Live Rock
Thanks for your fast reply. Feel much more relieved.. :D The tank's still cycling though.. no livestock yet.. I'm worried about the temperature though.. I understand it should be around 24-27 degrees,<yes> but as I live in tropical Singapore, the it soars to about 29 in afternoons. A chiller is not really feasible due to costs (I'm a poor 14yr old.. :D) and a fan would look out of place.<agreed> I have heard from a retailer about freezing bottles and immersing them and I'm worried about the fluctuating temperatures.<you could do this and put the frozen bottles of water in your sump> Are there any other solutions to keeping it cool or must I beg my mum for the chiller?
<you could try the freezing bottles of water idea...but the chiller is probably your best bet, Good luck, IanB>
:D
Thanks again,
Hector

Keeping His (Tank's) Cool!
Hi Scott
<Hey!>
I have been browsing through the FAQs on WetWebMedia regarding heating. From what I have read most of the advise given says that temp in a marine tank is fine up to 80deg Fahrenheit which is close to 30 degrees Celsius.
<True>
Is this true my tank is around 28degrees Celsius and probably around 30 with my lights on or on a very hot day.
<On the high end of acceptable...>
I am gonna be adding a fan or 2 but is temp up to 80 Fahrenheit ok?
I need not worry too much if this is the case.
Thanks Again Regards Ziad Limbada
<Well, Ziad- I wouldn't be too concerned if the temperature hits 30 for short periods of time. If you're exceeding this temperature for extended periods, there is some cause for concern. It's important to maintain a high degree of oxygenation and water quality, as there is less margin for error at higher temperatures in closed systems. In the end, if you're obeying the rules of good aquarium husbandry, you should be fine if the temperature gets up there...Stay cool! Regards, Scott F.>

The Heat Is On!
Hi Scott
<Hi there!>
Got another one for ya.
<Ask away>
My tanks temperature is extremely high I think it could be because of all the additional equipment that I have added as well as we currently in Summer in South Africa so it is rather warm.
<Not fun, huh?>
Their is normally not a lot of ventilation in my home during the day as we are not at home so the place is pretty locked up.
My temp is currently sitting at 28 degrees Celsius and this is not even with my heater switched on.
<I believe it...>
I have tried leaving the hood of my tank open to allow some air to circulate. Have you got any ideas I mean 28 degrees without the heater is really hectic! I am thinking of running a fan over the tank to keep things cool but then I would have to run this 24/7
Please help Thanks Again
Ziad
<Well, Ziad- the idea of leaving the top open for ventilation, along with some strategically placed fans can help knock the temperature down a few degrees. Of course, the best solution is the most expensive (why is it always that way?)-a chiller. A properly sized chiller can do the trick with a minimum of hassle, but there is definitely expense involved in the purchase, setup, and operation of chillers; something to consider when investing in one. Hope this helps, but I think that it will lead you into another expensive direction, unfortunately! Regards, Scott F>
Regards
Ziad Limbada

The Heat is On (8/1/04)
My god It's hot here. <Where?> For 3 days now its been up in the 35c and is great for swimming in the river and cooling off, too bad it isn't that easy for my fish. The temperature in my tank has been going through the roof! <How high?> A couple of times its been past 83 luckily my fish are fine. I've been trying to figure out how to cool it down, my heaters off there's 2 fans and a swamp cooler against it and I've been putting frozen bottles of water in. <Be careful not to shock your fish but dropping the temperature too much too fast.> Finally I get it down put its putting a lot of streets on my fish. <Yes, I would not stress them too much to get it down. Low 80s' should be OK.> The tank is a 55 gallon saltwater. I have zero dollars for a chiller and am leaving tomorrow for 4 days I'm worried about what will happen. the neighbor can only come once a day and I'm hoping that will be enough. He can put a few frozen bottles in if its too warm. Is there any other way I can cool down the tank that I can leave on all day? <Only a chiller. Fans are next best, but there will be a lot of evaporation for the neighbor to replace. Read more ideas here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/chillersmar.htm> Thanks very much your site if very much a godsend and your dedication to these hobby is immense. Thank you, Tristan <It is a pleasure for me to play a small roll <<Heeee! RMF, who intends to play a jelly roll>> in this great venture. I hope this helps some. In the long runs, a chiller is your best bet. That or central air conditioning. Steve Allen.>

