86 degres....

My T-5s are heating up my tank to 86 degrees by the time its time to turn them off. I need to fix this problem cheaply, during the summer this thing is gonna really get hot. I'm guessing a fan of some sort is gonna be the cheapest fix. Any input?

 

got a sump ? if so put a fan on it guy at my lfs put a 7$ clip on fan on his sump and it droped the temp 2-3 degrees

 

Alot of companies make cheap fans that you can just clip on the side of your tank and direct air under the light. Some of the marine specific units are pretty expensive but a generic clip on fan will do the same thing for only a couple of bucks just might not be as attractive.

 

Yeah, fans would be one of the first things. How many hours a day are you running the lights? You may have to reduce the lighting schedule.
What is the temp in the room?
I live in Texas too and I have to keep the room as cold as I can get it in the summer which is between 72 and 77. I have to reduce the lighting schedule in the summer to about 5 hours a day. It cost me a lot in electricity so I think I'm going to get a chiller next year.

Fans and a sump alone are not going to reduce the temp 6 degrees but it could get you down to 82-83. .. that's still on the edge. 86 is in the territory where it's time to turn the lights completely off. Some corals will close up and/or die at about 87-88.

 

Check all your pumps for any heat, I just replaced an iwaki pump with a mag 18 and my temps dropped 1.5 degrees. Also get some fans blowing across the surface of your water, I have one on each side pointing at each other. It will increase evaporation, but reduce the heat and promote a better gas exchange.

Do you have a canopy, or are your T5's in a fixture?

~Will.

 

i also keep frozen bottles of water just in case