Its Cold!!!

Laura and Jim will be hosting the May meeting this Saturday the 12th and it will be the usual of food, drinks, raffle and fun.
 
Doors will be open at 6:00 pm for social talk and the meeting will start at 7:00.  Parking gets a little tight and the city says you can't park on 4th but there is a parking lot a block away.   Meeting is usually held in the backyard so feel free to bring your favorite lawn chair, weather permitting of course.

If you need address/directions, contact a club member.

Best if you park at Mini Mall (where the spaghetti establishment use to be)
 
You will get to see his new frag tank set up in the making.
 
Hope to see you there!

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[tyler5g]

I don't know who said that the bigger the tank, the easier it is to take care of.  My little tank is bulletproof and this big one is more finickey than Barbie's cats.  I am learning that the sump in the garage sounded like a great idea, but the theory is stonger than the implimentation.  I am having a heck of a time keeping the temp stable, and because of it , if I have had a blue coral, its white now.  I have wrapped the sump in a water heater insulating blanket, and I have 3 heaters totaling 850 watts in the sump, but I am still getting temp drops to 76.8-76.9 at night when it is cold outside.  Then during the day, the halides bring the temp up into the 79.5 to 79.8 range, making a 3 degree swing, which I have been told will cause RTN on corals.  Anyone have any suggestions before I drain this thing and turn it into a terrarium?  :?

[Jeff]

Either a bigger chiller to keep it at 76 during the day or another heater to keep it at 79 at night.  You can get 250w visitherm stealth or ebo jager heaters for about $20 at http://www.bigalsonline.com.  I have several tanks with the visitherm stealth heaters and they are my favorite.  They do a real good job of keep the temp consistent.

How is your hood ventilation?  Could you get more airflow over those halides?  Maybe you could make some kind of duct to take the hot air from those halides and heat the sump?  Now that would be cool to see.

I think heating the garage would be cost prohibitive.  Air conditioning (to keep the tank temp down during the day) in the winter would probably make your family a little upset, so that's probably out too.

What are you going to do during the summer when your garage is 173 degrees?  Do you have a beefcake chiller yet?

[Lucy]

Ok, who said my cats are finicky?   :wink:   And what is so wrong with terrariums anyway?  

You knew you'd get a rise out of me, didn't you John?  

Hey, how about leaving the halides on at night and off during the day?  You don't actually want to see what's in your tank, do you?

I know.  I'm sooooo helpful.   :lol:

[tyler5g]

What would I do without Barbie and her CATs? :wink:

[Lucy]

Probably not sneeze near as much :lol:   But it wouldn't be near as much fun.   :wink:

[angelscrx]

3 degrees is not a bad swing.  76 degrees is not to cold either.  As long as your tank doesn't go to the extreme temps you should be fine.  You could always build an enclosure around the sump and insulate it.

[MartyK]

I can't remember from the meeting - is the sump sitting directly on the concrete?  Can you get a layer of styrofoam under it?

Marty

[tyler5g]

I poured a concrete step for it to sit on, and there is a piece of MDF board between the concrete and the sump.  At this point it would be just about impossible to get styro under the sump.  I may just have to add another heater to it, although my power strip is starting to look like the one  behind the tree in "A Christmas Story". lol

[The Apprentice]

3 degree swings is about the limit John but as far as the temp goes. If you look at most good quality temp controllers for chillers they have 1-2 degree swing setting. With that being said I have seen a lot of reef tanks kept very close to the 75-76 range I personally know of 2 different store's in the Portland metro area that keep there Tanks at 72-74 degree area..
I have mine at 78 and It seems to do ok..Jeff
How long are you running your Halide Lights?

3 degrees is not a bad swing.  76 degrees is not to cold either.  As long as your tank doesn't go to the extreme temps you should be fine.  You could always build an enclosure around the sump and insulate it.

[tyler5g]

The halides are on for about 11 hrs a day.  74 degrees would scare the heck out of me.

[Jeff]

I just checked weather.com and it's supposed to get down to 9 degrees tonight.  Let us know what your temp is in the morning...

Angel, I would like to respectfully disagree with you on the 3 degree swing being ok.  I know I'm new to salt water, but even with freshwater if I had a tank with a 24 hour temperature swing of 3 degrees I would be pretty worried.  These fish and corals are from habitats where the temperature swings VERY little on an annual basis.  I think getting that temp swing as little as is possible is very important.  Even if it means keeping the tank at 80 with 0 change in temp.

[The Apprentice]

Don't let it scare ya John Remember there has always been two different theories If you keep your tank 79-82 range your coral will have a faster Matabelsium and grow faster. But be more fragile and more likely to have a weak structure and be more prone to breaking= Ok if your fragging.
Cooler temps will slow down growth dramatically but = stronger based corals. I learned this with a lot of communication with a company called A to Z corals in AZ they used to be a sponsor on R.F. I have also seen this principal in The clubs and store in Portland they keep the displays down at 74-76 degrees but run their frag tanks at 80-82

The halides are on for about 11 hrs a day.  74 degrees would scare the heck out of me.

[tyler5g]

Boy, I've sparked quite the discussion on this subject.  Tank  got down last night but not as low as the night before.  I am beginning to wonder if the temp control on the heaters is not sesitive enough.  I guess I'll have to break down and buy a Medusa.  Anyone have one they are looking to get rid of?   Anyone else have any thoughts on the subject?

[The Apprentice]

John when I bought my Prime chillers they came with
Aqua Logic Temperature Controllers here is a little about them sorry can't help you with the Medusa...Jeff
Aqua Logic LCD Electronic Temperature Controller—This device is operable from a distance of up to 400 feet and has a superior accuracy for pinpoint temperature control of -30 °F to 220 °F. This digital display is easy to read and a pushbutton control allows you to choose selectable heating and cooling modes. It is not easy to find all these features in such an inexpensive monitor. A keypad lockout provides tamperproof protection. EEPROM memory retains control settings during power outage. This is an OEM product for some of the largest industrial chiller & heater manufacturers. Outperforms other thermostats which cost substantially more. Input power requirements 120 or 208/240 volts. Can control heater & chiller of up to 9.8 amps or approx. 1,000 watts! Dimensions: 6.52" x 2.7" x 2.48". Made in the USA.

Boy, I've sparked quite the discussion on this subject.  Tank  got down last night but not as low as the night before.  I am beginning to wonder if the temp control on the heaters is not sesitive enough.  I guess I'll have to break down and buy a Medusa.  Anyone have one they are looking to get rid of?   Anyone else have any thoughts on the subject?

[Jeff]

what kind of heaters are they?