Tank temp issue

[SquidHC]

My tank temp fluctuates a lot. At night it is kept at a minimum of 78 degrees, but in the day time it gets up to an average of 82-83 degrees. I have 2 crappy powerheads that are going to be replaced soon. My skimmer pump, and 2 250w metal halide bulbs. There is no top of any sort on my tank. I am adding a sump here pretty soon (custom made, supposed to be done end of september). What can I do to help stabalize my tank temp. Will the sump help? I am considering getting fans, but have no real way of turning them on and off while Im at work. Working on saving for an Aqua Controller Jr, but Im poor so it will be some time. Obviously spending 800 bucks on a chiller is way out of my league at this point. Any suggestions would be great.

[Largo50]

A fan on when the lights are on should help a lot. Why would you need to turn them on and off during work?

[seastar12]

Do you have a chiller on your tank?

[SquidHC]

Seastar - No, I dont have a chiller as I said originaly. From what I understand one would cost me upwards of 700 bucks. I cant afford that.

Largo - Well, wouldnt leaving them on long periods of time create massive evaporation? I guess I would just want them to kick on when the tank hit like 81, and turn off if it dropped below 80 or something. Otherwise my heaters would be working against my fans. Thats one of the reasons I want to get the AquaContJr. Can set it to turn them on and off as needed.

[Maxi]

I know what you mean on the chillers costing a lot...!

A fan would do great. I don't know what fan you should get though. To control it by 24 hours, (IE: when the lights are on, fan is on) get a timer. Very easy to use, you can get them at petco/petsmart, any pharmacy.

[Tswifty8]

Get two small computer fans from radio shack. You can take a book, piece of plywood, acrylic, and set it over the back corner of your tank like a shelf and set your fans on that. My advice would be to use a small piece acrylic and glue or silcon (which can be scraped off if you decide to mount them differently or get a canopy) and that would make sure your "shelf" doesnt take a nose dive into the tank with your fan. Buy a light timer to control them (usually <$5 at Wal-mart). You probably want the fans to kick on while your at work in the afternoon (hottest part of the day) anyway... right?

You could prob make the whole rig "new" for under $30... and that's just a guess. I'm sure it can be made for much cheaper.

Worst case scenario, take your average everyday oscellating fan or that dorm room box fan everyone has stashed away in storage, stack some books under it, set it next to the tank on low and turn it on.... haha. Hey even a cheap eye sore like that will look better than a tank full of dead fish!

Best of luck to ya!

[Largo50]

Ahh, I see the concern. I just took an old pc fan and an old cell phone charger (free stuff laying around) wired the fan and put it on the timer with my light. The pc fan is small and lowers my temp from 82 to just over 80. Adapt to suit your setup.

[SquidHC]

At one of our local reef shops there is a cool little controller that you can plug four computer fans into, and control them each seperately (control the speed). Its like 35 bucks. If I get that, and 4 large computer fans, I could put one on my MH ballast, 1 over my sump, and 2 over my tank. I can plug em into my MH timer. Think those 4 fans would do the trick?

[SquidHC]

Oh, also. Any diference between the bulky aluminum 120v fans that my LFS carries, and high flow computer fans that are 12v? Power use is a big issue for me, so Im thinking computer fans will take less juice.

[greenbean36191]

Don't do anything. Your temps are just about ideal. There is absolutely no reason to spend time and money trying to chase unnatural and potentially harmful conditions.

[BurntOutReefer]

agree with greenbean

[skriz]

I use a $7 clip on fan from Walmart. Even though your temps are in an acceptable range, the danger is the fluctuation. You don't want erratic fluctution of temps throughout the day.

Like the others have said, buy a cheap timer, and turn the fan on when the lights are on. If you know about what time the temp reaches 81, set it for that time. Without a controller, it is going to be close to impossible to regulate the fan according to temp.

[SquidHC]

There not erratic. They start about 79, and raise to about 82-84 during the day. Then go back down to 79 at night. My fear is only the really hot days. I would be scared for my tank to go over 84, which it has a few times in the past. I think my next purchase is gonna be an Aqua Controller Jr. I just talked to my wife and shes cool with me ordering one. Then, ill just hook a few fans up and set it to turn em on when it gets over say 83.

[greenbean36191]

The fluctuations are exactly what the animals have evolved to deal with for the last few million years. They deal with them just fine unless you keep them under stable conditions and artificially reduce their ability to deal with them.

[InLimbo87]

I'm with greenbean on this one... Don't worry about those temps. Once you add a sump, you should also see a small drop in temp getting you to where many would consider ideal.

[cd77]

I agree with greenbean -- and my temperature fluctuations are about the same as yours. Ever seen an office clamp fan? I don't know your exact setup, but a simple office fan with a strong clamp placed to blow air across my sump brought me down a full degree -- when I started 82 degrees bothered me, now I'm fine with it, besides the worst of summer has past most of us -- winter is right around the corner :)

And you can buy a virtually silent chiller for that aquarium for almost half of what you're thinking if you decide to go that route...