14G Bio Cube overheating

[Kenobi]

Just setup my BC 14 2 days ago and I am already running into problem. I am trying to keep the water temp. around 80 degrees (+/- 2 degrees) but it has been running about 82 - 86 degrees. I have tried different combination to trouble shoot but I couldn't find the cause of the problem. I have tried...lights off, heater off (unpluged), open the lid. I have even tried to swap out the heater and put another one in there, use an extra thermometer to make sure my original one is working properly. I live in New York metro area and so far the summer season has been cooler than usual..my room temperature is about 76 degrees. I was able to get the temperature to 80 degrees when I was mixing the water, I used coralieft digital thermometer and Jager 50 watts when I mix water and in the tank.

 

As of right now, I have the lights off, heater off, opened the lid. I only have the Koralia Pump 1 and the Maxijet 900 connected with power. I was wondering if the problem is caused by the maxijet or the koralia?...pls help...

[cadre]

Just setup my BC 14 2 days ago and I am already running into problem. I am trying to keep the water temp. around 80 degrees (+/- 2 degrees) but it has been running about 82 - 86 degrees. I have tried different combination to trouble shoot but I couldn't find the cause of the problem. I have tried...lights off, heater off (unpluged), open the lid. I have even tried to swap out the heater and put another one in there, use an extra thermometer to make sure my original one is working properly. I live in New York metro area and so far the summer season has been cooler than usual..my room temperature is about 76 degrees. I was able to get the temperature to 80 degrees when I was mixing the water, I used coralieft digital thermometer and Jager 50 watts when I mix water and in the tank.

 

As of right now, I have the lights off, heater off, opened the lid. I only have the Koralia Pump 1 and the Maxijet 900 connected with power. I was wondering if the problem is caused by the maxijet or the koralia?...pls help...

I set up my 14 gallon Bio Cube a week ago and I've been having the same problem. My tank tops out at 88 now. I think I got it stable though and I turned the heater up so the temperature doesn't drop at night (it was dropping 5 degrees). I'm told 85 isn't that high as long as it's stable.

 

That said, I will be contacting Oceanic about the problem because it seems like something that shouldn't happen. I only bought the Bio Cube because what I read suggested they don't have heat problems.

 

Is most of your heat coming from the lights? My lights seem to be very hot so I think that's where my problem is (that and it's summer in Phoenix..but I do have a/c).

 

I think I will be drilling a hole in the hood to add an extra fan. If it works, I'll let you know.

[Kenobi]

yea...the lights do generate heat, I'm not sure where the is generating heat. I turned off everything but the pumps and the temperature still goes up...hahhaa..

 

pls let me know what oceanic had to say. thanks

[Yamato]

I have a BC8. I too had a heating problem. If you have coral, IMO the temp shouldn't reach over 80degrees. My BC8 frequently did this. I am not sure why the BCs over heat but they do. I ahve a few theories.

 

1. is that the hood keeps evaporation low by keeping the air over the surface of the water under the hood. This is good in since you don't have to top off as much and the Salinity stays relatively stable. What is bad is that the excess heat can not be evaporated away...the number one way for heat to be removed from the system. Some ppl try to keep the feeding door open. But that will only do so much.

2. The fans in the hood are not effiecent enough. The do not pull and push enough air in and out of the hood. I have replaced mine, and it does slightly better. I have also done another mod, not sure if you are interested since your tank is brand new...drilled afew holes in teh back of the hood, and put a fan there, wire it to a powersupply and bam, you have temps dropping down to around 80-78degrees. You will need to top that cube up everyday but heat is under control.

3. The stock lighting DOES give off alot of heat. Another reason why the fans need to be that much better. A way to get aroudn this is to mod the whole hood and replace the stock lighting with LEDs...

 

To improve heat transfer, point one of your power heads to the surface, thus increasing the surface agitation improving gas exchange and heat lose.

 

Hope you can get the temp down.\

[cadre]

Yamato, from your experience which mod made the biggest difference in getting your temperature down?

 

Also, would there be any side effect to cutting a hole and putting an 80mm fan above the lighting to draw air out of the chamber, while switching both of the stock fans so that they draw air in?

[neverendingz]

I have a BC14 as well and did the 3.24 mod. I upgraded the fans/lights and my setup now is about 2-3 degrees lower. My fans are on 24/7.

