Biocube 14 heat problems

[Biocubelife]

Soooo just got into a recent issue with heat on my biocube 14. I know the kid doesn’t help the issue but I don’t want to take it off. Temps have hit 86 degrees so I’m in defcon 2 right now. Opened the feeder lid to get some flow. Only thing I can think of is I upgraded the return pump to the cobalt mj series. 

Ideas on cooling it down?

 

i thought about connecting the ballasts and turning the fan on but I upgraded to led and the old light bulb sockets are still there. I don’t want fried fish... HA

[Biocubelife]

Ps. Check out this clown! First time I’ve seen them host something. 

[Aurortpa]

You mentioned the kid doesn’t help?  

...?

 

@banasophia has a biocube and found a nice inexpensive chiller.  Might want to contact.

 

You can also mount a small fan to blow across the top of the lid.  

[banasophia]

1 hour ago, Aurortpa said:

You mentioned the kid doesn’t help?  

...?

 

@banasophia has a biocube and found a nice inexpensive chiller.  Might want to contact.

 

You can also mount a small fan to blow across the top of the lid.  

Haha my kid’s not too helpful either... hard enough to get her to do water changes on her own freshwater. 😉

 

Here’s a link to the info about the chiller... as chillers go it’s reasonable, but it’s still quite an expenditure. So far I feel like it was a good investment. I have seen someone post a pic of mounting a small fan aiming into the feeding window, they said it helped. Others have said they use something to prop the lid open a little bit. Both those methods seem like they could keep with allowing a bit of evaporative cooling. Then of course you’ll need to keep an eye on the tank and top it up with RODI/distilled. 

 

 

Also, here’s a picture of a fan that I thought might have some potential for our tank, though I never tried it:

 

[saxplayer]

I used the same chille last week that bana is mentioning above (also at his recommendation) and it took me from 82 to 78. Working well. Make sure to get the installation kit. It’s pricy but only reliable way to do it imo. Esp if you keep the kit lid. 

[Krish87]

I've had the same issues with my BioCube 16. And @banasophia is well aware of it.

 

But let's say you don't have the budget to accommodate a chiller, here is what worked for me -

• I used a thick napkin, folded it up and snuck it right in under the lid.
• Basically, that kept the lid partly open to help airflow and heat-release.
• I had a tower fan - that I placed it close to the open are across the lid and let it run till I got my temperature to a good level.
• It really helped me to save my livestock from what could have happened as you never know how temp spikes affect nano-tanks.

But be ready to top-offs as you will face some quick evaporation. It was a challenging summer but glad that I was able to get through! 

[saxplayer]

That’s def a good solution for cost consciousness. Best is to take the top off and run a very small fan.  You’ll def have a lot more evap and an ATO is almost needed unless you’re very vigilant in replacing manually. 

[Oldsalt01]

I had exactly the same issue and temps in my BC14, and yes, I had upgraded the pump to an MJ900 (which also seem to put out a fair amount of heat). I even tried physically reversing the hood fans to suck out rather than in, but the didn’t help. My solution was a small (50mm I think) computer fan bolted to one of the square holes in the back of the lid, attached to a $20 Chinese temperature controller. Replaced the temp sensor cuz it’s not saltwater proof, with one cut from a cheap digital thermometer spliced into the controller. This brought my temps down to upper 70’s but my evap rates went way up. Ultimately I pulled the lid, went to LEDs and never looked back. There’s pictures of my retrofit somewhere on this forum but I don’t remember the title. Try searching “Oldsalt 01” articles if ur interested 

[Oldsalt01]

My mistake. Photos of hood retrofit are on R2R under title “still high temps in my BC14” from August ‘15, page 18 or 19.

[Biocubelife]

On 9/20/2018 at 11:39 PM, banasophia said:

Haha my kid’s not too helpful either... hard enough to get her to do water changes on her own freshwater. 😉

 

Here’s a link to the info about the chiller... as chillers go it’s reasonable, but it’s still quite an expenditure. So far I feel like it was a good investment. I have seen someone post a pic of mounting a small fan aiming into the feeding window, they said it helped. Others have said they use something to prop the lid open a little bit. Both those methods seem like they could keep with allowing a bit of evaporative cooling. Then of course you’ll need to keep an eye on the tank and top it up with RODI/distilled. 

 

 

Also, here’s a picture of a fan that I thought might have some potential for our tank, though I never tried it:

 

Bahahah he just wants to stick his hands in or toss a paw patrol in there for aesthetics.  I cracked the lid open a little and it’s been helping. I have a watchman goby that has gone mia sooo I’m hoping he’s still around somewhere. 

[banasophia]

2 hours ago, Biocubelife said:

Bahahah he just wants to stick his hands in or toss a paw patrol in there for aesthetics.  I cracked the lid open a little and it’s been helping. I have a watchman goby that has gone mia sooo I’m hoping he’s still around somewhere. 

Haha paw patrol reef edition!

 

Glad it’s working to crack the lid open. Maybe you can hold off until next summer and consider the fan or chiller later on. Hopefully the gap’s not big enough for the fish to jump out.