Hot Tank

[Zibba]

I finally get everything set up on the tank and everything seems to be running pretty well. Things are still clearing up after the sandstorm a few days ago. Just put in about 90-100 lbs of live rock.

But....after running the MH's for about an hour just to see what it might look like after everything calms down...I check the temp and it's at 83.5 degrees...:angryfire:

I have the A/C on and fans have been on in the room for awhile and it is still about 83. Is there anything that I can do short of buying a chiller?...because I really cannot afford it right now.

[kpete4]

I knew a guy who ran a line through a small fridge, but I'm not sure how he did it

[storrisch]

put fans blowing across the top of the water. how far are the bulbs above the waters surface?

[clownnut]

make the air in the room move and keep the air moving around the sump

[David Grigor]

Also, well ventalated canopy will make a big difference. It may be too enclosed particularly above the lights needs to be as open as possible to let the heat rise. Designing canopy where you can raise or lower the height of the MH ( I like to use those shelving pegs at 1" increments ) is good also to find the best compromise between tank temps and light height.

Use external pumps as opposed to submerged when possible to keep as much heat out of the water.

When not using a chiller a temp controller to turn fans on and/or lights off when temps get too warm is invaluable as a saftey device.

[Turf]

I had two 400 watt MH's about 5" off the top of my 90gal and what I did that work really well was elevated the hood a little in the summer to allow extra circulation; I also had a friend the put a regular fan on his sump and that made all the difference.