[Kenobi]

it has been almost 24 hours since i opened the lid and turned off the heater and lights but the temperature is still running about 81. Once i closed the lid the temp. spike up to 83 within an hour.

 

neverendingz: is the 3.24 mod easy for you to do? i am not very handy when it comes to electrical. lol

[cota472]

i just broke down my 14G so i could upgrade and the only solution i found to my heat issue was to get a sunpod and go topless on the tank. my temps very rarely reached 80 and if they did i had a small clip on fan i used to blow across the water, it increased the evaporation but my temps would drop fast i had one night i forgot to turn the fan off and i didnt have the heater plugged in and my temps dropped to 69 because of the fan otherwise it would normally be at 75

[neverendingz]

it has been almost 24 hours since i opened the lid and turned off the heater and lights but the temperature is still running about 81. Once i closed the lid the temp. spike up to 83 within an hour.

 

neverendingz: is the 3.24 mod easy for you to do? i am not very handy when it comes to electrical. lol

 

It took me about 3 hours in total to do but I took my time to be 1000% sure it was correct. It is fairly easy. You just need to take your time. It would have taken me about 1.5 hours but the directions weren't the best.

[Nanoized]

My life got a lot easier with a controller (automatically turns off lights at 80.5) and taking the lid off my BC14.

 

With the lid removed and a 70w MH pendant my temps have totally stabilized.

[Needreefunds]

So you are down running only the two power heads and the tank is in a room that is 76deg?

 

Sounds like you pegged it in your first post. The pumps can and do add unwanted heat to our small tanks.

 

I don't have a BC, but in a Nano-cube the pump is the first upgrade due to the heat the inefficient stock pump generates.

 

Unplug one power head at a time to see which is adding the heat. Perhaps a downgrade may be needed.

[ReeferDude420]

So you are down running only the two power heads and the tank is in a room that is 76deg?

 

Sounds like you pegged it in your first post. The pumps can and do add unwanted heat to our small tanks.

 

I don't have a BC, but in a Nano-cube the pump is the first upgrade due to the heat the inefficient stock pump generates.

 

Unplug one power head at a time to see which is adding the heat. Perhaps a downgrade may be needed.

can't you add a chiller?

[Bamato]

I used a mod that I found on this forum to cool my tank... Cut two 60mm holes in the back of the hood between the cord entrances, and mount two 60mm fans on a variable voltage power supply. My tank went from 80-84, down to as low as 76. With the variable voltage PS, I can change what speeds the fans run on to get my evap and temp swings under precise control. However, with this comes the problem of increased evap, also why I installed an ATO.

 

Good luck to you!

[Needreefunds]

can't you add a chiller?

Shouldn't really be needed with a stock system provided the room itself is cool enough.

 

Its when we start adding extra lights, pumps - both for water movement and skimming etc- that heat becomes a problem.

 

Even then a small fan blowing across the tank can help some.

[Kenobi]

Thanks everybody,

 

I think i'm leaning towards the 3.24 mod. I like the whole all-in-one look but i must do some more research to all the other options. I want to resolve this issue before the tank finish cycling.

[Lawnman]

You are going to run into heat problems with the biocubes if you room temp is 76. The reason is because there stock fans are junk. If you get 2 upgraded fans and keep your room temp at 76 you are going to have tank temps around 80-82 with back filter lid open all the time. I have a 4.36 upgrade and I run 4 lights my tank temp is around 79.5 at the end of the day right before my lights go out.BUT I keep my house at 69-70 degrees. So you have a few options upgraded fans,go topless,lower room temp,get a azoo fan to put on the back of the tank and have it blow onto the water.I would just get 2 upgraded fans and leave the back lid open it will get the temp down to 80-82.

 

 

Forgot to add I have a biocube 29 with a 4.36 light upgrade. I also have a MJ 1200 2 koralia nanos and I can maintain my temps around 78-79.5. It is all about ROOM TEMP and upgraded fans my friend.

[Kenobi]

You are going to run into heat problems with the biocubes if you room temp is 76. The reason is because there stock fans are junk. If you get 2 upgraded fans and keep your room temp at 76 you are going to have tank temps around 80-82 with back filter lid open all the time. I have a 4.36 upgrade and I run 4 lights my tank temp is around 79.5 at the end of the day right before my lights go out.BUT I keep my house at 69-70 degrees. So you have a few options upgraded fans,go topless,lower room temp,get a azoo fan to put on the back of the tank and have it blow onto the water.I would just get 2 upgraded fans and leave the back lid open it will get the temp down to 80-82.

