summer are my Rbta and my silver eye leptastrea (which seems to be flourishing for some reason)

Fish are also doing fine.

 

If you can, buy yourself an auto top up device like the auto aqua micro smart ato, i just bought a 19 litre cheap goldfish tank, chucked in the ato, filled her up, job done. your right though it does evaporate at an alarming rate, but my tank is waaaay happier now during our brief heatwave.

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I recently purchased 4" Dia muffin fans for $5. Depending on your humidity, evaporation will lower the temperature up to 20-30 degrees. When 1 gallon of water evaporates, 8340 BTU of cooling takes place. In my 10K gallon greenhouse growout system with direct sunlight, I maintained 80 degrees with outside temperatures at 105 degrees using evaporative cooling.

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Brownbearhair

Sorry I haven't been active lately, been busy with getting ready for a baby and getting my tank back on track. Thanks to all your advice my tank is doing 100% better. All the corals seem to be coming back as well.

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AZDesertRat

Frozen bottles have very little cooling power and don't last long.

Open the lid and get a cheap $10 WalMart 2 speed clip on fan. Clip the fan to one side and have it blowing across the longest surface, not straight down, to get maximum effect. It will easily lower the tank 5-7 degrees or more in a very short time. It will cool so much you will probably need to put it on an appliance timer spot does not cool too much and evaporate too much water.

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Brownbearhair

I opened the lid about a quarter of the way and have a fan blowing across the entire surface of the water. It's been working out really well.

However much RO water you are using for top off - freeze them into ice cubes. Might not help much or at all but maybe it does. IDK.

It's up to about 4 quarts of ro water on the really hot days
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