[Samsonitius]

Hi guys,

I have a 2g nano cube, similar to one of the fluval specs. I would like to keep CRS and was wondering how you guys deal with summer time heat?

Besides moving to the coldest room in the house or putting ice cubes (cant do because work). Keeping AC on just for a small tank would not be feasible as well.

Any small coolers?

Thanks

 

[Krispyplants]

You probably would have more luck with a ten gallon if temperature is an issue. The smaller the water volume, the faster duration the water temperature will match the air temperature.

 

[Couesfanatic]

Run a fan over the surface. Just make sure you top with RO.

 

[TormentedFishTank]

You'll have to buy a chiller. At least with the small size it won't take a big one.

You can do the other methods, but you'll just be wasting money buying fans and whatever. I've tried them in the past on my reef tank and you might get 1 or 2 degrees lower - if you are lucky. No where near enough to withstand summer heat and no AC.

 

[pucksr]

It really depends on your temperature delta(difference between room temperature and the desired temp of the tank).

If you reverse your day/night cycle(don't have your lights on during the hottest part of the day), remove any lid, and put a decent $10 fan over the top you could probably expect a 4-8 degree temperature drop.

A chiller will do whatever temperature you want, but costs $300.

A $5 thermometer will be able to tell you min/max temperature over a 72 hour period. Buy one that can measure the min/max and test out what kind of results you get before buying the shrimp.

 

[TormentedFishTank]

Something like this may work if you don't need too much cooling. It's about half the price of a chiller. I can't vouch for it, never used it myself, I just tried all the other stuff.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001JSVLBO/

 

[Couesfanatic]

You'll have to buy a chiller. At least with the small size it won't take a big one.

You can do the other methods, but you'll just be wasting money buying fans and whatever. I've tried them in the past on my reef tank and you might get 1 or 2 degrees lower - if you are lucky. No where near enough to withstand summer heat and no AC.

If you have no AC in Arizona, then I hope you like burning alive. Its supposed to be 117 Tuesday. Running a fan is not a waste of money. It works very well, you can easily get more than 1-2 degrees lower. I've seen mine drop 5 degrees. I've done it many tanks successfully. You don't need to buy a chiller.

We have a dry climate here, so running a fan works much better than other areas of the county that are more humid.

 

[Couesfanatic]

I don't know if the OP is in Arizona because his profile says California, but the same technique will work.

Why is this thread in the AZ forum?

 

[Samsonitius]

I just moved to Fresno, CA which can get hot to 100-105s, I just wanted to see how folks in Arizona deal temp since its in the extremes and not a big aquarium community in Fresno.

 

[Couesfanatic]

Oh, I see. I'd run the fan method with a temp controller with a tank that small.

 

[Doppelgaenger]

You can use something like this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4DHZfI0ix4

you'll need a controller though to keep it from getting too cold though.

 

[houseofcards]

Hi guys,

I have a 2g nano cube, similar to one of the fluval specs. I would like to keep CRS and was wondering how you guys deal with summer time heat?

Besides moving to the coldest room in the house or putting ice cubes (cant do because work). Keeping AC on just for a small tank would not be feasible as well.

Any small coolers?

Thanks

What is the temp in the coolest part of the house?

 

[feraledgeoutdoor]

i would think trying to buy anything to cool down 2gal of water would be way to much or be over effective.... i think you best bet would be putting it in a cool room with a ac vent blowing to it. i keep my house at 72 degrees and my tanks stay about 74.

 

[TormentedFishTank]

How hot does it normally get in your house? Do you just raise the AC up, or not use one at all?

If you only need a couple of degrees, the fan method is more viable. I was thinking you were talking about being in Arizona with no AC on all day(some people use prepaid cards for electric and turn most everything off during the day).

You might also think about taking your heater out for the summer and letting the temperature drop a little lower during the night, but make sure it doesn't drop too low obviously.

And then if that isn't enough, you can also combine the reverse lighting schedule that was mentioned. With all of them combined, you could get a decent knock off the temp, but I guess at a certain point you just need AC on or a chiller.