 

 

Forgot to add I have a biocube 29 with a 4.36 light upgrade. I also have a MJ 1200 2 koralia nanos and I can maintain my temps around 78-79.5. It is all about ROOM TEMP and upgraded fans my friend.

 

i'm looking at the SlienX IXP-34-16, they are 60mm fan...will that fit into the stock slot or i have to make futher modification to make it fit?

 

My water is evaporating like crazy, 10 hours ago i filled it up to an inch over the max level and 10 mins ago..they were right above the min. level.

[phil47952]

i'm looking at the SlienX IXP-34-16, they are 60mm fan...will that fit into the stock slot or i have to make futher modification to make it fit?

 

My water is evaporating like crazy, 10 hours ago i filled it up to an inch over the max level and 10 mins ago..they were right above the min. level.

 

I have an AquaPod 12 and had the same problem, too much heat. I added an extra fan to blow air out and that didn't solve the heating up so I drilled a hole in the feed door and put a 60MM fan there but it's blowing in...Problem solved now it gets too cool as I don't have a heater yet.

Oh, I also went with the ballasts and lights that come with the AP 24. so expected some extra heat.

 

Phil

[Yamato]

Yamato, from your experience which mod made the biggest difference in getting your temperature down?

 

Also, would there be any side effect to cutting a hole and putting an 80mm fan above the lighting to draw air out of the chamber, while switching both of the stock fans so that they draw air in?

 

Sorry to get back to this so late,and it seems like the thread has answer the questions but I give it a shot anyway.

 

Cutting a hole and placing a fan above the lights would definitely lower your temp. It may not increase your rate of evaporation tho since the fan is not pulling air that is above the surface of teh water but what it will do is remove the excess heat the stock lighting is giving off. I don't even think you need to change the direction of the air flow for the two stock fans. But that seems like a huge mod and it might not look too nice. Cut a hole in the back of the hood where you can't see it. put the fan there, that should do the trick.

[Kenobi]

I just placed an order for 2x50mm fan to replace the stock ones and 2x60mm fan to stick them in the back of the lid. Now I'm just worrying about the wiring.

[nor_cal_nano]

If you have coral, IMO the temp shouldn't reach over 80degrees.

 

I don't quite agree here. Temp swings are the most important thing to keep in mind. There are plenty of users on here that report the best growth from their corals when the upped their heater to 81 degrees to minimize the swing. They reported growth best at a constant temp of about 81-82 rather than the 79-82 swing.

 

I've seen beautiful reefs kept at 84+

[JBinFla]

Hey guys noobie here to reef keeping, just bought a 14g biocube and with a house set at 73° my take is running 83° with stock lighting. I'm already deep into this thing $$$ wise and would like to avoid trial and error. Let me summarize what I think I just read and hopefully someone can chime in and let me know if I'm right.

 

1) Adding fans blowing in will cool it, but at an excessive evaporation rate (requiring ATO)

 

2) Chiller

 

3) Lighting upgrade (3.24, LED?)

 

4) Pump upgrade

 

So I bought the nano cube with hopes that I could have a small reef to get into the hobby and do like the all-in-one look. I don't like the idea of having external equipment (forget the price). Things like an ATO requires an external tank of fresh water. Chillers are also external and seem excessive (and pricey?). And I'm really not liking the idea of chopping this hood up (I'd butcher it up). I am trying to find this 3.24 upgrade and find a lot of links, but no actual purchase page to see what it is, etc? Can someone point me that way. Also, are there LED replacements for the existing CF bulbs? Something that keeps the stock hood look. I guess if getting rid of it and going rimless with a pendant is the answer then okay but I kinda like the enclose all-in-one look and would prefer to eliminate the heat source than to treat it. And, since I'm not the best mechanic, are these kits plug-and-play or at least bolt together with good instructions? If I have to cut the plastic, make adapters, etc. I'm probably going to end up with a Frankenstein hood.

 

Anyhow, sorry for my first post being so convoluted. I was so happy to get the tank, set it up, and bought it all at my LFS. Now that it's going and I'm watching I'm worried I got off to a bad start as corals are my ultimate goal with this thing. Thanks for any help, links, etc. that may help me.

 

- JB