+mcallahan Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Since the heat is coming on, I've been watching my tank temps climb to 82.2 at the end of my photo period, and I've been wanting to extend my photo period to 8+ hrs, but knew I'd have a heat issue. So, here's what I did and it is working really well. So well, that my tank is actually COOLING OFF while my MH lights are on. 1. $10, 6" clip on fan from wal-mart. Blows over my sump to cool the water and to take the moist hot air out of my sump area. Its nice b/c since it is in my sump, you can't see it or hear it. 2. $15(ish) 4" computer fan blowing over the top of my tank. I don't have a hole saw, so right now its just on the back of my tank facing forward. I'm only running one currently and that seems to be all I need. Both of these items are on a timer that kick on an hour after my MH lights kick on and kick off a half hour after they turn off. Yes I have more evaporation to deal with, but I got my RO/DI running thanks to dapettit so all I have to do is walk to my garage and "tank up" Would a chiller be nice to keep my tank @ 78 degrees at all time...yes...but I'd rather have more $$ for coral and an AC III! The ultimate will be once I get my ACIII to have it control both the fans such that they are only on when needed vs. on a timer. I think when the days get hotter and our A/C runs more, I'll get more tank cooling as the A/C moves a lot of air around the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted May 25, 2009 Author Share Posted May 25, 2009 Its dropped my tank a full degree in a hour. Woohoo! and I just snagged an AC III, so I can make the thing into a cheapo chiller! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnoburns Posted May 25, 2009 Share Posted May 25, 2009 Its dropped my tank a full degree in a hour. Woohoo!and I just snagged an AC III, so I can make the thing into a cheapo chiller! Good job on lowering the temp. 2 notes, if you want/need to lower the temp more blow air across it from left to right. The more surface area for the air to blow off of the cooler your tank can get. Also, be watchful on more humid days as cooling benefits from evaporation go down due to the moisture already in the air. In dryer regions like El Paso and Phoenix almost no one has refrigerated air in their houses because there is no moister. Every so often when the heat and humidity hit the ACs are pretty much useless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted May 25, 2009 Author Share Posted May 25, 2009 Good job on lowering the temp. 2 notes, if you want/need to lower the temp more blow air across it from left to right. The more surface area for the air to blow off of the cooler your tank can get. Also, be watchful on more humid days as cooling benefits from evaporation go down due to the moisture already in the air. In dryer regions like El Paso and Phoenix almost no one has refrigerated air in their houses because there is no moister. Every so often when the heat and humidity hit the ACs are pretty much useless. Oh yeah...know about swamp coolers...I lived in PHX for 3 years and everyone came to my apt when the monsoons hit b/c their houses got hot, fast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 Great job. Looks like I'll be visiting wally world today. . . With my sump being 50 gallons I guess I'll need at least 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted May 26, 2009 Author Share Posted May 26, 2009 Great job. Looks like I'll be visiting wally world today. . . With my sump being 50 gallons I guess I'll need at least 2. Maybe. They have a high and low setting so you could get away with just one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ysanford Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 We have two of those fans from walmart and they work great. Our temp is almost always at 78. We run them over our main tank and with the hood, you can't really hear them. Great cheap solution that actually works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 I have 3 computer fans mounted in my hood. The left and right side blow out and the middle sucks in air. This creates a circular pattern around my halides. I also have a fan blowing across my ballast. This set up it keeps the tank around 80 degrees, since I have increased my photoperiod to 12 hours. I think the fans blowing across the sump will very beneficial. I will post the results on my blog. . .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princer7 Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 Since you have your ACIII, be sure to put some lines of code in to turn off lights when your tank temps go over a specified limit. Let me know if you would like, I can send you a copy of my program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted May 26, 2009 Author Share Posted May 26, 2009 Since you have your ACIII, be sure to put some lines of code in to turn off lights when your tank temps go over a specified limit. Let me know if you would like, I can send you a copy of my program. A copy would be great! I also thought I'd have the AC III run the fans until the tank reaches 77, then turn them off, then turn them on again when it reaches 78. I should be able to keep things in that narrow of a range. OF course...I might freak when I see my power bill... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
