biocube running too hot

[BradN88]

I have a biocube 14 and the temperature seems to rise in the tank about 5 degress everyday. I'm not exactly living in a hotbed here in Vermont, with the temperatures currently in the 50's at night and 70's during the day.

The tank gets down to 80ish at night and is then 85 by 5 p.m., with the lights on from noon til 10 p.m. each day. I can't believe this is too good for the tank and I may have lost a couple of fish due to it.

I really have no interested in plumbing this little tank with a chiller etc.. - with that being said, any suggestions?

Thanks.

[davidryder]

You can pick up a computer fan from radio shack and install it in the hood... that should help a little.

[Yedgy]

I agree. A computer fan and 12v DC power supply can work wonders. Just be sure to keep up with your top-up because the extra ventilation will cause more evaporation, and be ready to replace your fan every several months. PC fans just aren't made to handle a saltwater environment. If you want a fan that is, look into an IceCap fan. I think they only make them in one size, though.

Good luck!

[Jimbo327]

what pump are you running?

[mfp1016]

I thought the biocube's had built in fans? Yeah try to cool with some fans in hood or just blowing at it. On an off note, most chillers are accurate to within one or two degrees so they could also easily vary 3 to 4 degrees in a day just due to its mediocre thermocouple. My tank can very a few degrees in a day and I've never lost a fish or coral in my 29 gal. Do what you can, I honestly don't feel the $600 chiller would be worth it in either of our cases.

[dynaschm0e]

Our tank is about 84ish at the end of a 10 hour MH light cycle. In attempts to cool our new NC28, I found that a 3" computer style fan on top of the hood drawing air up bought us a degree, and a 6" industrial style desk fan blowing across the back overflow also bought us another degree, but the fan across the overflow increased evaporation dramatically. We keep our house cool: 70. Ultimately, I think we are going to get a chiller to maintain a stable ~80 degrees. Good luck! HTH -Trey

[mchembree]

Are you using a high-wattage pump? Our 24g nano was running at 84-85 degrees when we were using a 45 watt pump. It's now running at 79-81 since we switched to a 20 watt pump. That's still a little high, and we may end up switching to an even lower-watt pump since we're in a hot summer area.

[nemofish2217]

take the feeding lid off. I was having heat problems, but once i did that, the temp lowered down to 81 82 ish....

[breeze]

Consider buying an ICA chiller from nanotuners.com. Thats what I did on my NC12 as well as swapping out the fans for higher CFM (which means higher decibels as well). My ambient temps are 80 degrees and the tank never gets over 81. Used to get to 86.

[stiltman]

Brad, I'm in CT. We are having roughly the same weather and I also have a BC14. Opening my feeding lid at times and opening the window have been keeping my temps below 82. In the last week I have been able to maintain rougly 79 (it actually can get much lower if I don't keep an eye on it).

How is the ventilation in the room your tank is in? I had problems when I first set the tank up about 6 weeks ago. Now with the weather like this, you should be able to get below 80.

Good luck

[BradN88]

i'm just running the pump that came with the cube - does help a lot to open the front cover.

i'm sure things will be fine as falls arrives and the winter, but i'll need to do something before next summer.

I saw where one person cut part of the back of the cover off, hooked a fan on the back and drilled holes through the feeding cover and parts on the side of it - doesn't sound/look bad.

I'd just rather not use a regular clip fan etc.. and have that sitting in my living room, takes some appeal away from the tank.

I'm looking at this fan:

https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=14701&prodid=28962&catid=3

The Azoo two fan unit... anyone own this? wondering how the volume is.

[mksalt]

I run a BC29. Opening the back hatch seems to help keep the heat down. I don’t feel comfortable having the front open. Looks too inviting for a fish to jump. I think also having the back hatch open gives some better air exchange over the water.

[BradN88]

unfortunately the 14 doesnt have a back hatch...

[mstein]

This is a concern for me. I am considering a nano, but am unsure due to a lot of heat conv=cerns with the cubes.

[Jasonf08]

I run a biocube 29. Before i bought my chiller for room temp problems only i used 2 40mmx20mm fans in the back of the hood. I just drilled the holes and mounted the fans inside so it blew the air out the back of the hood. With the front lid off, the back lid closed and the fans off it would actually drop my temps 3-4 degrees. However i ended up going to a chiller because the room was geting to 80-90 and it wasnt enough. But in this case i think it would be more than enough