SAD- NO Chiller-Fish and corals all DIED :-(

[d2mini]

Originally Posted by kclewis

If you cannot provide a suitable habitat for a reef tank you will find yourself asking the what's wrong I killed all my livestock again question.

[TheRuss]

Sorry to hear that...

[sslak]

Define "open system". I run a canopy with two 120mm computer fans tied to my temp controller. If the temp goes over 82 in the tank, the fans turn on, exhausting head from the hood, if it hits 84 all the lights turn off. I evap about 1 gallon per day on my 58 Oceanic, I also run A/C.

Your tank hitting 90 probably shouldn't have killed everything immediately, my biocube hit 92 when I was a noob and had a heater malfunction. Didn't lose anything, I cooled by floating ziploc bags full of ice when I got home.

If the ambient temp was 90, how hot did the water actually get?

As others have said...you have to plan in advance. I can't imagine why you didn't expect it to ever get hot... Honestly if you can't afford to run the A/C at least to keep ambient around 80, then you probably shouldn't have a tank because a chiller is gonna cost just as much to run (unless maybe your house is huge..seems unlikely in NYC).

Interesting thing about chillers, they don't make heat disappear, they MOVE heat from the water, to the air. Where do you think the heat from the chiller goes? Into the room. Which heats up the tank. Which causes the chiller to run more, which heats up the room even more, which heats up the tank.....etc.

[Diceman]

I have to say kclewis, it isn't so much what you said, but how you said it. I read it and you may as well have called the poor guy a jackass retard.
Simple fact is the guy wants a tank, it was a accident and now he wants some advice, not scolding. Hasn't he suffered enough. I mean he is here on this forum asking for help, not trying it again the old way so he can lose more live stock.
God man, why are people like this, if you don't have a good answer or are "tired" of all the stupid questions from us rookies, then please, feel free to not post a reply.

[Diceman]

Originally Posted by d2mini

While true, you're original comment wasn't all that helpful.
At least the OP is on here admitting his mistake and looking for a solution. Give him a break. Live and learn.

Well put.

[KeepNitReel]

Originally Posted by aquaskilz

Thank u all for ur responses I love all u guys!! The temp went up in my house. We had a minor heat wave in NYC last week (above 90 degrees). I use a Mag 5 water pump in my 15 gal sump. I do have an A/C but i cant run it all day electric is high in NYC ( like everything else). My LED's do not generate much heat (and they are elevated 6" above my tank) and if I put fans i would have to make it an open system which will cause high evap. I think a chiller may be my only option. wada ya think? @ KClewis- you give horrible advice even the highest of experts in this field experience some sort of lost. Stick to farming

So your system is not open? You have glass lids or something on top? Take em off, throw some clip on fans & get a ATO.
Had the same thing happen to me in march, the temp went from the 40-50's to 86 the next day. It had just snowed real bad the week before. Sugar Honey Ice Tea, happens.

[d2mini]

Originally Posted by KeepNitReel

So your system is not open? You have glass lids or something on top? Take em off, throw some clip on fans & get a ATO.
Had the same thing happen to me in march, the temp went from the 40-50's to 86 the next day. It had just snowed real bad the week before. Sugar Honey Ice Tea, happens.

Good catch! And great advice.
No glass tops on a sw tank. Too much heat, the salt will constantly cover the glass blocking light transmission, not enough gas exchange.
ATO is almost a necessity with a reef and can be done on the cheap.

[kclewis]

All I'm pointing out is a temperature mistake is a very avoidable mistake. Basic 101 of reefing. If you think I'm beating a dead horse than I'm going to beat a dead horse. A 45 gallon tank doesn't reach 90 degrees in a short amount of time. Where was this question when the tank temp was rising? All of the positive posts could have helped save the livestock. I would have been more than happy to help. Isn't this site supposed to promote responsible reefing? If not then I'm in the wrong place.

[humaguy]

Originally Posted by kclewis

If this was a dog and he said I left it in the car with the windows rolled up and it died, we would be calling the police for animal cruelty.

Sorry if I take this to be the same situation. And I am sorry to the OP for my statements.

Humaguy we in indy experience the similar situations like power outages. I have a small generator and several battery operated air pumps for these situations. I understand you have to adapt to mother nature. You have to admit with being a member since 06 that reading these stories are troubling.

what's troubling is the way people are making such definite and absolute statements and imo, they were unnecessary...you can't plan for a lot in this hobby...when people say not having a chiller is improper planning and things were not thought out it is simply silly...we live and learn and hopefully learn from our mistakes and lol, after 30 years in salt I still occasionally make em...
and I have never owned a chiller and never even considered one on my last tank build, the build thread is in here...sometimes people are slow and resistant to assist and quick and eager to attack, that I find troubling...
...you can't keep a generator in a nyc apt...
just my .02...

