Summers Come Too Soon

[Miss Wiggle]

had an absolute nightmare of a few weeks, our bathroom basically fell apart and we've had no bath or shower at home the last 2 weeks, my oscar got HITH and me and Ian both got chest infections. Had an absolutely mental few weeks sorting everything and it's been bloody horrible tbh.

I'd been feeding and doing top off on the marine tank but hadn't had time to even sit for 5 mins and look at it, looked the other night and the candy cane is looking really worse for wear checked the tank temp and oh bugger it's sky high. Had barely even noticed the weathers got warmer, must have been struggling with the temp for the last week or so. We've been planning on hooking up some pc fans to the hood of the tank to keep it cool and switch the timings on the lights so they're only on for a few hrs at a time so the tank can cool down in between. Summer must have just caught up on us without us realising.

Anyway due to having to buy 2 new baths and completely re-do the bathroom we've drained every penny we have in savings, overdrafts etc. we've had to cancel our holiday to Ireland and we've only enough petrol to get to work for the next 2 days. we're completely brassic so it'll be at least 2 weeks before we can get any fans or anything for the tank.

Thankfully the weathers worse this morning, hope it stays cold and rainy for a bit!

I'm gonna drag a fan out of storage tonight so I can leave that running in the living room in the day so that should keep the air temp cooler and I'll have to reduce the lighting period.

What's the smallest lighting period we can get away with (no timer, have to do it manually, we're up at 6am and leave at 7, then home at 4 and bed around 10/11) for the next 2 weeks?

What else can I do to keep it cool that takes no money whatsoever?

 

[callell]

Dependant on how hot the summers are, I tend to run reverse lighting ie Actinics on at 11.00pm then the main Haildes on after midnight - run overnight until 7AM

This will help keep the tank cool as your home will generally be cooler overnight.

I do this on my Frag tank as it is cheaper to run lighting and also I do not need to view my frags during the day normally

There are loads of ways to cool your tank some I have used are : -

RO Ice Blocks in your Sump
Bottle of Frozon RO floated on surface of display or sump
Chiller $$$$$$$
Fans directed at water surface

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Dependant on how hot the summers are, I tend to run reverse lighting ie Actinics on at 11.00pm then the main Haildes on after midnight - run overnight until 7AM

This will help keep the tank cool as your home will generally be cooler overnight.

I do this on my Frag tank as it is cheaper to run lighting and also I do not need to view my frags during the day normally

There are loads of ways to cool your tank some I have used are : -

RO Ice Blocks in your Sump
Bottle of Frozon RO floated on surface of display or sump
Chiller $$$$$$$
Fans directed at water surface

yeah i was thinking about running the MH overnight when it's cooler, will have a think about the timings, can't get a timer for at least 2 weeks so it depends if the timings work out turning it on and off manually

not got a sump, if i can find an empty bottle (money's that tight i literally can't afford a £1 bottle of pop at the moment) i can float some in the tank

chiller, yeah that'd be nice! ha ha we had hoped to buy one this summer but i don't think finances will allow it

we'll put pc fans into the hood as soon as we can, again, will be at least 2 weeks. can't leave the hood off as we've fish who will jump, can't direct a fan into the tank with the hood on, i guess i'll just have to point it at the tank and hope keepig the area around the tank cool has some effect

 

[sianeds]

Sorry to hear you're having problems Miss W. I wish my tank was too hot!!!

Sounds like you would be best using frozen RO instead of top offs for now.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

aye, the temperatures dropped a bit today and weather forecast looks cloudy and rainy for the next 10 days so fingers crossed we'll be able to muddle through until we've got some money. think i'm gonna put the tank lights on overnight tonight and see how that goes.

 

[callell]

Why not add a 4" PC fan (or 2) into the hood blowing on to the wtare or 2 fans on to the side (if there is a wooden/plastic skirt around the top of the tank)

This is how I run my 5' F/O System that has a hood

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Why not add a 4" PC fan (or 2) into the hood blowing on to the wtare or 2 fans on to the side (if there is a wooden/plastic skirt around the top of the tank)

This is how I run my 5' F/O System that has a hood

We've been planning on hooking up some pc fans to the hood of the tank to keep it cool

we are planning on it, but we've literally not a penny to spend for the next 2 weeks. we've only enough petrol to get ian to work the next 2 days, dunno what we're doing after that. no chance we can afford to buy pc fans in the next couple of weeks.

