Cooling water w/o a chiller

[KarenM]

Yesterday during my water change I dug out an old, extra thermometer. The new therm was reading 78-79, but the old one was reading 80-81. This could be what's bugging my BTA. I used to have a heater in there trying to hold the temp steady at 78 and not drop to 75 at night. In trying to get it adjusted I accidentally let it get up to about 81 and she curled right up.

I keep my A/C set on 78 during the day and 75 at night, but with the lights on the water's too warm (even running the fan on the lights). I can't afford any kind of chiller right now, so what's the best thing to do? Right now the BTA is sitting almost directly under the flow of the power filter. I thought about freezing some water in 2 ziploc bags and then putting a bag in the power filter and a bag in the skimmer so they'd cool the water flowing out. One problem with that is I leave the house at 5:30AM and don't get back until 4PM and the ice would most likely melt long before then. I have my lights set to run from noon to 8PM. Should I run the lights later in the day, like maybe from 6PM to 2AM?

The only thing that seems to be bothered is the BTA, but I'd really like to keep her happy.

[KarenM]

I could do a combo of my ideas above. I could have my lights run from 6PM-2AM. AND I could put ice bags in the power filter and skimmer because I'm usually home at 6PM. Of course I'd move the BTA out from under the PF's flow so she didn't get shocked with cold water.

[Entropy]

I am not familiar with your setup, but the best place to add cooling is the sump (do you have one?). You can take a two liter bottle, fill it with water and freeze it over night and then add it to your sump. Your heater will makes sure the tank does not get too cold, and it will melt slowly during the day. You can add more bottles if need (and if you have room). You also might want to look into getting a big 20 inch box fan and just let it blast the tank all day while you are away. It will be ugly, but effective. Box fans can be had from Wallyworld for under $10 usually.

[KarenM]

I am not familiar with your setup, but the best place to add cooling is the sump (do you have one?). You can take a two liter bottle, fill it with water and freeze it over night and then add it to your sump. Your heater will makes sure the tank does not get too cold, and it will melt slowly during the day. You can add more bottles if need (and if you have room). You also might want to look into getting a big 20 inch box fan and just let it blast the tank all day while you are away. It will be ugly, but effective. Box fans can be had from Wallyworld for under $10 usually.

I don't have a sump. I have just a little 40 gal tank, 30" wide by 24" tall. Just a regular tank, not a reef tank, so it's not drilled or anything. With HOB power filter and skimmer.

[Entropy]

Do you have a closed canopy? If not, the box fan might still be a good option for you. It will increase your evaporation, but will definately keep the temp down. Even one of those little 7-9" three speed clip on fans will help tremendously. You won't get it below the room temp obviously, but you should be able to get it close.

[KarenM]

I have Current lights that sit about 4" above the water surface. I can easily put a fan on it (I have a couple in the garage). Would that work better than ice bags? I'm new to this (if you can't tell ). Are the ice bags a decent idea, or is that something I absolutely don't want to do?

[Entropy]

The ice will work, but it is super short term. Basically a bag of ice is just good for cooling down the tank short term, but over the course of a day it will not help. I would definately go with the fan idea. You can even hook the fan and the lights to the same timer (or on the same schedule) so that the fan is only on when the lights are on.

Long term I would go with a controller (I have a ReefKeeper 2), so you can program a fan to come on when needed, and even program the lights to go off if the temp goes up to high.

And don't worry about being new. We all where new at one time, and none of knows it all. I know just enough to be dangerous.

[Headless_donkey]

We use a big ugly fan on our 20 gallon and it lowers the temp for 85 to 78-79. The corals are MUCH happier!

[chatfouz]

try an ice probe. i know you dont want to spend a ton of $. but ive seen em as cheap as 70$. its a small chiler that will cool a small tank a few degree. i need to buy one personally.

[KarenM]

try an ice probe. i know you dont want to spend a ton of $. but ive seen em as cheap as 70$. its a small chiler that will cool a small tank a few degree. i need to buy one personally.

Good idea. How would I use it? No sump, don't want to drill a hole in the tank. And what if one of my fish stuck his tongue to it?

[Entropy]

You could in theory get a big enough hand on filter (like a Penguin or Emperor) and then drill the ice probe into that, but I don't know if it would work. I would try the clip on fan first.

[ReeferKris]

Get an AquaClear h.o.b. filter and get one of the ice probes. The AquaClear brand is a bit thicker front to back than the others and might give you the room you would need for the IceProbe. I dont even monitor my temparature but I keep my house at 77* at all times and everything in my tank seems quite happy....that reminds me to get a thermometer;)

[+dapettit]

I use a couple of $6 fans I picked up at Wally World. They are small fans. I mounted them to the wall and blow them across the water and 150W MH pendant. Keeps my tank around 78.

[chatfouz]

I use a couple of $6 fans I picked up at Wally World. They are small fans. I mounted them to the wall and blow them across the water and 150W MH pendant. Keeps my tank around 78.

do you know how much that cools the tank? like what would it be without the fans?

[KarenM]

OK, so the fan is helping. I have a 40 gal tank - footprint is roughly 30x15 or so. I used a regular stand-up oscillating fan from Walmart, I think. Bought it several months ago for around $15. I set it to blow in one place and not oscillate, on meduim speed, and put it on a chair so it would be level with the top of the tank. I have Current PCs, 30" duals, 65 watts with actinics. After 4 hours with the lights on, the temp was about 78.

The BTA didn't seem quite so unhappy, but only time will tell if this is the problem.

[KarenM]

Looks like the temp was the BTA's problem. It's slowly coming back to life. It had gotten to where it was just sitting there, all curled up, it's tentacles retracted back to just little bumps. I was actully beginning to wonder if it really was a BTA. But after a week or so of running the fan and moving it to a different spot it's gradually spreading back out and it now has tentacles rather than bumps. They're only about 1/4" long, but at least we're moving in the right direction.