crabbyKris
New member
I have been having some problems keeping the temp stable in my reef tank.
I have a 70 gal Oceanic with a Megaflow and a 20 gal sump. There is 500 gpm of current flowing up from the sump, with an additional 350 gpm that runs through a sqwd in a closed loop system that starts up with the atenic.
The 96 watt atenic retro kit comes on at 9:00 am and turns off at 8:00 pm, it sits about 3 inches above the tank. The 250 watt metal halide comes on at 1:00 and turns off at 4:00 pm, the light fixture sits 7 inches above the tank. The canopy is completely open air in the back, with a 4" Ice Cap variable speed fan that blows directly on the MH fixture.
The tank stand is completely enclosed with a backing of plywood, with air holes in the back sheet by the shelf where the two ballasts are held. The sump is covered with lexan and thus completely "enclosed" to prevent evaporation. The top of the tank is covered with the Oceanic glass top to prevent evaporation, but I cut the plastic hinge of the glass top away directly below the MH fixture so the two pieces of glass have about a quarter inch opening to vent the space between the glass and the water.
The tank is rarely at 78 degrees, and climbs sometimes to 85 degrees and holds there for extended periods of time. The lights have been off now for at least two and half hours and my new Coralife digital thermometer still reads 85 degrees. The sensor for the thermometer is in the display about six inches from the water line. I live in the mountains with a moderate climate, the temp in the house is rarely above 75, in fact this morning it was downright chilly and the tank still read 80 degrees after sitting all night with nothing but the moonlight.
I use a Wan titanium heater, but experimented with unplugging it completely and showed no reduction of temperature in the tank. The tank and most of these parts are new, 8 months. I waited to post this until I got the fan installed in the hood. The inhabitants (green, red, and hairy mushrooms, button polyps, zoos, condi anenome, yellow tang, clown, pin cushion urchin, and a boatload of rock) have been with me for three years. They seem fine through all of this, the zoos don't open extremely big but are still moving and reproducing. I purchased a nice piece of frogspawn that destroyed itself immediatly, most likely because of the temp. and now I am really hesitant to add any new inhabitants. I have been successful adding a cleaner and peppermint shrimp (the peppermint ate all of the aiptaisa...YEA!), as well as a brittle and sand sifting star.
I do not want to buy a chiller, and most of all do not have room for it. I like the enclosure tops for the tank and sump because I can not run a fresh water top off to the tank and have limited time for maintenance.
Any ideas what is creating this heat and causing it to sustain despite a relatively low room temperature?
Can you give me any techniques for controlling the temp?
I have a 70 gal Oceanic with a Megaflow and a 20 gal sump. There is 500 gpm of current flowing up from the sump, with an additional 350 gpm that runs through a sqwd in a closed loop system that starts up with the atenic.
The 96 watt atenic retro kit comes on at 9:00 am and turns off at 8:00 pm, it sits about 3 inches above the tank. The 250 watt metal halide comes on at 1:00 and turns off at 4:00 pm, the light fixture sits 7 inches above the tank. The canopy is completely open air in the back, with a 4" Ice Cap variable speed fan that blows directly on the MH fixture.
The tank stand is completely enclosed with a backing of plywood, with air holes in the back sheet by the shelf where the two ballasts are held. The sump is covered with lexan and thus completely "enclosed" to prevent evaporation. The top of the tank is covered with the Oceanic glass top to prevent evaporation, but I cut the plastic hinge of the glass top away directly below the MH fixture so the two pieces of glass have about a quarter inch opening to vent the space between the glass and the water.
The tank is rarely at 78 degrees, and climbs sometimes to 85 degrees and holds there for extended periods of time. The lights have been off now for at least two and half hours and my new Coralife digital thermometer still reads 85 degrees. The sensor for the thermometer is in the display about six inches from the water line. I live in the mountains with a moderate climate, the temp in the house is rarely above 75, in fact this morning it was downright chilly and the tank still read 80 degrees after sitting all night with nothing but the moonlight.
I use a Wan titanium heater, but experimented with unplugging it completely and showed no reduction of temperature in the tank. The tank and most of these parts are new, 8 months. I waited to post this until I got the fan installed in the hood. The inhabitants (green, red, and hairy mushrooms, button polyps, zoos, condi anenome, yellow tang, clown, pin cushion urchin, and a boatload of rock) have been with me for three years. They seem fine through all of this, the zoos don't open extremely big but are still moving and reproducing. I purchased a nice piece of frogspawn that destroyed itself immediatly, most likely because of the temp. and now I am really hesitant to add any new inhabitants. I have been successful adding a cleaner and peppermint shrimp (the peppermint ate all of the aiptaisa...YEA!), as well as a brittle and sand sifting star.
I do not want to buy a chiller, and most of all do not have room for it. I like the enclosure tops for the tank and sump because I can not run a fresh water top off to the tank and have limited time for maintenance.
Any ideas what is creating this heat and causing it to sustain despite a relatively low room temperature?
Can you give me any techniques for controlling the temp?
