Preparing for a heat wave

[BTBarney]

Hello Nano-Reef!

 

I'm a newbie to the forums (not necessarily a newbie to aquariums), but I have a nano-reef temperature control question

 

I live in California, where it can get quite hot - temperatures are expected to get up to 110F in my area this weekend (Boo!!!).

 

I have a new (~2 months) IM Fusion 10, with no chiller.  Nor do I have air conditioning in my house (another Boo!!).  I expect the temp in this tank to skyrocket over the weekend, and I'm sure the Zoas, Frogspawn, Cyphastrea, and Acans will be, shall we say, unhappy about this.

 

Does anyone on this forum use some sort of short-term cooling system ideas, be they makeshift or store-bought, that would get me through this heat wave?  Freezer packs in the back sump?  watching the temperature like a hawk?  I'm up for ideas, as I'd rather not wipe out the tank before it really gets started.

 

Thanks!

-Bryan

[Tautoo]

Frozen water bottle in the sump, and a fan towards the tank.  

 

You will get extra evaporation due to the fan, so be ready to top off a bit more.

 

I did this when my AC went out here in MO with the temp in the high 90s and it worked well.  

 

I just threw a few water bottles in the freezer and pulled the labels off, and rotated them as needed. 

[Clown79]

outside of AC or a chiller, a fan.

Placing a fan directly near the tank will aid in lowering the temp. It will cause increased evaporation so have water on hand for that.

 

I keep bottles of water in my freezer in the event of a power outage during the summer, otherwise I rely on AC and fans.

[Dominator]

I have about 6-7 mini (8oz) plastic coke bottles that I fill up with water and freeze. I normally only use them when the power goes off if needed, but I was able to keep my 20g tank around 78-79 with 3 bottles in the tank and rotating them out when they defrost. 

 

Is you tank open or do you have a lid? Removing the lid will allow more water to evap and that will help keep the temp down. 

[brandon429]

heat-prone reefs have some biological requirements different than the others, and opposite of the cooler climate ones.

 

 

detritus.

 

 

the effects of storing up filthy waste in and around a sandbed is massively 100% influenced by avg temps in the system. the bacteria that rot fuels is a massive consumer of 02, a generator of systemic acids and waste gasses, and they cause sticky film formations around sand grains that trap even more waste like mud

 

 

for a heat-potential setup, run no sandbed in my opinion, or keep them cleaner than normal. you want to be able to keep a heat prone aquarium much cleaner than ones we can keep at 77 or so, though both benefit from cleaning as a habit.

 

I would also have enough change water handy, and circulating, uncapped and kept topped off (don't seal long term unused change water for a list of reasons though it may work initially) so that if something happens/ac outage you can begin water changes.

 

not that your warmer change water w be any cooler if your ac shuts off; its that you can exchange clean warm water for dirty warm water during the emergency situation, heat spikes will cause bacterial issues and quick eutrophication (plant/Protista/algae dominance) and water changes and low waste holdings is your best bet.

 

UV light filtration might be an extra book here as well. everything about the heat prone system involves bacteria, and those devices are lab proven to reduce water loading of bacteria, which in turn keeps biological oxygen demand lower.

 

cooler water holds more o2, and has much less BOD, and much less resident and floating bacterial aggregates consuming vital resources. hot vs cold reefs.

[Thrassian Atoll]

Oh man, 110 and no ac?  I would probably die.

[1891Bro]

1 hour ago, BTBarney said:

Hello Nano-Reef!

 

I'm a newbie to the forums (not necessarily a newbie to aquariums), but I have a nano-reef temperature control question

 

I live in California, where it can get quite hot - temperatures are expected to get up to 110F in my area this weekend (Boo!!!).

 

I have a new (~2 months) IM Fusion 10, with no chiller.  Nor do I have air conditioning in my house (another Boo!!).  I expect the temp in this tank to skyrocket over the weekend, and I'm sure the Zoas, Frogspawn, Cyphastrea, and Acans will be, shall we say, unhappy about this.

 

Does anyone on this forum use some sort of short-term cooling system ideas, be they makeshift or store-bought, that would get me through this heat wave?  Freezer packs in the back sump?  watching the temperature like a hawk?  I'm up for ideas, as I'd rather not wipe out the tank before it really gets started.

