Heat issues

[matt 76]

O.k here goes I have a 180 gallon tank with a 40 gallon sump 3 250 watt radiums and 4 vho's. I am having a heating issue where my 1/4 hp chiller seems to even run at night. I also have 3 5" fans in my canopy blowing out the hot air. I think the heat may be coming from my hammerhead pump I run for a closed loop. It feels hot to the touch, so it must transfer heat through the impeller housing and also from the shaft causing it to heat the water. My return pump is a blue line 55 it seems to run fairly cool-just kinda noisy. The only other pump I have in the water is my skimmer pump which is a pacific coast ps 3000. Just giving all posible needed info. Now I have been looking a different methods for water movement, im looking at korallias right now. The tunzes and vortechs are nice but are a tad bit to expensive for me right now.So I guess what I'm getting at is, should I go with a couple of koralia's or replace my hammerhead with a dart or snapper?
Koralias just seem cheaper to run and buy, why don't people like them as well as tunzes or vortechs? At 4.5 watts each versus 423 watts for a hammerhead...........ummmm
I guess I should mention I run my tank at 77 to 78 degrees. It's not overheating. It's just working my chiller too much.

 

[Znut Reefer]

I keep my tank at 79-80 so you may want to give that a try. Or consider selling the 1/4 chiller and go with a 1/2 hp chiller.

 

[Theron]

Hey Matt,

A couple of things that might help.

I don't think the hammerhead pulls 423 watts, I think it is more like 350. The tunzes are going to be about 40 watts each. Still a signifcant savings though.

Where is the hammerhead pump located? Under the stand? I am just wondering if it is heating up the space under the stand where the sump is and that air is heating the water. Maybe try placing a fan to keep it cool in there. I don't know if the pump is transfering that much heat through the shaft. It does not touch the water.

I would raise the temp of the tank some. That might make a big difference. Also maybe have a fan blow across the top of the tank then out the side. Might help cool the water.

For reference, my 300 gal tank stays at about 79 with no chiller lights or fans running. The abient temp of the room is about 70. I have a barracuda CL and two tunze 6100s, and dolphin ampmaster return pump. So they add about 9 degrees to the tank.

I have no chiller. Fans will kick on at 81 and room a/c will come on at 82. This time of the year the a/c may not come on. So I run my tank a bit higher. But I have no canopy and the stand is open on bottom.

 

[matt 76]

Thanks theron, I think I am going to trade my hammerhead for a dart to resolve any heating issues and cut back on my flow.I like my sand on the bottom of the tank not all over the corals. It says its 3.53 amps so that times 120 volts is 423.6 watts. So if this is correct I could run 2 darts with less heat, more energy efficient and more flow. So hows that sink working for you? Any leaks from that shady plumber dude

 

[8BALL_99]

A external pump like the hammer head or the Dart adds almost no heat to the tank. Sure your pump is pulling 350 watts but its aircooled not water cooled.. If you replaced it with a couple of tunze you would probably see your temps go up cause although the tunze pull much less wattage they are water cooled.

 

[PreacherMan607]

Matt I have/had a similar problem with my 180. My system uses a 72" solaris led fixture (minimal heat dissipation), an external Iwaki 70RLT and two Tunze 6055 inside the tank and of course the skimmer pump sits in the sump. Without using ANY heaters and I emphasize any! My tank stays at about 80.0 (average). It is downstairs (cooler part of the house) and I still can't figure out how it stays so warm? I can't believe that the two tunze powerheads and a skimmer pump generate that kinda of heat? But something sure is affecting it. The system is controlled by a Aquacontroller III and it never turns on the heaters because the tank temp never falls below 78 degrees.

 

[Eric the half-bee]

Matt, I used to run mine 77-78 also. Now, I let go to 81-82 with lights on. No detrimental effects noted and I bet several people on RC let there's go upto 84-85. If you've ever been in the waters in the Carribean, 84F is not unusual in summer months.

 

[matt 76]

Well I guess I will try raising my tank temp up to 80. I want to get a more acurate temp reading than my chiller display before I do so. My temp controller in my chiller has gone wacko before and I had to have a new one shipped to me. An ac jr or reef keeper 2 may come with santa clause this year I hope!:strooper:

 

[forensicdoc]

Might I recommend getting a small clip-on type fan and installing it in the sump to blow over the water. I did this in my 190 and it lowered the temperature of the water by 4 degrees F (from 82 to 78)! Much cheaper to purchase and run than a larger chiller.

 

[matt 76]

I have tried the fan thing. I don't have any room for one down there either. It's very crowded. Thanks for the help though!

 

[Theron]

Matt,

So here is some interesting data.

This weekend I decided to make a few changes to my plumbing. I took the my Deltec 702 skimmer and the Barracuda CL pump off line for a while. The next morning I noticed the temp quite a bit lower.

No corals in the tank yet, just a couple of fish. No lights running on this tank either. There is a QT tank in the room with a 250 watt halide on during the day.

I happen to be logging my tank temps. Here is the data I logged over the last few days.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25155538@N02/2977825096/" title="2008-10-27_01-54-46_001 by tluttmann, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3147/2977825096_6abc7ee9ca_b.jpg" width="1024" height="410" alt="2008-10-27_01-54-46_001" /></a>

The first arrow is when I took the skimmer and pump off line. The second arrow is where I put the skimmer back online and the barracuda pump is still off.

It appears that the Barracuda adds about 4 to 5 degrees to the tank. I wonder if the movement of the water in the pipes (friction) is creating the heat.

Theron