temperature issues??????

[zdawgnight]

Ok My issue has gone on long enough and i need to nip this issue in the butt. I have a 24 gallon aquapod with a bunch of sps and lps. My problem is that for some reason heaters (2 stealth heaters tried and just recently the hydor brand) dont work in my tank. How do I fix this situation? What happens is the heater will work for a while then turn off and will not turn back on. So when my mh goes off, my temperature plumets 8 or 9 degrees (which we all know is a killer). I am fortunate enough to actually keep everything alive (although the growth in my tank is poor). Please any help or suggestions is much appreciated.

 

[Billybeau1]

Are the thermostats built into those heaters ?

 

[zdawgnight]

yup

 

[Billybeau1]

Short of a heater malfunction, I'm wondering if you moved the heater to a high flow area of the tank. This might cool the tube down once the heater shuts off allowing it do turn on quicker.

 

[James77]

I would look at a Ranco temp controller, or even a reef controller, and use a heater with no thermostat. I have never found them to be reliable.

 

[sanababit]

well let's say you tanks heaters turns off at 76 degres and the mh raise the temp to 82 when they are on for a while, then i would suggest to set your heaters to 81, thay have internal thermostat and should contol the temp swing, you just need to play a little with them a little bit

sana

 

[ReefWreak]

I'd never ever trust a heater on it's own without a controller behind it.

Just buy a heater that is always on and a controller for a reasonable price on the used equipment forums (I'm selling my medusa dual stage, but it doesn't sound like you need a chiller stage, only heater).

That's the only way I'd ever run my tank, and I haven't even had the meltdowns that many people have had from stuck heaters in their tank.

though I do hear a lot less about stuck heaters with "global climate change"

 

[zdawgnight]

Yeah If my swing was 76 to 82 i would be more then happy but when I wake up in the morning my temp swing goes 70 to 80 so deffinately an issue.
BillyBeau- the problem is onces it turns off it doesnt turn back on
I swear this heating thing is rediculous last year I couldnt keep cool my tank down to save my life now my tank cant be heated enough.
Ill take a look at the ranco and reef controllers
If there are any suggestions for me I would love to hear them. Of course the cheaper the better. I was hoping not to spend much money on this issue

Ill take a

 

[James77]

Reefkeeper has some of their Lite controllers, which are very reasonable.

 

[James77]

http://www.aquacave.com/reef-keeper-lite-system-brlevel-1-by-digital-aquatics-2432.html

$100, and you get 3 other controllable outlets and its expandable.

 

[evsalty]

You say that the heaters won't turn back on on their own but will they turn on if you adjust their setting without doing anything else?

 

[zdawgnight]

crap this is going to cost me isnt it?

 

[zdawgnight]

evsalty yes thats exaclty what it its doing have any suggestions?

 

[evsalty]

I am wondering if it just isn't set high enough. What temp is the tank at when it turns off? Are you doing this with the lights on? How close is the halide to the heaters t-stat adjustment section?

 

[zdawgnight]

lights off temp at 73 in tank i set heater to 78 was on for less then a minute then turned off, I figured maybe its working so I went to be woke up and the temp was 70 degrees.

 

[evsalty]

I find that the setting listed on the heaters is a bogus setting. I suggest you do it while the light is on so that you are setting it based on the hot time of the tank and thus should get a more acurate setting. This is what I would do atleast to see if the heater is bad or not. When the tank is at 80 turn the heater control until it kicks on then down a hair till it turns off. Then turn up a hair again till it turns back on and then watch it to see if it turns back off on its own. Be sure to monitor temp of the tank. After it turns off then turn off the halide and see if it will kick back on as the temp comes down.

Note that some heaters are slower to turn on and off so be patient.

 

[zdawgnight]

I will deffinately try that out hopefully this will work so I dont have to pay a couple hundred dollars. Thanks for idea

 

[thecichlidpleco]

Zach, go to your tree out back and get some money down for a controller.

 

[Peter Eichler]

Wait for your tank to rise to the high 70's or so during the day and then turn the heater up til it goes on. Watch it for a while to make sure it turns off. Also, fluctuations in temperature aren't that big of a deal in a reef tank and certainly not the "killer" that many make it out to be. Lastly, you nip things in the "bud", not the "butt". Well, at least most people do

 

[zdawgnight]

ok update on the heater tried to mess with it during my lunch break and lucky me it wont turn on at all yey! So back to square one.
Also Cichlidpleco you know that my money tree has been dieing slowly for about 4 years when I started college and the rent just finally did it in now I have to make it the old fashioned way (the lottery).