Heat wave...when to panic

[pinkorchid]

September is normally cool for us....but we're being hit with a heat wave due to Earl. It has been HOT most of the week, should be ending by the weekend and back to normal temps (which is 18-20C). This week it's been 30+....

The tank is *normally* at about 77, today/yesterday it's been hovering at 80....should I be doing anything. Is that too warm (as in dangerous for my clowns & cleaner shrimp)?
Our a/c has been running non-stop but can't compete with the heat. Our summer temps in July/August are NEVER this high...

This is the first time I've ever been concerned about the tank getting too warm, usually it's the opposite I worry about.

Thanks! Any advice or support to calm my nerves will be appreciated!!

[Just_Greg]

80*F is a little warm for my taste, but lots of folks run their tanx that warm...even up to 82*F or so.  As long as the tank doesn't go beyond that, I wouldn't worry too much.

[pinkorchid]

Thanks Greg!

I'll keep an eye on it. If it climbs higher what do I do? Float bags filled with ice...thought I read that somewhere but have never been concerned or prepared as these temps caught me off guard.

[Learner]

Hi Amy,

We run ours at around 78F, so 80 shouldn't be too much.

We had a heatwave here a few weeks ago, so floated small water bottles that I had placed in the freezer; it kept the water temp' stable.

Hope this helps, and enjoy the weather whilst it lasts.

Tania.

[psykokid]

80 is nothing to be worried about, my tank swings from 78.5 to 81.5 with a fan on the sump for evaporative cooling. You can take a few bottles of frozen RO water and have them in the freezer ready to go just in case the tank temp raises up a little more than you like. Just float the frozen water bottles in the water and it will bring down the temp as it melts in the bottle..

[Bergy]

80 isnt the problem, it is the swing... the change in temperature.. a few degrees swing isnt much, but i would want to minimize if you can... but with that said.. it is totally possible to live with it.. i think that little bit of a swing wont do much 'cept slow down some coral growth with i dont think you need to worry about right now..

you can freeze some water bottles, (left over bottles filled with regular water.. you can use RO water, but it isnt necessary.. if the bottles leak then it might be best to leak RO water, but reaslistically, there is more dirt/dust/crud on the outside of the bottle that will contribute  to any algae or other problems...

i usually kept about 5-6 bottles frozen and would rotate, so when they melted i could let them freeze for two days...  etc


anyways, you also might want to make sure you ahve an extra fan blowing across the sump or tank surface.. evaporation will cool the tank down a lot, (gotta check the relative humidity, as higher humidty will mean less evap)

but, if your sump is in the stand, open the door during the daytime, and let a fan blow right at the sump, on high... huge fan  teh better.

[pinkorchid]

Thanks everyone! I didn't have any frozen bottles as of lastnight so filled some with ice-cubes....which didn't last long but I think it helped a bit. I have a hood so opened the top and had the fan on.
Have frozen water bottles for today so will alternate.

And yes, no corals.

So far so good, hoping for a cooler day today!!!

[KYLE.801]

good tips that I would have never considered.  I know my nano stays around 80 and I leave the hood open 24/7 but no fan.  I've never seen it get hotter than that though and the coral in there are doing good. 

[Bergy]

definately crack the hood open and get a fan going... you will cool the tank by around 5 degrees... make sure your heater doesnt come on....

seriously...

also you will need more fresh water for replacement of water that evaporates..

the coolin actually comes from water evaporating...   that action creates a change in temperature...

but, you should be good, if the ambient/outside temp doesnt go up... and all your tank is going to is 81...

with the open top and fans, you will easily drop down to 77... easily... just make sure you have enuf water in the morning before you leave...

if you ahve a fan that oscilates. then your room and your tank will get cooler...


but, keep in mind evaporation happens slower/harder when the ambient relative humidity is high... this means it is harder to evaporate water, as the outside air already has more water in it...

so it is humidity that become important, not temperature...

good luck

[pinkorchid]

Thanks for all the tips!
Temp is around 78 now AND Earl bi-passed us today!! YAY. I was worried we'd loose power, had my battery operated air pump ready...LOL.
Funny how panice mode was in full force here (people are crazy sometimes) and my main concern was the tank..hehe.

[Learner]

Pleased that your tank temperature has stabilised.....that Earl by-passed you....oh, and that you got your priorities right....lol.

[Bergy]

its sad how media affects us... we see images of vast destruction, (when it might be a block or two, (not trying to downplay anything or anyone..)

but with those types of images, everyone seems to spend countless dollars and efforts in trying to avoid something that pretty much is un avoidable...

watchin out for the incedental problems like power failure is way more prudent and and beneficial in the long run...

makin sure you have electricity and refrigeration and a working fish tak would be my priorities...


and yea, glad to hear things are winding down on your side of hte world...

[Just_Greg]

good tips that I would have never considered.  I know my nano stays around 80 and I leave the hood open 24/7 but no fan.  I've never seen it get hotter than that though and the coral in there are doing good.

When you say "nano" does this mean you have a "plug-n-play" setup like a NC?  If so, you can swap out the return pump with a more efficient model (one that draws fewer Watts) and that will likely drop your setup's intrinsic temp by 2 or 3*F.  MJ's and small Rios work well for this.

[psykokid]

I'm using the hydor Pico Evo Mag 300 (7 watts, 300GPH) for my nanocube which replaced the MJ1200 (20 watts, 295 GPH) that i had in there before. The MJ even being a smaller pump was heating up the water quite a bit. The cool thing about the evo mag is that it comes with a set of magnets and a hydor flo water diffuser in the box. Plus it being tiny it fits in the back of the NC12 that i have really well and provides 2x the water flow of the stock pump while putting less heat into the tank. a big bonus. I replaced the stock NC fans in the hood with some that have higher flow and oriented them as pushers instead of pullers. this exhausts the heat a bit better keeping things cool. The other thing i did was drill two 2" holes in the feeding lid and mounted two 50mm fans blowing into the tank on the waters surface. I drilled a couple of 1" holes in the back of the hood to let the air escape from. With this mod the tank stays at 77 degrees even with the stock 2x24W power compact lights on. :)




link to the evo-mag pump:
http://www.hydor.com/prodotti/show/famprod/49/list/6