Chillin' Out (Is a Chiller Necessary for a Small Tank?)
Hi There!
<Scott F. here with you tonight.>
Do I really need a chiller for a small 24" reef tank in my bedroom that very rarely gets to 24 degrees C? Some fishy people say I do. Others don't. I'm really confused about everything though now!
<Confused?  About something in the marine hobby?  Really? hah! hah! Just kidding.  Seriously, unless you have a significant heat problem you could probably do a real good job by using a quality fan directly over the water surface.  A chiller may only be necessary in instances where your tank reaches high temperatures for sustained periods of time.>
Anyway, do I need one. They're pretty expensive though and if I did need one could I do a DIY one with a fridge compressor and run the filaments through the tank? That is if even need one!! Thanks for your time anyway.  Bye, Ben
<Well, Ben, quite honestly, as above, I only feel a chiller is necessary if you experience a heat problem.  Otherwise, save your money for fun stuff like salt mix, and activated carbon.  Good luck.  Regards, Scott F.>

Cooling Options
Hello Experts,
<Hi! Ryan Bowen with you today>
I currently have a 30 gallon very healthy aquarium. <Great> Unfortunately, I reside in an apartment  which does not provide air conditioning. The room where the tank is located  will get into the 80's and even low 90's on a warm day. The complex will not allow us to alter the property for the convenience of cooling ourselves....or the fish aquarium. I currently run a consistent 76 degrees, but the temp slowly creeps to around the 80 degree mark and my understanding is that 82 is lethal. This is too close for my liking and surely the fish are a bit uncomfortable also.
<Surely>
I have priced coolers, which I did not know existed, and they are just too expensive to justify. I almost feel caught between a rock and hard place because I do not want 8 months of babysitting this tank to its present state to go for not and lose the battle to the heat. I need cost effective solution (if there is one) or any suggestion which may help prior to the upcoming summer heat. The tank takes no direct light and carries perfect chemical water composition. Its just the front of our building takes direct sun and heats the room where the tank  is.
Can you advise or recommend a solution.....I care too much for the livestock and want to give the needed attention, but need advise from someone who knows.
<There are lots of options here- But none of them better than a chiller.  Ice probe chillers are small, compact chillers that run about a hundred bucks a probe.  Each probe does 20 gallons.  Two of these, and a controller would be ideal, but if not, there are still more options.  Have you looked into a swamp cooler for the room?  They sit in your window, and would cool the whole room.  They do need a hookup to water, however.  For the tank, another simple thing that you can do is to fashion a clip on fan blowing horizontally across the surface of the water.  This helps to increase the exchange at the surface of the water.  If you know it's an especially hot day, you can float a frozen water bottle in the tank.  If you tank needs daily water-top-off, simply leave the top off the bottle, and it will slowly supply the aquarium with water.  Leave the lights off, and that's about it.  Hope this helps, Ryan>
Thanks,
Eddie

Evaporative cooling of a sump
Hi crew, thanks for all the great advice.. this may be a question in thermodynamics,  but I bought a cheap fan from Home Depot which I have blowing directly down on my sump's water surface, and it has brought the temp of the tank down from  87 degrees to 84 degrees in a matter of a few hours. My question is, If I keep the fan on, will it continue to lower the tank temperature even more through evaporative cooling, even though the ambient room temperature is around 83 degrees,<< I would say no.  I don't see (and it has been a couple years since I've had a thermodynamic class) how it can cool the water below ambient room temperature.  The energy from the water has to go somewhere? >> or is it impossible to lower the water temp below that of the room temperature << I think even if it is possible, it would be very difficult. >> without the use of more expensive means... (it's a FOWLR tank, and no one seems affected by the high temps, though I know the inhabitants can't be comfortable)<< Obviously if you can, cooling the room temp by 10 degrees would make a big difference. That is what I would try to do. >> Thanks -Blair
<<  Adam Blundell  >>