 

[N1z]

Yer the heat is scary atm my tank goes to 27 deg. So im ok until this week when im buying a chiller not risking it this year or for the future! How ever 20quid a week for summits thats being sold for trade plus vat aint bad knocked off £250

But just buy some 6 quid homebase 6" clip on fans they did drop my tank 2 deg when i used it. Only issue is you top off more

 

[norite]

we've only enough petrol to get ian to work the next 2 days, dunno what we're doing after that. no chance we can afford to buy pc fans in the next couple of weeks.

Sorry for being OT, but...
Ditch the petrol car and get a diesel. Then get real friendly with your local chippy/restaurant/foodpub. Then ask if you can start collecting their used oil. With luck they'll be only too happy to give it to you for free, as they usually have to pay to have it taken away. Put together a filtering station from a water butt and some filter socks. Then get the diesel modded to run on the used veggie oil. Works for me!

A peugeot 306/406 with the Bosch injection pump and the bomb proof XUD/XND indirect injection motors are superb cars to run on veggie. Bosch pumps are very tolerant of veggie oil so you can basically chuck the oil in and go. I myself have a Peugeot with the (fragile) Lucas injection pump; so it is fittted with the Smartveg twin tank system, and it runs just great on veggie oil. Superb...

My fuel bills have fallen dramatically, and they will fall even further, coz the UK govt is removing all tax from veggie oil and biodiesel (if you use/produce less than 2500 litres per year)
3 litres of fresh rapeseed oil from Tescos - £1.75... 3 litres of diesel = £2.90 It's a win win situation...

PM me if you want more info...

 

[Danno]

It also costs THOUSANDS of dollars to do that.

Hope everything goes well Miss Wiggle.

 

[norite]

Not over here, matey Cost me about $900 (£450) and that included a full days mechanics fees to fit... That cost is recouped within a year. Sell the expensive petrol car and buy an older cheaper (1990s) diesel car and the conversion kit and have money left over. 8)

When you get another diesel, transfer the kit. It's an investment.... 8)

 

[Miss Wiggle]

we've only enough petrol to get ian to work the next 2 days, dunno what we're doing after that. no chance we can afford to buy pc fans in the next couple of weeks.

Sorry for being OT, but...
Ditch the petrol car and get a diesel. Then get real friendly with your local chippy/restaurant/foodpub. Then ask if you can start collecting their used oil. With luck they'll be only too happy to give it to you for free, as they usually have to pay to have it taken away. Put together a filtering station from a water butt and some filter socks. Then get the diesel modded to run on the used veggie oil. Works for me!

A peugeot 306/406 with the Bosch injection pump and the bomb proof XUD/XND indirect injection motors are superb cars to run on veggie. Bosch pumps are very tolerant of veggie oil so you can basically chuck the oil in and go. I myself have a Peugeot with the (fragile) Lucas injection pump; so it is fittted with the Smartveg twin tank system, and it runs just great on veggie oil. Superb...

My fuel bills have fallen dramatically, and they will fall even further, coz the UK govt is removing all tax from veggie oil and biodiesel (if you use/produce less than 2500 litres per year)
3 litres of fresh rapeseed oil from Tescos - £1.75... 3 litres of diesel = £2.90 It's a win win situation...

PM me if you want more info...

ha ha nah it's alright mate, money isn't usually that big an issue, we're not rolling in it but we get by just fine. just a series of disasters left us skint for a few weeks, happens to everyone!

and with a mechanic as a father in law, i'd rather keep my car running how it is so he can and will work on it for me, save me much more money in the long run

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, glass isn't the greatest insulator, so even pointing a room fan at the tank will help. I agree that freezing RO and adding that for topups is probably your best option. Perhaps another good option is to give the tank a dark day once or twice a week. Say on monday and thursday dont turn the halide on. The UK is not the only area of the world that has cloudy days, coral reefs have them too. A day without lights won't kill the tank

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Well, glass isn't the greatest insulator, so even pointing a room fan at the tank will help. I agree that freezing RO and adding that for topups is probably your best option. Perhaps another good option is to give the tank a dark day once or twice a week. Say on monday and thursday dont turn the halide on. The UK is not the only area of the world that has cloudy days, coral reefs have them too. A day without lights won't kill the tank

thats good to know, i'll leave the lights off tonight.

if i get 5 blooming minutes i'll drag that fan out, it's properly hectic chez wiggle at the moment!

 

[rhysiboy]

on RC there is a thread about 3 day no lighitng period and apparently it gets rid of cyano, hair algae and diatoms. Thought i might give it a go as i dont have ne corals to harm and as you said ski corals arnt always 100% beamin sun.