[Diceman]

All I was saying is was more how you said it. You had a good point, but why beat him when he is down? We do not know all the circumstances.
That's all I was trying to point out. Nothing against you or him.
Hopefully he will take this good advice for his next reef.

[humaguy]

Originally Posted by kclewis

All I'm pointing out is a temperature mistake is a very avoidable mistake. Basic 101 of reefing. If you think I'm beating a dead horse than I'm going to beat a dead horse. A 45 gallon tank doesn't reach 90 degrees in a short amount of time. Where was this question when the tank temp was rising? All of the positive posts could have helped save the livestock. I would have been more than happy to help. Isn't this site supposed to promote responsible reefing? If not then I'm in the wrong place.

so many unknown variables...did the op get stuck in traffic, get tied up at the office, ran late due to some last min errand?
we all do the best we can...sometimes things happen...but I would be willing to be this does not happen again...

[humaguy]

Originally Posted by d2mini

Good catch! And great advice.
No glass tops on a sw tank. Too much heat, the salt will constantly cover the glass blocking light transmission, not enough gas exchange.
ATO is almost a necessity with a reef and can be done on the cheap.

with the caveat that depending on livestock you may need something on it, egg crate, mesh, netting etc...you don't want to remove a glass top and lose a fish to a carpet anemone...

[KeepNitReel]

Originally Posted by kclewis

All I'm pointing out is a temperature mistake is a very avoidable mistake. Basic 101 of reefing. If you think I'm beating a dead horse than I'm going to beat a dead horse. A 45 gallon tank doesn't reach 90 degrees in a short amount of time. Where was this question when the tank temp was rising? All of the positive posts could have helped save the livestock. I would have been more than happy to help. Isn't this site supposed to promote responsible reefing? If not then I'm in the wrong place.

I'm assuming that the OP was at work when the temp was rising, that's what most people do during the day.
I had a tank that went from 79 to 86 I'm less than 4 hours. I come home for lunch everyday and caught it but not before losing a kole tang & lemon peel angel. Carried my jacket with me that morning because it just snowed the week before & the day before was in the late 40's. Central unit was still set to heat because of the bad weather.
Maybe if I would have watched the weather report I would've set the central unit to AC, my fault, lesson learned.
Monday morning quarter backing doesn't help. Would've could've should've, lets deal with now

[cakemanPA]

You are beating a dead horse, and doing it not all that nicely considering the OP was asking for help and not arguing about the advice he was given. OBTW a 45 gallon tank will heat up in a hurry. I had it happen with a 90 gallon tank with a chiller. The heater/chiller controller failed. 95 degrees outside not in the forecast, windows open, no chiller. Between noon and 4:30 in the evening, my tank went from 78 degrees to 89 degrees. I now run a controller on my tanks so I can remotely monitor my tank.

A room a/c and a reef controller

Originally Posted by kclewis

All I'm pointing out is a temperature mistake is a very avoidable mistake. Basic 101 of reefing. If you think I'm beating a dead horse than I'm going to beat a dead horse. A 45 gallon tank doesn't reach 90 degrees in a short amount of time. Where was this question when the tank temp was rising? All of the positive posts could have helped save the livestock. I would have been more than happy to help. Isn't this site supposed to promote responsible reefing? If not then I'm in the wrong place.

[kclewis]

Cakeman 2.5 degrees a hour
Keepnitreel 1.75 a hour

I guess I don't consider that a rapid change.

In both cases it took hours to reach dangerous. Keepnitreel you just backup my initial claim in you had planned for temp in setup not an after thought or maybe not even at all.

[cakemanPA]

Originally Posted by kclewis

Cakeman 2.5 degrees a hour
Keepnitreel 1.75 a hour

I guess I don't consider that a rapid change.

In both cases it took hours to reach dangerous. Keepnitreel you just backup my initial claim in you had planned for temp in setup not an after thought or maybe not even at all.

And believe it or not... A lot of people in this hobby have jobs that prevent them from leaving during their work hours... As far as I am concerned that is.a rapid rise in temps.

[kclewis]

Originally Posted by cakemanPA

And believe it or not... A lot of people in this hobby have jobs that prevent them from leaving during their work hours... As far as I am concerned that is.a rapid rise in temps.

