SAD- NO Chiller-Fish and corals all DIED :-( - Page 3

jarvasio · 06/03/2013, 11:48 PM

I have a frag tank 2' by 4' foot in my garage in Peoria Arizona my tank temp might on a bad day might reach 80 degrees when outside temp today was 106 tank temp was 75. All I have in my garage is a industrial size fan blowing toward my tank and two vent fans blowing through outside vent. The fans they are talking about will work very well, might have to top off a bit more RO water but at least the fan will keep the temp down quite a bit. All I have done was talk to a couple of reputable local reef stores and fellow reefers and made my decisions from there. I understand where KClewis is coming from, but just a little less harsh and a little better criticism would have received less comments and seemed a little more helpful, But this hobby is not to be considered cheap at all and doing your research and asking questions will get you a lot further in this hobby. That's just my 2 cents!

Dexters Reef · 06/04/2013, 12:20 AM

Just get an energy star rated air conditioner that turns on and off with a digital temperature control. It really isnt that expensive to run, if you set it to 74 or 75 when you leave it will turn on / off as needed.

Chillers are all very expensive, take up a bunch of space, and will just raise the ambient temperature of the room, which will just warm the tank and make the chiller run more. An air conditioner however, will keep your tank and room cool.

goochesfish · 06/04/2013, 12:30 AM

We hit 100 degrees in SoCal last weekend and of course my chiller blew a fuse. So even with the best planning **** happens. I only noticed when my lights shut off. I have a Neptune that shuts lights when it hits 82. Needless to say, the fuse crumbled inside, brought chiller in and it had to be sent to manufacturer. I'm out of a chiller for 5 days now. I opened my hood, attached a fan, opened my stand doors, attached another fan and opened the windows in my house, by morning , tank was 77. I know, too big a swing. So the fans work very well. Evaporation draws the heat and energy from the tank. You just have to top off more often when it's hot. Fans are ugly though.

Dingo44 · 06/04/2013, 01:32 AM

How about one of those ductless Fujitsu AC units? Just stick it at the top of the wall in the room where you keep your tank. I've heard they are pretty efficient and it only cools the room the unit is in while not needing a window to hang out of.

I had an idea a while back for a design of a poor-man's chiller. It came to me when I was making a modification for a fog machine on Halloween. To turn a regular fog machine into one that emits ground covering fog, you drill two holes in an igloo cooler, one on each end. Run a wire mesh cylinder through the cooler connecting the two holes and fill the cooler with ice. Hook up the fog machine to one end and as the fog goes through the cooler it cools down and hugs the ground.

I figured that if you used the same concept but instead of wire mesh use PVC and do a few coils in the cooler before exiting the other side of the cooler. Pump tank water through the cooler and it just might work.

I've never tried it or built it, it was just an idea I had and I might make it one day since I do live in AZ. A few times the power has gone out during the summer here and luckily I was home to float ice in big ziploc bags. I also have a battery powered airstone and a UPS for the powerheads.

aquaskilz · 06/04/2013, 10:28 AM

Thank you again for all of your advice from those who truly understood what my real dilemma was. So I ordered some fans last night after muggin a few ppl because thats what we's do in the NYC LOL. Also put some frozen bottles in my sump and took the glass canopy off my tank and WHALA!! Temp went down and stable for now. Also going to invest in an energy efficient A/C for that room. If all else fails, I will get the chiller. I appreciate everyone's input and suggestions. I will give an update real soon.

SIDE NOTE: I apologize I did not loose ALL my fish. Just my Coral Beauty and Ornamental Shrimp.
Inhabitants: Yellow Tang, 3 stripe damsel, blue damsel, maroon clown, pajama cardinal
Corals Lost: Colt, Candy cane, hammer, peachtree, mushroom polyp and a Micronesian

I will overcome

power boat jim · 06/04/2013, 10:48 AM

Glad some of us could of service. You should be fine with a the AC unit and the removal of the glass tops of death. Good luck restocking.

aquaskilz · 06/04/2013, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by power boat jim

Glad some of us could of service. You should be fine with a the AC unit and the removal of the glass tops of death. Good luck restocking.