Keeping coldwater marines
I am cycling a 55 gallon aquarium for local California coast marine  inverts.
I am adding a chiller to keep the aquarium below 60. I am an avid scuba diver and will have no problem collecting what I want. I have researched the  laws and am wondering if the is and source of info for my cold water reef tank.  
<Mmm, yes... the works by Dan Gotshall and Dave Wrobel should be in your use. Please read here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/cold.htm
and the Related FAQs (linked, in blue, above)>
Last weekend my daughter and I collect live sand and ocean water from south of Point Lobos. In a month or so I will be ready to add animals. Can I add live ocean rocks with anemones and corals? Thx Mike  
<Mmm, not to be disingenuous, but yes, if they're compatible... Bob Fenner>

Lights getting water warm
Sorry, I just wrote 5 minutes ago. I forgot one more thing. The new fluorescent lights are making my water temp go up to about 82...how do I keep it down?  Thanks, last time I'll bug you...I promise! 
<Most of these fixtures come with a cooling fan built in, and even at that, if they are in an enclosed canopy without sufficient air inlet/outlet, water temps will elevate. If the fixture is just sitting on a glass top with nothing over it then I would take it back to the dealer and have him order you one with an enclosed fan such as Orbit or Current fixtures. James (Salty Dog)>

-A Real Chiller of A Question-
Thanks for the reply
<Certainly>
I will still be purchasing 400 watt halides (the cost difference isn't a lot and I have more wattage to play with ).
<Ok but please take extra time acclimating the corals and put all the lower light corals under overhangs or shady areas as they will bleach out possibly with such high lighting.>
I will be buying a large room fan to get rid of the excess heat. I am also investigating making a DIY chiller as you suggest but not using an old fridge unit (far big a risk of water contamination re parts etc).
<Hmm not really simply drill into the side of a fridge and run the tubing closed through a container with water in it then back out the side or the other side then to the sump. no contamination and far cheaper if you have one around. you can even keep drinks etc in it.>
I will be looking at a tray of cool freshwater (regularly changed during top off) with blocked heat conductive piping of some sort into running through and back into the sump (simple effective and very very cheap). Here in the UK we only occasionally get big heat waves, so I am hoping the single large fan across the water surface will suffice for the short term.
<Very possible, though those MH lights can really put out the heat. Do keep an eye on temperatures at first when the lights are moving to their final place and then when they are in final position to avoid any costly deaths and or losses of corals and fish.>
Thanks for the info
Jim
<Hope this helps>
<Justin (Jager)> 

Do I need a chiller?
Hello WWM Crew, <Hello Anthony, James here>
Thanks for answering my question 2 weeks ago about my first SW fish (True Percula).  He had a white spot - looked more like a small white-head pimple than ich - I've had my share of ich with fresh water tetras.  Anyway, it went away after I dipped her in Methylene Blue for 30 min.s or it could be the skunk cleaner shrimp that did the job.  Should I have dipped her or not???? <I'm sure the dip helped more than the cleaner shrimp.>
Back to my question about chillers,  I have two 60 gal tanks in separate rooms which I plan to stock with at least 60 lbs of LR each. For now both would be fish only setups.  Anyway, I live in a part of Southern California where we only have at most 6 - 8 weeks of about 90 degree temps. Most of the chillers I've seen are for much bigger tanks.  Anyway, I mail ordered a Titan Thermoelectric 150-W Chiller ($250) that says it's good for 40 gals (I'm assuming they're referring to a reef setup). <No, they are just referring to 40 gallons of water in general.> Is this sufficient? <Most chillers come with charts that show how low it will cool versus ambient room temperature.  If you don't have such a chart, contact the manufacturer and ask.  Do I really need chillers or can I just set both tanks' heater to 78 and the apartment air conditioner to 80 degrees during the hottest part of our summer?  Assuming that the small chiller can cool down the tank by 4 degrees, I would still need 2 of them (another one for the other 60 gal tank - minimum $500 investment). I'm also sure that with the air off, the temp could reach as high as 88 degrees in my apartment unit. So I would still need to keep the air on or buy bigger chillers which would run me close to $900 for 2.  Don't you think it would be more economical to just keep the air on for 6 - 8 weeks of the year? <A boxer fan flowing across the water will help lower the tank temp also.  Myself, I would rather keep my A/C on than buy a chiller.  Chillers work like air conditioners.  At some time it will require a recharging of the coolant which can be expensive since Freon is no longer used.  James (Salty Dog)>
Again thanks in advance,
Anthony