More of a reason to have procedures in place. Look, I'm just trying to make a simple point. I understand it was initially harsh. I will cease to comment going forward if needed.

Good luck going forward.

[M.phenax]

I set my a/c and heat for my animals comfort and survival. For three years, I lived in an apartment with only one window a/c unit. I used fans to circulate the cool air-I had no problems. Then, I moved into a house with central air. Everything was hunky dory, until the a/c went out on a holiday weekend. I had no a/c for 4 days. I turned off the lights, opened the windows, and used big gatorade bottles of ice in the sump to try to cool my main tank. The daytime temps were over 100F, and I couldn't keep my tank lower than 95F. I lost most of my animals. Perhaps, a chiller would have been the answer but here in Florida, we can also lose power for long periods too.
I don't think anyone on this forum is intentionally going to do something to jepordize the health of the animals in their tanks. We are all here to learn or to teach from what we have experienced. As teachers, we should be patient and remember when we made mistakes. We should also remember that we don't know everything and when we quit learning, we may as well just hang it all up.

[Curious George]

I think a good 1/4 hp chiller will do the trick

Sometimes things go wrong and that's how we know we need to add something else. God knows I've learned expensive lessons that have taught me what equipment was a must have and what wasn't.

Some people are just perfect and need to tell us how perfect they are by rubbing salt in the wound. They never needed diapers, erasers, or insurance....lame

Sorry for your losses. Live and learn and you seem like a nice guy either way. Please don't let the voices of a few curtail your questions and contributions to the forum.

[dkeller_nc]

Originally Posted by aquaskilz

I have a 45 Gal High tank with an LED Lighting system. Long story short all my corals, ornamental shrimp and coral beauty died. I am sooo upset.
The temp in my tank went to 90 degrees because my house temp went up.
I need advice on a a affordable quality chiller and water pump to go with it. Can you please help??

Back to you original question. Given the size tank that you have and that you have LED lights, and assuming you run your house A/C so that the interior air temp doesn't go above 80, one of the smaller chillers made by JBJ or AquaEuro will do the trick (somewhere between 1/10 and 1/8 horsepower).

Note that the size chiller you require sensitively depends on the air temperature inside your house, how much heat is being added to the aquarium by lights and pumps, and the amount of evaporation that is taking place.

Both from the standpoint of initial cost and long-term power usage, taking steps to increase evaporation and limit heat gain by the tank is far more economical than buying/using a larger chiller.

[kclewis]

Originally Posted by Curious George

Some people are just perfect and need to tell us how perfect they are by rubbing salt in the wound. They never needed diapers, erasers, or insurance....lame

Sorry for your losses. Live and learn and you seem like a nice guy either way. Please don't let the voices of a few curtail your questions and contributions to the forum.

Seriously? If he doesn't have the cash flow for ac you think a 1/4 hp chiller will be in the budget?

Have you ever done the breakdown on energy use of a chiller????

Who said they were perfect by the way??

[Allentown]

We had multiple 110 weeks here in Georgia last year. I run an open tank and keep the thermostat at 79 and run a window unit in the room with the tank between 9am and 8pm (down to about 75 degrees. ). Thermometer stays at about 80 and heaters still run regularly keeping it above 77.

[greg1786]

I just had my 125 with 30 gal sump reach 87 yesterday while I was at work. My window unit blew up while I was at work and the room got so hot it cooked the tank. Thankfully i got home in time and nothing was dead but a few fish were laboring pretty hard breathing wise. I just got a new window unit only 160 at walmart and it has a timer and an auto thermostat so it only runs when absolutely necessary if im not home. Maybe check into that, it is much more affordable than blasting your ac all day or buying a chiller. Good luck man

[KeepNitReel]

Originally Posted by kclewis

Cakeman 2.5 degrees a hour
Keepnitreel 1.75 a hour

I guess I don't consider that a rapid change.

In both cases it took hours to reach dangerous. Keepnitreel you just backup my initial claim in you had planned for temp in setup not an after thought or maybe not even at all.

You don't consider that a rapid change but two of my fish did and died as a result. I've been in this hobby 14 years (most of it freshwater) and have learned that stuff happens.

I agree with what you said about planning but sometimes people just get caught off guard or life distracts them. No need to pour salt in the wound, the lost was a lesson learned & the thread shows dedication to learn & improve.

Relax guy, lol!! You cool with me kclewis

[Lambert58]

Poor guy, makes a rookie mistake then gets jumped by "Reefman", defender of the reef. Sure hope he learned his lesson.