Heat issues with tank

[Surfside74]

I have a 150 gallon mixed reef tank. I have a 8x54watt Tek fixture on top. My temps are getting up to about 81F. I now the sps and other corals will be fine, but I will like to drop the temp a few degrees. What works best. I heard a fan blowing across the top dissipates the heat from the fixture and cools the water. I also heard about the fan in the sump. I do not want to spend the money on a chiller. Any ideas?
Rob

[sin05_omar]

the fan would work in bringing down a few degree .. however with it the evaporation rate will be higher needing you to top up the tank often to maintain the correct salinity...

JMO i think the temp of 81F (27.2C) is acceptable to most sps/lps corals as per your mention however i was wondering why do you need to drop if by a few degree?

i guess the only way is to get a chiller (u dont wanna do that), get a fan or move the tank to a cooler location ie basement, some corner away from sunlight (trust me u dont want to court this nightmare...lol)

Regards,
Omar

[Surfside74]

I will try the fan...Thanks

[Surfside74]

Does anyone think that the 81-82f will hurt the sps. They are all polyping and the clams are open. The lps and zoos all look good to. Dont want to buy equipment if not needed.

[NealNano]

I have a fan over my sump works great to reduce the heat from my halides. Anything from 75-85f will be fine as long as the temp stay stable. Keep in mind these are the extreme high and low. Rapid swings in temp are what kill corals ie going from say 76 to 85 in a hour = death.

[Surfside74]

Got it. I am not having swings, just staying between 80-82 depending on the time of day. Some one suggested that I install some fans into/onto the TEK fixture. Not quite sure what I want to do if anything. Everything is open and polyped so they all appear to be fine. Any other ideas?

[Toddrtrex]

Originally posted by Surfside74
Does anyone think that the 81-82f will hurt the sps. They are all polyping and the clams are open. The lps and zoos all look good to. Dont want to buy equipment if not needed.

IMO/IME, 81/2 will be more then fine for what you have in your tank. Each of my SPS tanks ( with Haddoni anemones, zoas and clams ) go from 78 to 82.5 each day. The swings have been that way for years, with no issues at all.

[jackson6745]

Besides the fans keeping the room cool helps......DUH

Seriously, I've been to a few reefers house complaining of heat problems with their reefs. The ambient room temp was in the high 70's. It would be cheaper and more comfortable to run the room AC a little, with fans on the tank.

[greenbean36191]

Rapid swings in temp are what kill corals ie going from say 76 to 85 in a hour = death.

Not true at all. These are precisely the kinds of conditions corals have evolved in on the reefs. There's absolutely no evidence that temperature swings in and of themselves are even stressful, much less deadly to corals or any other reef organisms. The problem comes when the normal maximum is exceeded by more than a few degrees, i.e. a temp spike. As it turns out, varying temperatures have been shown to be important in desensitizing corals to thermal stress.

FWIW the worldwide average temp for reefs is about 82 with an average yearly range of about 76-86. The minute-to-minute range is typically about half of the yearly range.

Also, FWIW keeping tanks on the cooler side of normal doesn't provide you with a larger margin of error, especially if temps are kept stable.

[Surfside74]

Okay, so do I need to even add a fan? he temp at the most during the day is between 82-82.5 and it drop to around 79-80 at night. Everything seems to be doing fine.

[patsfan1130]

I think you are fine. I have a clip on fan on my sump but only use it when I feel the temp is too high. The fan will lower the temp by 3 degrees if I want it to. again..you are fine

[Surfside74]

Okay, thanks.