Now that the summer weather is kicking in, I am experiencing more difficulty keeping my 14 gallon biocube's temp down. Right now it starts off at about 78 in the morning before I turn on my lights and when the lights go out its up to about 81 or 82 depending how hard I'm running my house AC. Of course my in tank heater is off. My lights are the culprit. Without having to reduce my light cycle and without having to spend a fortune on a chiller, are there any suggestions for reducing the tank temps a few degrees? Of course if anyone is selling a tiny chiller for a decent price, I would consider it. It just seems like there should be a more cost effective solution. Ive seen those sea breeze fans on the front tank at Northside. Do they make one that fits well on a 14 biocube? Could that be a consideration?
Fans will help two or 3 degrees, you will just need to top-off more though... imo - temps under 83 degrees won't hurt... in fact the worlds most diverse & largest number of corals thrive & live in ocean temps between 82-85... from what I have read from Dr. Ron Shimek
Awesome, this makes me feel alot better. I was thinking that I was frying my fish and every time it got too high, I would shut the lights off for the night. My clown acted all pissed off like a little kid would act when you try to put them to bed when the sun is still out or before the streetlights come on. I don't feel so bad now. If anyone else has any other suggestions or opinions on this just let me know. For now, I'm ok with leaving the temps where they are provided I'm not damaging the life of my fish or corals. I just hope my power doesnt go out and my AC shuts down. I guess thats everyones fear with a reef tank. Oh well, I'll worry about that when it actually happens.
You are welcome - sure some others will have input... temperature swings of more than 2 or 3 degrees... imo... hurt more... If interested Google "Ron Shimek ocean temperatures" In Ronald Shimek's Aquarium Frontier's On-Line Magazine article What are Natural Reef Salinities and Temperatures...Really...and Does It Matter?, he makes the point that the corals you have in your tank come from many different ocean water temperatures ranging from 72 degrees up to about 92 degrees. Here one of many related post by Ron http://www.fishchannel.com/saltwater-aq ... -tank.aspx From my personal experience, I don't have a chiller & my tank runs between 81-82 & my corals are doing great!
On the 14 gallon bio cube there are two vents at the top, one has a fan for the lights, the other is nothing at all and is most likely blocked by a piece of metal which can be removed with a screwdriver. That might help with the air flow a lot of it is blocked.
It would be good to get a fan of some kind blowing across the water surface, or I run a pedestal fan blowing across the whole tank area which helps move the air all around the tank area to other parts of the room, helps move the cooler air from the ac into that area. Keep your house's AC on at a decend temp and things should be okay with a fan. I would not let the tank temps get over 84 degrees as some corals can start to STN. As long as temps only get to 81 or 82 you have some leeway. I have seen corals STN at 84 degrees. I don't want to start anything here, but most people in the hobby that know anything don't put much stock in ALOT !! of what Ron S. has to say for many years now. He is right in the fact that reefs can get over 85 deg. or even 86 deg., but the corals on that reef are climatized to those temps, ours are not. Temp swings down here do happen and I haven't seen any adverse effects as long as it is only in the 2 to 3 deg. area, even my 240 well swing that much in the summer. It also happens in the wild as different currents come through.
I HAVE A 24 GALLON CUBE AND IT STAYS ABOUT 82 ALL YEAR AROUOND AND EVEYTHING DOES FINE DONT WURY ABOUT YOUR FISH THEY WILL BE FINE I SOME TIMES OPEN UP THE THE LITTLE DOOR ON FRONT WERE YOU FEED AT AND GET SOME HOT OUT BUT I HAVE A CLOWN WHO LIKES TO JUMP SO I HAVE TO WATCH FOR THAT BUT YOULL BE FINE
Cindy 82 is okay for fish and if you can keep it there that is fine, as for some corals it is getting near the edge. I keep my 240 at 78 to 80 deg's. Also the higher the temp the more it speeds up the metabolic rate of the fish, so fish that require alot of feedings like anthias and small fish that don't have big guts well require a little more feedings. Algae and red cyno also love higher temps. A cheap walmart pedestal fan circulating air by the tank well greatly help. Also the higher the temps the less oxygen in the water.
I see the two vents but each one has a fan behind it. One pulls air in across the lights and the other exhausts the hot air out. Is this a new feature on the 14 biocube?
Im also having a heck of a time keeping my fans from going bad. They make a terrible noise when I first fire them up and after about a minute, they quiet down. Ive called Oceanic and they have been great about sending me replacements, but my two new ones that I just installed 3 months ago have started making the same noise. Are there replacement fans with a higher CFM rating that can fit back into the same slot on the 14 Biocube?
The started adding both fans about a year ago I think not quite sure, its the some what older ones that have the fake vent.
like i said it is fine for you tank to be 82 and my fish and CORALS are fine ive had this tank for over 5 years and is fine
I wouldn't worry about the temp swing to much. I have never had a biocube but the tanks I have now have a temp swing of about 3 degree's 78 to 81 and I have no problems. I have had a very large temp swing in the past of 10 degrees and that kinda hurt a little (lost a few corals but no fish) but the temp went to 86 before I caught it. As long as it stays under 83 I woudn't worry to much. IMO
Upgraded to a digital thermometer yesterday and eliminated all the guess work. The highest temps I've seen thus far is 82 which according to everyones posts is just fine. I'm not as worried now.
luke you can get your fans from nanotuners.com 805-277-3292 ive gotten several from them there pretty cheep and fast getting them in the mail
Awesome, Ill keep this in mind. Actually, Oceanic has been awesome about replacing mine so far. They are even sending me a brand new hood and lights to ensure my problems dont keep happening. Oceanic in my book, is a great company. I've been really happy with their customer services.
WOW I called them about a fan on my 14 gal. Bio-Cube making noise and they told me to take the fan out take the stiker off and put one drop of wd-40 than put stiker back. They did not offer to replace the fan.