Heat in new tank, too high tech.? 7/14/05
Hi reef folks.
<Howdy>
I have some questions regarding heat transfer in my newly set up reef (no sand or living creatures yet). The tank; 180 gal. with 70gal. sump and 40 gal. refugium. Main return pump is Ampmaster 2100 that feeds a manifold above the perimeter of the tank with six T's. The second pump is a Super Ampmaster 4500(3600gal/h) running a closed loop manifold on the back wall of the tank. The third pump an Iwaki 40 hooked up to the sump goes into the refugium. I was running the 2100 and the 4500 for over 24 hours and was not running any skimmer(2), reactor nor the lights. I was confused to see that the water seemed quite warm. I put digital heater in the tank to check the temperature. I was 78. Now, can a these pumps be the cause of this heat?
<Oh yes>
Does friction in the pipes induce this heat?
<Minimally>
My ambient temp was 66 and goes no more than 70 because I live in the fog belt of Daly City Ca. I realized that I am going to need a chiller that can handle 300 gal. combined tanks.
<Maybe... I would first look into using cooling fans>
Which chiller brand, size and lowest power consumption would you recommend?
<Mmm, can we step back a bit first here? What is the rationale of using two good-sized pumps for two separate manifolds? You might want to look into just one, larger, cooler pump... my pick? A Sequence model...>
What are the pros and cons with an In line versus coil type?
<Coil types are more gimmicks than real... and ugly to look at to boot>
On a different subject. My sump has quite a bit of flow coming thru and I would like to make it a refugium of some sorts. What would be the ideal medium or animals?
<This is posted on WWM>
I was thinking an NNR at best, live rocks O.K?.
<Could... a DSB w/o rock would be better here>
And finally, What is your take on motorized union ball valve (they are all plastic)? Are they reliable and can they be connected to a my Octopus controller?
<... Not a good idea... too much likelihood of failure... "More biology, less technology" needed here... study for now. Bob Fenner>

Cooling a 24gal Nano Cube  9/11/05
Hey There…  I currently work at Pure Ocean Aquatics in Littleton, Colorado during school.  I decided to go ahead and get a 24gal Nano Cube (small, but fits in my room).  I plan to make it into a reef tank… but I have a huge problem.  My room is over a garage in a house that isn’t air conditioned.  My water temperature is reading at 86-88 degrees Fahrenheit.
<Yikes...>
So far, I’ve been keeping the lid open, and that helps a little (3-5 degrees), but then I can’t have a light on the water (big problem if I want a reef tank).
<I'd put the unit on a timer... run the lighting at night, not day>
All I have in there so far is sand and cured live rock, so no big hurry.  I want to know if a “Cool Works IceProbe Micro 50W Chiller” is a decent product,
<Some folks state so>
and if I have any other options.  Also, I need to know how hard it is to set up, and if I should even bother drilling into the glass if I were to get an internal chiller, and so on.  I got a tank knowing water care, and fish, but I underestimated the temperature problem.
Sincerely, Ben
<Mmm, if you use a chiller for this tank, best to hang the plumbing lines over the side... Try changing the light cycle for a few weeks, and monitor the temperature... cooler weather is coming. Bob Fenner>

Chillers  12/15/05
Hi I have a question about my 250 gallon marine {fish only} aquarium.
it's stocked with a Queen angel, lion fish, Foxface, yellow tang, emperor angel and yes the two angels get along just fine lucky. The tank has been running for 4 yr.s with no problems. Now it's a sealed acrylic tank with a canopy top.. So no water evaporation.. And the sump is also sealed with a cover. Now I have one large pump outside in a shed running the hole system. I have two 40 aqua UV sterilizers. And a good skimmer..
The temperature in the shed is about 50 f degrees in the winter.. Very well vented.. now finally my question. Why do I have to use a chiller all year long. The temp in the tank just climbs when I shut it off I never let it go all the way up I got scared. I live in New York and now its 15 f degrees outside and the chillers is on ... Also I use regular lighting and only when I view the aquarium maybe 6 hrs a day... Any suggestions on how I could shut the chiller off and save some money.
Also how high can the temp in the tank go without harm. I also now maintain a temp of 80 f degrees with a 2 degree diff... Thank you so much I love your website...  Jimmy
--jamgabby
<... you need to look for other sources of heat introduction... likely pump/s... possibly powerheads, and look for less energy wasting/producing models/makes... Bob Fenner>

