Tank running hot

Summer time is coming in FL, and my tank has decided to start running at a sweltering 85F. I am doing what I had to do last summer which is take off the hood of my 54g and blast a shop fan at it. I can get my temp back down to around 76-78F no problem but I evaporate at an alarming rate which makes things really annoying. Also the fan is obnoxiously loud and dust ends up in my system.

Does anyone have some tips to get my aquarium to the right temp, or is it off to the LFS to spend my next paycheck on a chiller?

 

Chiller, or throw frozen water bottles in the sump.
Have you tried running the tank with no canopy, but without the fan?

 

hmm you live in Fla man you prob need a chiller

 

ya, that is never an easy fix on the wallet. what kind of lights are you running?

 

Ill try the frozen water thing. the problem with running it without the canopy is that my light rests on the glass and there is no way for me to suspend it without it. Right now the fan is blowing into the overflow reservoir.

 

just T5s

 

do you have AC in the room?

 

With T5's your tank really shouldn't be getting that hot, unless you are letting the entire room get that hot. It may be time to crank up the A/C a little bit

 

Yeah, but the AC in my apartment sucks. Im moving to another apartment nearby that has a brand new AC, but the apartment here stays around 76-78F (just costs a lot), so I doubt the more efficient AC will help.

 

It probably wouldn't cost any more than a chiller Those things are expensive and suck up a lot of juice as well