Hello to the experts and the newbies like me.
(Sorry, this is a long one but pls. bear with me)
I live in the tropics. I'm from the Philippines to be exact (I hope you know where the Philippines is). I'm new to the saltwater hobby but been doing my research on the internet and some fish magazines. Im planning to do a FOWLR. I already have a 75g tank, Eheim Canister Filter (both from my freshwater days), Protein Skimmer, 2200 l/h power head and 1200 l/h power head.
My problem is this: I filled my tank with tap water (just to check for leaks) and installed all equipments like filter, power heads and skimmer to check if everything’s up and running. All is well and running until I checked the water temperature. Remember this is just tap water for testing my equipments. I had a temp reading of 30C or 86F from a glass thermometer with hydrometer and this is with out the light set. So imagine how my temperature will rise when I do get a double light. I think its too high even for FOWLR set up. From what I read, ideally for a FO or FOWLR you have to keep the temp at 75 to 84F but the safest is 75 to 82F. Just to be sure about the accuracy of the temp. I got another glass thermometer and another digital one and checked the temp. Same tap water in my tank with 2 glass thermometers floating around and 1 digital one. Well, the old glass Thermometer still gave a 30C or 86F the new glass and digital thermometer gave a 32C or 90F. Even worse the new ones gave me a higher temp. but i think the new glass and digital is more accurate cause they gave the same reading. I haven't mixed the salt mix yet because the instruction said to mix with dechlorinated water at 75 to 80F. I’ve postponed setting up my tank for two weeks now because I want to get more opinions and research on this subject. I want to start out right and I know there is no one perfect way or approach in setting-up. I guess the more ideas I get from you guys the better I’d be in this hobby.
I think the placement of the aquarium is good. There are no direct heat sources no direct sunlight, not near a window and there's an adequate space between the wall and the tank. I tried putting pails of water in the different rooms of the house to check the water temperature there. Still 32C or 90F on all pails of water in different rooms of the house. Even at night the water temperature stays the same. I figured this is just a case of summer and the hot room temperature. So Please advise me what to do to start my set up and even mix my saltwater.
I've read about chillers and it's really quite expensive here. Plus they are not readily available and most of the suppliers here have chillers only for really big tanks 200g up. I've also read about freezing saltwater in plastic bottles and then floating them on the tank to lower temp. But this is just a temporary fix, otherwise I'd have to stay home everyday and keep changing the bottles once they've thawed out.
One fix that I've read, that could be possible for my set-up is putting PC fans on top of the tank. I often read this on other sites but has anybody had success in lowering their temps. doing this. Up to how many degrees lower? One good example of this PC fan that I read which I think is really plausible goes like this:
(This is DIY) Four PC fans in an acrylic holder with a downward vent so the air blows directly downward to the tank. This downward vent has a box with the bottom punched with 120 holes (this is the drip tray). A powerhead then pumps water to this drip box which then disperses the water downward in drips rather than in surges. As this happens air is supplied by the fans directed toward the water by the downward vent.
I'm just wandering if this is done in your part of the world or if you have better ideas for cooling please share them with me. Like what do you do during the summer if you don't have a chiller, or in a heatwave perhaps. Or are chillers really an absolute indespensable part of marine aquaria even for FOWLR?
Thanks and any comments and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
PS
Any hobbyists from SE Asia please share your comments. We at least have the closest temperature and environment. All LFS here that I’ve been thru always tells me not to bother so much with the temperature because it’s just FOWLR but my research tells me otherwise. LFS defends that since fishes here are caught locally they are adapted to that high temperature. I want your comments on this.
(Sorry, this is a long one but pls. bear with me)
I live in the tropics. I'm from the Philippines to be exact (I hope you know where the Philippines is). I'm new to the saltwater hobby but been doing my research on the internet and some fish magazines. Im planning to do a FOWLR. I already have a 75g tank, Eheim Canister Filter (both from my freshwater days), Protein Skimmer, 2200 l/h power head and 1200 l/h power head.
My problem is this: I filled my tank with tap water (just to check for leaks) and installed all equipments like filter, power heads and skimmer to check if everything’s up and running. All is well and running until I checked the water temperature. Remember this is just tap water for testing my equipments. I had a temp reading of 30C or 86F from a glass thermometer with hydrometer and this is with out the light set. So imagine how my temperature will rise when I do get a double light. I think its too high even for FOWLR set up. From what I read, ideally for a FO or FOWLR you have to keep the temp at 75 to 84F but the safest is 75 to 82F. Just to be sure about the accuracy of the temp. I got another glass thermometer and another digital one and checked the temp. Same tap water in my tank with 2 glass thermometers floating around and 1 digital one. Well, the old glass Thermometer still gave a 30C or 86F the new glass and digital thermometer gave a 32C or 90F. Even worse the new ones gave me a higher temp. but i think the new glass and digital is more accurate cause they gave the same reading. I haven't mixed the salt mix yet because the instruction said to mix with dechlorinated water at 75 to 80F. I’ve postponed setting up my tank for two weeks now because I want to get more opinions and research on this subject. I want to start out right and I know there is no one perfect way or approach in setting-up. I guess the more ideas I get from you guys the better I’d be in this hobby.
I think the placement of the aquarium is good. There are no direct heat sources no direct sunlight, not near a window and there's an adequate space between the wall and the tank. I tried putting pails of water in the different rooms of the house to check the water temperature there. Still 32C or 90F on all pails of water in different rooms of the house. Even at night the water temperature stays the same. I figured this is just a case of summer and the hot room temperature. So Please advise me what to do to start my set up and even mix my saltwater.
I've read about chillers and it's really quite expensive here. Plus they are not readily available and most of the suppliers here have chillers only for really big tanks 200g up. I've also read about freezing saltwater in plastic bottles and then floating them on the tank to lower temp. But this is just a temporary fix, otherwise I'd have to stay home everyday and keep changing the bottles once they've thawed out.
One fix that I've read, that could be possible for my set-up is putting PC fans on top of the tank. I often read this on other sites but has anybody had success in lowering their temps. doing this. Up to how many degrees lower? One good example of this PC fan that I read which I think is really plausible goes like this:
(This is DIY) Four PC fans in an acrylic holder with a downward vent so the air blows directly downward to the tank. This downward vent has a box with the bottom punched with 120 holes (this is the drip tray). A powerhead then pumps water to this drip box which then disperses the water downward in drips rather than in surges. As this happens air is supplied by the fans directed toward the water by the downward vent.
I'm just wandering if this is done in your part of the world or if you have better ideas for cooling please share them with me. Like what do you do during the summer if you don't have a chiller, or in a heatwave perhaps. Or are chillers really an absolute indespensable part of marine aquaria even for FOWLR?
Thanks and any comments and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
PS
Any hobbyists from SE Asia please share your comments. We at least have the closest temperature and environment. All LFS here that I’ve been thru always tells me not to bother so much with the temperature because it’s just FOWLR but my research tells me otherwise. LFS defends that since fishes here are caught locally they are adapted to that high temperature. I want your comments on this.