Lighting raising tank temperatures   3/4/06
Also, my Compact lighting 4X 96watt set right on the glass. Would it help to get some legs to raise it about three inches above the glass? <Yes>
Will small fans help with the lights either right on the glass or raised above it about three inches? <Best to blow under the lights.>
Bob, <James today>
I have my heater set to 78F on my reef tank but my tank stays very consistently between 79.5F and 81.5F. Is this (81.5F) a problem? <The temperature swings are more of a problem, but in your case a 2 degree swing isn't too bad.  I'd try to cool those lights down or adjust your heater to 80 degrees to minimize the temperature swing.>
Room temp stays between 67F and 72F.
135ga. tank
Compact lighting 4X 96watt
and 2X 30Watt
18Watt UV
Wet/ Dry pump
(2) power heads
Thanks, <You're welcome.  James (Salty Dog)>
Kent

Night Time lights ?    6/26/06
greetings, hope that all is good. the website is amazing to say the least, I spend a lot of my "spare" time at work just reading and learning, thank you for the wonderful resource!
So on to the fun....... its summer here in sunny San Diego,
<Oh! I live here as well>
and my SW reef is starting to get to that dangerous temp level......got up to 82.9 today before I realized and tuned on the air conditioner....here's my question, I have read a few times on the website that running the lights at night when its cooler can keep the temp in check
<Can definitely help, yes>
(I am running fans), but I have a fairly bright room during the day. The tank doesn't get direct sunlight per se, but normal daylight. Will my fish take on their normal "night time" activities, sleep etc. with a day light room, and hood lights off?
<Mmm, not so much no... better to use timers, dimmers even if moving the light cycle further into the night>
.....or do I need to cover the tank during the day to keep it dark in the tank ?
<I would not do this last>
second....if I do switch the system to lights on at night, do I need to slowly phase the lights a few hours each day/week..... or just suddenly make the switch?
<Best to move gradually>
Thank you in advance for your advice, and once again thank you for the service to the hobby.
<Welcome. Bob Fenner, in Mira Mesa... aka "East" La Jolla...>

- Do you think I will need a chiller? 6/16/06 -
Hello WetWebMedia Crew,
<Hello.>
Thank you for taking the time to look at my e-mail.  I am planning on upgrading the lighting on my 75 gallon reef tank (48" x 18" x 21").  The reef tank also has a downstream refugium that holds roughly 15 gallons.  At the moment, I have a 260 watt Odyssea power compact fixture on the display and a 130 watt Odyssea power compact fixture on the refuge.  I also have a heaters in both the display and the refuge that were bought to match their respective sizes, but I cannot remember their exact wattage.  I realize the heater in the refuge is unnecessary but I was having flow problems and have yet to take it out...
I also have an Eheim 1260 (634gph, 65watts) pump for circulation in the display and an Eheim 1250 (320gph, 28watts) pump running the refugium and display.  A mag drive 3 (350gph, 35watts) pump runs my Remora Pro protein skimmer.
I found a 48" Maristar fixture by sunlight supply that has 2 150 watt HQI bulbs and 2 54 watt T5 bulbs.  This light was discontinued but they still make it custom ordered.  The temperature in my reef is about 77 degrees with the room temperature being 72 degrees.
Based on your experience with similar setups, do you guys think I will need a chiller.  Any advice you can give me is appreciated. <Hard to say for certain as even two identical set-ups really aren't identical once they go to someone's home. It really depends on the temperature you want to keep the tank. Without a doubt, it's not going to stay at 77 F, but it may only go up to 79/80 F - is that ok with you? Can you be certain it won't go higher? If you want to improve your margin for error, you may want that chiller anyway.>
Thanks,
Tim
<Cheers, J -- >