princer7 Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 PM Sent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barderer Posted May 26, 2009 Share Posted May 26, 2009 trying to keep within a 1 degree range might stress out your fans if you don't add some logic that is smart about putting the proper timeouts between temp change events and fan on off events. Or a auto adjusting algorithm that tunes its timings. I don't think there is a need to keep that tight of a range anyway. Its almost MORE natural to have a 3-4 flux through the day. Right? N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiu Posted May 27, 2009 Share Posted May 27, 2009 Since you have your ACIII, be sure to put some lines of code in to turn off lights when your tank temps go over a specified limit. Let me know if you would like, I can send you a copy of my program. Wow...I have a AC JR, and never thought of doing this. Great idea! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+dapettit Posted May 30, 2009 Share Posted May 30, 2009 I"M A BELIEVER! Mounted on of those cheapo clip on fans over my sump last night. The temperature reading was 80. This morning I checked it and it was 78. Know I'm gooing to track the temp throuhg my controller. I have 3 computer fans mounted in my hood. The left and right side blow out and the middle sucks in air. This creates a circular pattern around my halides. I also have a fan blowing across my ballast. This set up it keeps the tank around 80 degrees, since I have increased my photoperiod to 12 hours. I think the fans blowing across the sump will very beneficial. I will post the results on my blog. . .. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Daniel Posted May 31, 2009 Share Posted May 31, 2009 As long as greater evaporation (read: greater humidity) isn't a problem for you, nothing beats evaporative cooling at cost/efficiency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 I thought I'd update you all on how the fan continues to work for me. This week has been very hot outside (90+ degrees) and my tank hasn't gotten above 78.4. My daily swing is from 77.5 to 78.4, mostly around 78.2. Lately it hasn't gotten above 78.2 since our AC in the house is on more frequently. Here is the graph from my AC III. Note, the large dip is before I could control the computer fan on the top of the tank. I had to manually plug and unplug it, and I forgot one night so it ran all night long. I also added a heater this past weekend and set my AC III to turn it on when the temp got below 77.3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mFrame Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 For those of us still new to it, can you talk a little about the AC III, what it is, what it does, and what's automated? I get the feeling a lot of people are testing PH and other stats by method other than chemical test kits. How much stuff can you actually automate and for what cost? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 For those of us still new to it, can you talk a little about the AC III, what it is, what it does, and what's automated?I get the feeling a lot of people are testing PH and other stats by method other than chemical test kits. How much stuff can you actually automate and for what cost? I can do a full writeup later, but the 20 sec version is that you can control anything. Heaters, pumps (can have them cycle on and off in timed intervals), lights, fans, calcium reactors, CO2 bottles, etc). I think they only thing it can't do is control your spouses reaction to you buying it! I have a temp probe and a pH probe and after calibrating the pH probe, I was surprised to find my pH off. Test kits said 8.2, pH probe = 7.9. I'll trust the probe. Cost...I can get it new w/pH and temp probe, DC8 (8 plug power brick where you can control each plug) and head unit for $440 shipped. You can add in an ORP (for calcium reactors) sensor for a little more. The best part is that the AC III comes with an ethernet plug so you can completely configure and control it from you home computer. You can also make it send you emails when things go out of whack. AND if you have an iphone, there is an app for the iPhone where you can control it remotely from your phone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewT Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 just picked one up today as well. ive had major heat issues.... i guess thatll happen w/ 2 400W lights. i hate to say it but you told me so mark. ive got 6 cpu fans plus this small fan in my fuge. interested to see what the temp is after work. it gets to about 82 id like it 78-79. if that doesnt work we sell small portable ac at frys. i may buy one next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reybeast Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 I dont suppose I could get a copy of that as well, to setup my ACIII? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 I dont suppose I could get a copy of that as well, to setup my ACIII? Did you get/have one? If so, I'll be happy to copy it over to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reybeast Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 (edited) I've had one for some time, but it used from another guy, but the software it has is old. I havnt done much with it other than monitor temp, ph and turn lights on and off. I bought some Icecap fans that have the temp sensors and they work great! Still like to see your config though Edited June 10, 2009 by Reybeast Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 I've had one for some time, but it used from another guy, but the software it has is old. I havnt done much with it other than monitor temp, ph and turn lights on and off. I bought some Icecap fans that have the temp sensors and they work great! Still like to see your config though If wife$01 > 45, then rename wife$01 = cougar. I'll PM you config. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted June 10, 2009 Author Share Posted June 10, 2009 ML1$-A01 (MH) ML2$-A02 (MH) FN1$-A03 (MH light) ACT$-A04 (actinics) HT1%-A05 (heater) PM1%-A06 (Koralia #1 in rockwork) FN2$-A07 ($10 walmart fan and computer fans) FL1$-A08 (fuge light) If Time > 09:30 Then ACT ON If Time > 21:30 Then ACT OFF If Time > 13:30 Then ML1 ON If Time > 19:15 Then ML1 OFF If Time > 13:45 Then ML2 ON If Time > 19:30 Then ML2 OFF If Timer ML1 = ON Then FN1 ON If Timer ML2 = ON Then FN1 ON If Time > 13:30 Then FN1 ON If Time > 18:30 Then FN1 OFF If Time > 21:30 Then FL1 ON If Time > 09:30 Then FL1 OFF If Temp > 77.6 Then FN2 ON If Temp = 77.5 Then FN2 OFF If Temp < 77.5 Then FN2 OFF If Temp > 81.5 Then ML1 OFF If Temp > 81.5 Then ML2 OFF If Temp < 77.3 Then HT1 ON If Temp = 77.3 Then HT1 ON If Temp > 77.3 Then HT1 OFF OSC 001/001 ON/OFF Then PM1 ON Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooks Posted June 10, 2009 Share Posted June 10, 2009 Pretty cool gadget there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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