29g biocube is too hot, what should I do?

[Celeste M]

Hey guys,

I'm having issues keeping the temperature down in my saltwater tank, its been sitting at 81 today but I've seen it as high as 85... I live in Florida and its constantly high 80s or above outside and since my place only has a window unit for a/c, its a bit difficult to get the room temp below 70 without my electric bill skyrocketing...

So I'm looking to mod the tank a bit to cool it down. I've read that a lot of people use computer fans, but I can't find any specifics. What type of fan? What brand? What size? Where do I put it? I looked into SilenX fans but there are so many models, I don't know where to start. Any suggestions there?

I've also read that some people change the lighting in the hood...I just use the stock lighting... Lights on for 7-8 hours a day, and sometimes the LEDs for a half hour to an hour before lights out. I'm hesitant to change the lighting because I have no idea how to take the hood off and I don't know anything about wiring... But if it comes down to it, I might need to learn.

If anyone has any advice or suggestions I would really appreciate it!!!

[fredfish13]

If you want to spend some money, you can buy retrofit LEDs, specifically for your biocube. It is not that hard to put in. There are probably videos on doing this. Also, you can get a chiller. If you want the cheapest way, leave feeding lid open and back lid if you have the newer version of the cube. Then have fan blow towards the openings. I had fans from an old biocube and put them on some egg crate and jimmy rigged it to the back opening. My temps stay around 80-81. This temp should be fine, as long as it doesn't get above 84.

[Sapelo]

Even with LEDs in southeast Georgia, my 90 gallon gets hot every day (it's been a hot summer, right!). I do not want to add a chiller so I keep frozen plastic bottles of RO water which I float in the tank to lower the temp. It's pretty hands on and not a perfect system, but it works for me and it's REALLY cheap

[homer1475]

Originally Posted by fredfish13

If you want to spend some money, you can buy retrofit LEDs, specifically for your biocube. It is not that hard to put in. There are probably videos on doing this. Also, you can get a chiller. If you want the cheapest way, leave feeding lid open and back lid if you have the newer version of the cube. Then have fan blow towards the openings. I had fans from an old biocube and put them on some egg crate and jimmy rigged it to the back opening. My temps stay around 80-81. This temp should be fine, as long as it doesn't get above 84.

This x1000

It's exactly how I keep my biocube cool. LED's, silenX fans replaced in the hood, and 2 bigger case fans rigged up on an eggcrate in the back chamber hooked up to the apex. My temp never gets above 79. Just keeping both "doors" open and adding a small desktop clamp fan on the back blowing across the water will help immensely.

Replacing the fans in the hood is only for noise reasons, not for more cooling. After replacing the stock fans with silenX fans, my skimmer is the loudest thing on my cube now.

If you have a look at my build thread, there are pictures of the exact fans you need if your interested.

[Sir JRAD]

check your lighting!

[Celeste M]

Originally Posted by fredfish13

If you want to spend some money, you can buy retrofit LEDs, specifically for your biocube. It is not that hard to put in. There are probably videos on doing this. Also, you can get a chiller. If you want the cheapest way, leave feeding lid open and back lid if you have the newer version of the cube. Then have fan blow towards the openings. I had fans from an old biocube and put them on some egg crate and jimmy rigged it to the back opening. My temps stay around 80-81. This temp should be fine, as long as it doesn't get above 84.

For now I opened both the lids and let a fan blow over the surface. Its just below 80 now. I think changing out the lights might be a good idea, but the boyfriend is against it for the time being... Also, you wouldn't happen to have any pictures of how you set up your fans on the back opening?

[Celeste M]

Originally Posted by homer1475

This x1000

It's exactly how I keep my biocube cool. LED's, silenX fans replaced in the hood, and 2 bigger case fans rigged up on an eggcrate in the back chamber hooked up to the apex. My temp never gets above 79. Just keeping both "doors" open and adding a small desktop clamp fan on the back blowing across the water will help immensely.

Replacing the fans in the hood is only for noise reasons, not for more cooling. After replacing the stock fans with silenX fans, my skimmer is the loudest thing on my cube now.

If you have a look at my build thread, there are pictures of the exact fans you need if your interested.

Homer, I just went through your entire build thread and now I want to buy a million types of coral But yeah, I just opened the lids and let a desk fan blow over it- that helped big time. I found the pics of the fans you're using, but it was a little confusing where/how you have it set up.

[homer1475]

Originally Posted by Celeste M

Homer, I just went through your entire build thread and now I want to buy a million types of coral But yeah, I just opened the lids and let a desk fan blow over it- that helped big time. I found the pics of the fans you're using, but it was a little confusing where/how you have it set up.

I removed the back cover, cut a piece of egg crate(light diffuser) so it sits on the lip where the lid normally is, zip tied that to where the holes and original lid goes. Zip tied 2 120mm computer case fans to it, and ran wires into the the place where all the other wires are. Then used a 12V transformer(any one will work as long as it output's 12V @ 1amp, something like an old router plug works great!) to wire them both up and ran the wires out the grommets the original wires go into to keep it all water tight.

I also replaced the front cover with some more egg crate, only because I found I always had that lid open, and anytime I want to do something in the tank, I opened the lid anyways.

Before I got my apex, I just left it plugged in 24/7 and let the heater take over when it got to cold.