Trying to Keep Cool!!   8/2/06
Hi Crew !!!
<Hi Janice, Leslie in for the crew this warm and muggy afternoon.>
Just a quick question.<Sure> I wanted to know what is the best way to keep my 90 gal salt water tank cool on these really hot days? We have a fan going and an air conditioner. The temp. is about 88.
<I am not sure what temp is 88…. Inside, outside or your tank. I am assuming you mean your tank, but hoping not. No matter….. other than a chiller there are a few little tricks I use. If you can get hold of 2 to 4 clip on electric fans, you may be able to get your tank down 2 to 4 degrees. They work pretty well.  Clip them on the rim of the tank so the air blows across the water surface. If you can adjust them so they cause the surface of the water to ripple a bit even better. This will increase evaporation and require more frequent top offs. You can also fill a few empty 2 liter soda or water bottles (the type with plastic caps) with dechlorinated tap water, freeze them and place in the tank one at a time. Rotate them as they melt. Decreasing the photoperiod if possible depending on your inhabitants is also an option.>
Things just don't look so good.
<Yes I know this heat wave is a bad one.>
I really appreciate the help. Thanks Janice
<Best of luck keeping cool. Your most welcome, Leslie>

Another Idea for Cooling Your Tank in the Summer - 07/22/06
First, please accept my admiration and thanks for the time and effort you all put into this site for the benefit of all aquarists and our charges.
<<Thank you...gratifying to hear>>
It's July in Georgia and it's hot, very hot!
<<Indeed!>>
I have a 120 gallon reef tank in my den since January 1, 2006.  Temperature was not a problem in the winter or spring, however, even without a heater, to my horror, the temperature crept up to 86 degrees.  I was afraid I'd have 120 gallons of fish soup.  A chiller for this tank was not feasible financially for me right now so I bought a window air conditioner unit for the room.
<<Mmm, yes...and likely at a quarter the cost of a chiller>>
The directions tell you how many BTUs it should be for the size of the room, directional facing and number of people who usually inhabit the room.  We added 4 extra people to account for the tank and to determine the adequate size to purchase.
<<Wise/intuitive of you>>
It took 4 days, but the temperature of the tank has lowered to an acceptable 78.5 degrees and has been consistent for the 3 weeks it's been running.
<<Outstanding!>>
That $159.00 has been the best investment I've made and much more affordable for me at this point than a chiller.
<<Agreed...and I'll bet the room is more comfortable to the "human" inhabitants too!
This may be a more viable solution to high temperature readings and easier on the wallet for other people as well.
<<Likely so...though as I'm sure you are aware...this solution too may not be feasible for everyone>>
I realize this may not work for huge hundreds of gallon tanks but I hope this information will be of benefit to those with somewhat smaller tanks.
<<Ah, yes...another avenue to investigate at the least...and maybe even for "huge" tanks, where the sumps/ancillary systems are congregated in a small dedicated room where the ambient temperature could be easily lowered with a small air-conditioner...similar to what goes on in a computer server room>>
Susan in "hot'lanta"
<<EricR, just northward in steamy Columbia>>

Tank Temp  8/23/06
Hi Crew,
   <Hey there>
  Thanks for the great site.  I have a rather unusual problem in that my 20g aquarium maintains an 86 degree temperature without the heater being plugged into an outlet.  I have 2 percula clowns and yellow and domino damsel that I am afraid of losing if  the problem persists.  
<I've had the same problem in my smaller tanks too.  Its something you really have to be careful of in the smaller system tanks.  The lighting required to keep corals really heats things up.>    
  Tank specifications:     
   water quality tests well  
   25lbs of live rock  
   100 SeaClone skimmer  
   150 penguin filter  
   power head  
   regular lighting that came with the tank (one fluorescent bulb)
  This has just become a problem after I installed my SeaClone skimmer and I was curious if there was to much going on in the tank.  Should I invest in a chiller? Thank you for any help that you can provide.
<I don't really see how your skimmer is all of a sudden causing this problem.  Its more than likely the lingering heat across the country.  To tell you the truth unless you have the few hundred lying around dying to be spent I wouldn't buy a chiller for that size tank.  I would invest in some venting fans - install some under the hood.  (Actually, if you ever want to get corals or any light loving inverts - you should also invest in more lighting, which could possibly come with some fans.)  Also, you can add a refugium - extra water volume will not only help you with you temp problem but will make water quality MUCH easier to keep up.  Do some searching on WWM re: heat issues.  Good luck!  Jen S.>  
      Regards,    
  John