Thanks PBJ appreciate that. BTW Do you order your corals online or go to a LFS??

power boat jim · 06/04/2013, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquaskilz

Thanks PBJ appreciate that. BTW Do you order your corals online or go to a LFS??

I was just looking at the amount of coral in my tank last night and was figuring out where they all came from. Early on I got most of them from a local shop that is no longer in business. Then I went through a phase of getting things from Fosters and Smith online. Lately its been 75% from local reefers (Trades and donations) and a few others from some newer local shops.

I still have corals in my tank from 10 or so years ago so I have pieces around from all the sources I listed. My tank is full so I now must tade out stuff to get anything else in. All the sources listed have produces very succesful pieces.

aquaskilz · 06/04/2013, 11:26 AM

I considered DF&S at one point. I am considering also tidal gardens. The proprietor seems to have a real good business going. I will shop around-shipping cost is one of my major concerns. Thanks for ur input.

power boat jim · 06/04/2013, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquaskilz

I considered DF&S at one point. I am considering also tidal gardens. The proprietor seems to have a real good business going. I will shop around-shipping cost is one of my major concerns. Thanks for ur input.

Your welcome. DFS are a good group I would order from them again.

humaguy · 06/04/2013, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquaskilz

Thank you again for all of your advice from those who truly understood what my real dilemma was. So I ordered some fans last night after muggin a few ppl because thats what we's do in the NYC LOL. Also put some frozen bottles in my sump and took the glass canopy off my tank and WHALA!! Temp went down and stable for now. Also going to invest in an energy efficient A/C for that room. If all else fails, I will get the chiller. I appreciate everyone's input and suggestions. I will give an update real soon.

SIDE NOTE: I apologize I did not loose ALL my fish. Just my Coral Beauty and Ornamental Shrimp.
Inhabitants: Yellow Tang, 3 stripe damsel, blue damsel, maroon clown, pajama cardinal
Corals Lost: Colt, Candy cane, hammer, peachtree, mushroom polyp and a Micronesian

I will overcome

Glad to hear things are looking up...!

Breadman03 · 06/05/2013, 04:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquaskilz

Thank you again for all of your advice from those who truly understood what my real dilemma was. So I ordered some fans last night after muggin a few ppl because thats what we's do in the NYC LOL. Also put some frozen fotays in my sump and took the glass canopy off my tank and WHALA!! Temp went down and stable for now. Also going to invest in an energy efficient A/C for that room. If all else fails, I will get the chiller. I appreciate everyone's input and suggestions. I will give an update real soon.

SIDE NOTE: I apologize I did not loose ALL my fish. Just my Coral Beauty and Ornamental Shrimp.
Inhabitants: Yellow Tang, 3 stripe damsel, blue damsel, maroon clown, pajama cardinal
Corals Lost: Colt, Candy cane, hammer, peachtree, mushroom polyp and a Micronesian

I will overcome

FTFY

nystang · 06/05/2013, 06:43 AM

I'm from Brooklyn, NY so I had the same temperature as you did last week. I didn't turn on my AC until Sunday afternoon. I have a 29g tank, sumpless and no chiller but I do have a fan over the tank that is controlled by Apex Jr. My tank stayed between 81 and 82 degrees during those days which is about 1,5 degrees higher than usual. I have a luxury to work from home so I could monitor and help the tank all the time. What you can do also is pour some RODI water to ice cube tray, refrigerate it and put 1 or 2 cubes to the tank from time to time. 2nd summer without the chiller and I think I will be OK. I didn't loose anything last summer.

SeedlessOne · 06/05/2013, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aquaskilz

Thank you again for all of your advice from those who truly understood what my real dilemma was. So I ordered some fans last night after muggin a few ppl because thats what we's do in the NYC LOL. Also put some frozen bottles in my sump and took the glass canopy off my tank and WHALA!! Temp went down and stable for now. Also going to invest in an energy efficient A/C for that room. If all else fails, I will get the chiller. I appreciate everyone's input and suggestions. I will give an update real soon.

