Heating issues.

E

EagleTalonTim

New member
Well, here is yet another problem I am having with my 75 gallon tank. I am having a hard time getting the water temp to drop below 81º. I have been told 77 or 78 is a good temperature range, but no matter what time of day it is or if my lights are on or off, the temperature stays right around 81º It does increase to maybe 82º while the lights are on. We keep our house at 76º so I don't understand why the temp stays so high.

I have a 100 watt plastic heater in the under tank sump which is a 15 gallon plastic tub which holds my container for my filter media, a protein skimmer, and the sump. Inside the tank, I have 3 powerheads. My lighting is the most expensive one I could find at petco. It has 4 bulbs. 2 daylight and 2 actinic. Not sure what size though.

What can I do that does not cost an arm and a leg to get the tank temperature down?
 
Run a fan on the sump, you can cool by evaporation. Though you will have to add more water to replace the water that evaporates.
 
Here is a link to the same pump I have :
LifeGuard QuietOne 4000

The specs are :
1017 gph
50 watts

The pump is in the water, but there is an adapter to switch the front inlet to accept a screw on connection. I currently use this since the pump inlet sits about half of the water level in the sump container and without the inlet, the pump sucks air from a vortex it creates which is noisy and makes tank look clouded with air bubbles.
 
I was told that 81 is too hot for some of my clean up crew which consists of turbo snails. My last post about them is that they are dying off. I was told that the snails and coral don't like that kind of temperature since it is too hot. During the winter, the temp will drop down to about 78. I wonder if the floor in my house could be causing the sump temp to change. I live in a modular home so under the floor is a large crawl space. The floor is cooler in the winter and warmer in the summer.
 
We keep our house at 76º so I don't understand why the temp stays so high.
Click to expand...

Because all the internal power heads generate heat, along with the lights cranking infra-red into the water. Yes, fluorescents do generate heat. The tank acts as a heat storage unit so it's always going to be hotter than ambient.

Inducing evaporation just means more top offs. I prefer to point a house fan at low RPM at the tank, and this typically drops the water temp to a couple degree over ambient. If this is a year round thing you need to re-think some things. If it's just a summer thing the fan will work.
 
A fan will help with 1-2 degrees and will get you under 81. As far as your clean up crew depends, how long have they been in your tank? I live in the desert and even with my house at 72 degrees with high AC bill I have my tank at 81 and 82 degrees during the summer. I have a mixed reef with a full clean up crew and no issues. my 2 cents
 
Everything in my tank is at least 6 months old. I recently started having problems with my snails dying, algae problems, and hundreds of small white tube worms. Everything I have read about these issues points to high tank temps. I also read about having a vented hood light can help. The one that I have is not vented but I am good with electronics and may be able to put a small computer fan in one end and a vent opening at the other. Not sure if that would be considered a vented hood light though.
 
Your temp is fine. I haave risen to 85 with no ill results. Add a fan like many have mentioned here. I can lower my temp 4 degrees having the fan on the sump. I use a $14.95 clip on fan from Wallyworld, Shopko, Walgreens,,,,, they all sell them. Do you have a sump????
If so clip on a fan and watch your temp lower. However, if you are at 81 constant you are OK.
 
Like the others said... low 80's is fine. If you haven't already, look at your PH swings? and other water readings.
 
Well, I apparently was reading the temp gauges incorrectly without even noticing. Each tick mark is 2 degrees, not 1. I have the heater in the sump tank set at 76 degrees and I figured the tank would stay at least above that since I do have powerheads and a huge lighting system. Since my first post in this thread, I have been steadily watching my temperature. This morning, the water temp was 81. As of right now, it is right at 82 and looks to still be climbing very slowly. I have my lights off in the tank today to see how much of a difference it makes temperature wise. The water temp last night, right after the lights went off on the tank, was 84 degrees. So far, it looks like the lights affect the water temp 1 degree.

One other thing I noticed is when the temp of the water is higher than 81, all my snails stop moving and "sleep". The crabs even head to the corner where the tank drain is or hide under the rocks. If my clean up crew is not working, my tank can get out of control. This makes me wonder if that is what caused my huge hair algae problem a few months ago.

Here is what I am trying to do to fix this. Since my sump is sitting in the water in the sump tank, I am going to try and relocate it out of the water. Another thing I have noticed is that under the tank, when I stick my head in to look at the skimmer or to check the filters, the temperature is actually warm on my face. I am not sure what the temperature is though. To help with this issue, I have also cut a hole in the side of my tank stand and inserted a computer fan to move the air under the tank. Should I point the fan to blow the air out or should I pull air into the area under the tank?
 
Unplug your heater and see what happens. Don't know if you have tried that yet, but a common heater failure is not that it doesn't heat but that it doesn't shut off properly.
 
I have unplugged the heater, but that was not the problem. :( It has been unplugged for 2 days. I am going to check the temps tomorrow now that I have added the fan under the tank and pulled the sump pump out of the water. Hopefully I can regulate the temps a little easier now.
 
Remember that dissolved oxygen is lower at higher temps. If your hood is not vented and your tank is covered, you may have a low oxygen situation that is contributing to your problems.

If possible, try a little air pump to oxygenate the water.
 
If all else fails, remember that a temp of 81-82 is not a problem. If your livestock are not doing well, something else is the problem.
 
1) buy a better thermometer than what you have. A digital thermometer
2) Don't buy the 'best' of anything from petco anymore. Seriously. Save yourself some heartache
3) 81* is fine for most reef tanks. If you're growing corals, they're going to be happier at 79-82*, not 75-76*. If your CUC snails aren't happy, find some snails that can handle the reef temps
4) you need to make sure that your pump is not required to be submersible. Some of them are. If it is and you try to plumb it outside the tank, it could overheat and melt down/leak/short out the system. Not good.
 
Thanks chimmike I missed that.

I have a small clip on fan from Offfice Depot blowing on my sump and it keeps me at 76-78 degrees but my ambient temp is 74 in summer and 72 in winter.

http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/735891/Holmes-9-Personal-Oscillating-Clip-Fan/

At higher temperatures bacteria (good and bad) and algae (good and bad)proliferates faster.
You should really try to get that temp. down some. If you have added a fan to your stand I would have it bringing in cooler air and the add the fan above (with the oscillating feature turned off) blowing diectly on your sump.
 
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