Coral greenhouse in the tropics?  - 09/14/06
Dear Bob and WWM crew,
<Alan>
I am thinking of setting up a coral greenhouse in my region (south east Asia) to propagate corals. I was thinking of having like 18 of 6ft X 2/3ft fiberglass tubs as holding tanks. I skimmed through the articles in your site about coral propagation. My concern regarding using natural sunlight would be the high temps as its hot all year round in my country and in a green house its certainly not gonna fall within acceptable range. And using chillers to chill all the tanks wouldn't be economical in the long run either. Is there anyway I can solve the heat problem through the design of the green house? Any input is appreciated. Thanks.
<Mmm... I would look into lowest expense, most appropriate technology for cooling the system water (likely storing a good deal/percentage of volume underground, evaporative cooling... or pumping it from the sea...) along with passive air-circulating methods to keep all "about right" here. Bob Fenner>

Tank cooling prob.s  9/29/06
Late summer I attempted my first marine tank setup. Good idea, but bad move due to the results I received as far as temperature is concerned.
Ambient air temperature inside my house where I live during summer exceed 30 degrees centigrade for periods exceeding a week. This caused my tank to absorb this heat and reach a temperature that averaged out to about 32 degrees centigrade.
I have a main display tank (300 litres) connected to a refugium (100 litres) and a wet/dry sump (50 litres). Without lights running and with lids off all tanks and just one external pump, I reached the 32 degree centigrade minimum water temp I get during summer.
(90 F. thereabouts... too warm>
I tried directing fans onto the water surface to employ latent heat removal. This was not a practical result as I dropped my water temp only by half a degree and ended up with high evaporation rates and heaps of salt spray and creep. Humidity during summer is quite high (average 75+ percent) where I live and latent heat removal did not employ good results.
I researched direct water cooling methods such as refrigeration, ice cubes and cold water replacement. I am basically a lazy bum which left the refrigeration of my tank water as the only solution to my problem. I am not rich either...I made my tank stand and hood from wood I got from the local rubbish dump ( I also get my pumps from there). I purchased my two metal halides -complete- for 16 Ozzy dollars each from the local recycler shop: might I add here that the cheapest LFS up here wants 270 Ozzy bucks just for one and the local electrical supplier is much the same. I even get my fish and live rock LEGALLY from the ocean, as I live in the tropics next to the Great Barrier Reef. Water heating during winter should I need it, is done by throwing black irrigation piping on my house roof during the day and running a by-pass from my tank pump to a solenoid and temperature sensor etc that is attached to this black irrigation tubing to save power on heating water both in my tank and in weekly water changes...my solenoids etc are run by solar power, solar panels I got from solar powered garden lights from the dump.
<Mmm, you could do something like this for cooling... by drilling too holes in the house esky/fridge to yanks, and running a length of tubing, immerging it in a water bath in the fridge... for heat exchange>
Back to cooling by refrigeration, I used a bar fridge (purchased from local dump) that was gutted and had the cooling element sitting in my sump. I was able to drop the water temperature of 450 litres by three degrees to sit on 29 degrees centigrade. I actually would like to reach 27 degrees centigrade as the ocean water I get my fish from etc is at that temp. My little critters such as crabs and teeny weenie anemones were all happy at this temperature until they get cooked after a few days. (when I go to the ocean to get live stuff, I get sea water and flush my tank with it). Now the problem I had, was that the fridge was running all the time and a large pedestal fan was needed to help cool the element and stop the condenser from overheating.
<Too much electrical consumption, expense here... Use the more efficient house unit if it can be practically located near by>
Not good for my power bill and standards for doing things on the cheap.
<Bingo>
Now I have a question ... would gutting a freezer this time round - instead of a bar fridge- be able to cool 450 litres of water by 4 degrees centigrade?
<Yes... as would a simple fridge with the coils set in a water bath there...>
Assume that the air temp is sitting constantly at 32 degrees centigrade and there exist no other heat inputs. Would my freezer motor thingy be running non-stop?
<Might work pretty much full time during the heat of the day, yes>
Would you be able to point me to some really verbose links regarding cooling water by refrigeration...maybe I missed some you know about.
<I understand you perfectly. I'd go the fridge, holes, bath-coil route m'self. Cheers, BobF>