SIDE NOTE: I apologize I did not loose ALL my fish. Just my Coral Beauty and Ornamental Shrimp.
Inhabitants: Yellow Tang, 3 stripe damsel, blue damsel, maroon clown, pajama cardinal
Corals Lost: Colt, Candy cane, hammer, peachtree, mushroom polyp and a Micronesian

I will overcome

Don't play the victim card with the stereotypes. You started them....

Plus that yellow tang is in way too small of a tank.

KeepNitReel · 06/05/2013, 07:23 AM

Did someone call the police :what:

TheRuss · 02/06/2014, 10:48 AM

On Post #22 I said "Sorry to hear that... "

I am sorry that I said that, because I got in trouble by the Forum. Hmm... They did not like that I did not POST something more substantial, but I was speaking sincerely.

cakemanPA · 02/06/2014, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRuss

On Post #22 I said "Sorry to hear that... "

I am sorry that I said that, because I got in trouble by the Forum. Hmm... They did not like that I did not POST something more substantial, but I was speaking sincerely.

What was the purpose of bringing back an old post from over 6 months ago?

Ontheway · 02/06/2014, 11:27 AM

I read first page only. May be someone else already mentioned, but, just figured out this, buy a second hand mini-refrigerator, remove the internal freezer door if exists, put your top-off water container into it, and let auto top-off handle the rest.

Same unit can be utilized by putting a power head thats able to run dry into fridge, keep some rolls of hose in fridge, some rolls in aquarium, run the pump. Just my 2.

06/04/2013, 12:20 AM	#52
Dexters Reef Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 730	Just get an energy star rated air conditioner that turns on and off with a digital temperature control. It really isnt that expensive to run, if you set it to 74 or 75 when you leave it will turn on / off as needed. Chillers are all very expensive, take up a bunch of space, and will just raise the ambient temperature of the room, which will just warm the tank and make the chiller run more. An air conditioner however, will keep your tank and room cool. __________________ 75G RR, Trigger Systems Ruby 30S sump, 2x250 MH and 4x54W T5HO, Octopus Diablo XS160, 4" DSB, 2 x MP40wES, 85 lbs LR, 2 x BRS Dosing Pumps, Finnex 300w titanium heater, Surf2 Algae Turf Scrubber

06/04/2013, 12:30 AM	#53
goochesfish Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,305	We hit 100 degrees in SoCal last weekend and of course my chiller blew a fuse. So even with the best planning **** happens. I only noticed when my lights shut off. I have a Neptune that shuts lights when it hits 82. Needless to say, the fuse crumbled inside, brought chiller in and it had to be sent to manufacturer. I'm out of a chiller for 5 days now. I opened my hood, attached a fan, opened my stand doors, attached another fan and opened the windows in my house, by morning , tank was 77. I know, too big a swing. So the fans work very well. Evaporation draws the heat and energy from the tank. You just have to top off more often when it's hot. Fans are ugly though. __________________ The Gooch, my Beagle, may she RIP 1995-2011 Current Tank Info: 150 gallon Starfire set up July 22,09, 30g QT

06/04/2013, 10:28 AM	#55
aquaskilz Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: New york Posts: 30	Thank you again for all of your advice from those who truly understood what my real dilemma was. So I ordered some fans last night after muggin a few ppl because thats what we's do in the NYC LOL. Also put some frozen bottles in my sump and took the glass canopy off my tank and WHALA!! Temp went down and stable for now. Also going to invest in an energy efficient A/C for that room. If all else fails, I will get the chiller. I appreciate everyone's input and suggestions. I will give an update real soon. SIDE NOTE: I apologize I did not loose ALL my fish. Just my Coral Beauty and Ornamental Shrimp. Inhabitants: Yellow Tang, 3 stripe damsel, blue damsel, maroon clown, pajama cardinal Corals Lost: Colt, Candy cane, hammer, peachtree, mushroom polyp and a Micronesian I will overcome Last edited by aquaskilz; 06/04/2013 at 10:41 AM. Reason: additional info