 

Thanks!

-Bryan

Sounds like you're a neighbor of mine. Gonna get pretty hot in San Jose this weekend too. I'm not smart enough to freeze water in coke bottles, I fill a ziplock with ice cubes and float it. The tiny ac unit we have works but doesn't have the power to really cool the whole

place. If you're blowing a fan right at it make sure to fill your ato cause it'll be working overtime too. 

[Lula_Mae]

16 hours ago, TILTON said:

Oh man, 110 and no ac?  I would probably die.

That's what I was thinking lol.  I am not made for no a/c.

[BTBarney]

Thanks for the advice all - freezing bottles now!  While I'm at it, I should freeze more so that we can put them in our pockets to keep cooler this weekend!

 

Hey 1891Bro  - we're in South San Jose (basically Morgan Hill!)

-Bryan

 

[1891Bro]

2 minutes ago, BTBarney said:

Thanks for the advice all - freezing bottles now!  While I'm at it, I should freeze more so that we can put them in our pockets to keep cooler this weekend!

 

Hey 1891Bro  - we're in South San Jose (basically Morgan Hill!)

-Bryan

 

I knew it. I'm on the west side, can toss a rock into Cupertino. I keep seeing anything from 104 to 107 for today. It could be worse though 115 inland!

[Squared]

Also be prepared for possible power outages, that happens to me from time to time. I also live in socal.

 

[rrocky]

this heat wave sucks! 

[Thrassian Atoll]

4 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

That's what I was thinking lol.  I am not made for no a/c.

 

Yeah, the average here is like 110 in Phoenix.  No joke, without AC I would probably have a heat stroke.

[1891Bro]

How's it holding up? Before the ac was installed earlier this summer I had a few days where it was triple digits inside the 2nd floor apt. Hell even today with the little pissant ac the inside temp is very slowly climbing. At 84 inside now. Depending on situation, top floor or bottom, shade from trees vs none, I know it can get bad. More importantly are you and the family staying cool enough and hydrated? Boiling the tank is bad but your and your's health is far more important. 

[1891Bro]

6 hours ago, TILTON said:

 

Yeah, the average here is like 110 in Phoenix.  No joke, without AC I would probably have a heat stroke.

Yeah, Phoenix is a pit. I was there last summer working waking up at 4 am to 100 degrees. Same for the southeast, between the humidity and the sweat generated from all the incest (GA born and raised so I can say that)  ac is necessary in both places. The weather here in the bay is so nice usually and the historical records have us getting over 90 only sixteen days a year so, ac is just a luxury not usually needed. It cools down so much after sunset you can just throw a few fans in the windows and get it nice a comfy pretty quick. If the trend from the last couple years continues you'll see a lot more ac units getting installed in the South Bay for sure. Good day to be on the coast though!

6 hours ago, rrocky said:

this heat wave sucks! 

Agreed. I actually drove the half mile instead of walk to pick the boy up at school. 

[Thrassian Atoll]

I just moved here from Hawaii too, where non of my vehicles ac worked and it didn't matter. Humid as hell some days but man do I miss it.

[1891Bro]

4 minutes ago, TILTON said:

I just moved here from Hawaii too, where non of my vehicles ac worked and it didn't matter. Humid as hell some days but man do I miss it.

Very different. I've been a few times to visit family in HI and AZ is worlds away. 

[Lula_Mae]

23 hours ago, TILTON said:

 

Yeah, the average here is like 110 in Phoenix.  No joke, without AC I would probably have a heat stroke.

Whoa, I've only seen temps near that a handful of times, mostly the summer I was in east Texas and it was super hot and super dry (so dry all the lakes were shrinking lol).  I don't think I'd leave the house with temps like that!

 

16 hours ago, TILTON said:

I just moved here from Hawaii too, where non of my vehicles ac worked and it didn't matter. Humid as hell some days but man do I miss it.

I can only imagine how disappointing AZ would be after living in HI!

[Couesfanatic]

Run a fan. Put your top off water in the fridge, that way when you top off it cools down more.