06/03/2013, 11:48 PM	#51
jarvasio Registered Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Phoenix, Arizona Posts: 131	I have a frag tank 2' by 4' foot in my garage in Peoria Arizona my tank temp might on a bad day might reach 80 degrees when outside temp today was 106 tank temp was 75. All I have in my garage is a industrial size fan blowing toward my tank and two vent fans blowing through outside vent. The fans they are talking about will work very well, might have to top off a bit more RO water but at least the fan will keep the temp down quite a bit. All I have done was talk to a couple of reputable local reef stores and fellow reefers and made my decisions from there. I understand where KClewis is coming from, but just a little less harsh and a little better criticism would have received less comments and seemed a little more helpful, But this hobby is not to be considered cheap at all and doing your research and asking questions will get you a lot further in this hobby. That's just my 2 cents!

06/04/2013, 01:32 AM	#54
Dingo44 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Phoenix AZ Posts: 219	How about one of those ductless Fujitsu AC units? Just stick it at the top of the wall in the room where you keep your tank. I've heard they are pretty efficient and it only cools the room the unit is in while not needing a window to hang out of. I had an idea a while back for a design of a poor-man's chiller. It came to me when I was making a modification for a fog machine on Halloween. To turn a regular fog machine into one that emits ground covering fog, you drill two holes in an igloo cooler, one on each end. Run a wire mesh cylinder through the cooler connecting the two holes and fill the cooler with ice. Hook up the fog machine to one end and as the fog goes through the cooler it cools down and hugs the ground. I figured that if you used the same concept but instead of wire mesh use PVC and do a few coils in the cooler before exiting the other side of the cooler. Pump tank water through the cooler and it just might work. I've never tried it or built it, it was just an idea I had and I might make it one day since I do live in AZ. A few times the power has gone out during the summer here and luckily I was home to float ice in big ziploc bags. I also have a battery powered airstone and a UPS for the powerheads.

06/04/2013, 10:48 AM	#56
power boat jim Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Wisconsin, The big peninsula Posts: 2,100	Glad some of us could of service. You should be fine with a the AC unit and the removal of the glass tops of death. Good luck restocking.

06/04/2013, 11:26 AM	#59
aquaskilz Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: New york Posts: 30	I considered DF&S at one point. I am considering also tidal gardens. The proprietor seems to have a real good business going. I will shop around-shipping cost is one of my major concerns. Thanks for ur input.

06/05/2013, 06:43 AM	#63
nystang Registered Member Join Date: May 2012 Location: Brooklyn, NY Posts: 249	I'm from Brooklyn, NY so I had the same temperature as you did last week. I didn't turn on my AC until Sunday afternoon. I have a 29g tank, sumpless and no chiller but I do have a fan over the tank that is controlled by Apex Jr. My tank stayed between 81 and 82 degrees during those days which is about 1,5 degrees higher than usual. I have a luxury to work from home so I could monitor and help the tank all the time. What you can do also is pour some RODI water to ice cube tray, refrigerate it and put 1 or 2 cubes to the tank from time to time. 2nd summer without the chiller and I think I will be OK. I didn't loose anything last summer.

06/05/2013, 07:23 AM	#65
KeepNitReel Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Henrico, Virginia Posts: 490	Did someone call the police :what:

02/06/2014, 10:48 AM	#66
TheRuss Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 60	On Post #22 I said "Sorry to hear that... " I am sorry that I said that, because I got in trouble by the Forum. Hmm... They did not like that I did not POST something more substantial, but I was speaking sincerely.

02/06/2014, 11:27 AM	#68
Ontheway Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 412	I read first page only. May be someone else already mentioned, but, just figured out this, buy a second hand mini-refrigerator, remove the internal freezer door if exists, put your top-off water container into it, and let auto top-off handle the rest. Same unit can be utilized by putting a power head thats able to run dry into fridge, keep some rolls of hose in fridge, some rolls in aquarium, run the pump. Just my 2.