Jump to content
Innovative Marine Aquariums

Equipment heat transfer in pico tanks


Partially Submerged

Recommended Posts

Partially Submerged

I wasn't sure whether to post this here or in the Equipment section, but I figured this is problem something specific to very small tanks.

 

I have a 4g tank with one PAR30 and one PAR16 bulb, two small pumps, and a Hydor 50W heater. The temperature doesn't fall below 82, no matter how far down I dial the heater. Now, it's possible the heater is shot of course, but I am wondering how much excess heat those pumps and lights might generate. Does anyone else have this problem? The ambient temperature is about 70 degrees.

Link to comment
NorthGaHillbilly

I wasn't sure whether to post this here or in the Equipment section, but I figured this is problem something specific to very small tanks.

 

I have a 4g tank with one PAR30 and one PAR16 bulb, two small pumps, and a Hydor 50W heater. The temperature doesn't fall below 82, no matter how far down I dial the heater. Now, it's possible the heater is shot of course, but I am wondering how much excess heat those pumps and lights might generate. Does anyone else have this problem? The ambient temperature is about 70 degrees.

Have you tried running the tank for a day without the heater in there?

Link to comment
Partially Submerged

No yet. But I am starting a trial this morning. Right now it looks like the heater still comes on from time to time even though it's set to 73 and the tank is 81. Stupid POS... :furious:

Link to comment
NorthGaHillbilly

No yet. But I am starting a trial this morning. Right now it looks like the heater still comes on from time to time even though it's set to 73 and the tank is 81. Stupid POS... :furious:

It seems like heaters are the least developed pieces of equipment in our tanks, especially the really small tanks.

Link to comment

Do you have a lid on the tank too?

 

How high above the water line do you have the bulbs?

 

Edit- I can't find your build thread. Do you have one?? Interested to see how you got two bulbs above a 4g!

Link to comment
Partially Submerged

Even the RKL seems like overkill in my tank. I am really not interested in controlling anything but temperature. Are there single-stage temp. controllers that are worth their money? I saw one by Azoo, but it gets terrible reviews. Also, is it okay to use a controller in a GFCI power strip, or would that be considered daisy chaining?

 

 

Do you have a lid on the tank too?

How high above the water line do you have the bulbs?

Edit- I can't find your build thread. Do you have one?? Interested to see how you got two bulbs above a 4g!

 

No lid and no build thread. I don't have a decent camera to take pictures with, but I can post a bunch of pics when I get a chance to snap a few pics with my phone. The lights are about 10 (Par30) and 6 inches (Par16) from the surface. But the temperature was ridiculously high even this morning, so the lights aren't the culprit.

 

It seems like heaters are the least developed pieces of equipment in our tanks, especially the really small tanks.

Definitely. While a good filter can run for a decade, it seems like with heaters the expectation is that they break after a year or two. Which kind of make sense given the inherent stress that heaters are exposed to and their low prices. I just wish someone came up with a higher quality solution. I'd gladly pay $100 for a truly reliable, long-lived heater.

Link to comment

Glad you are checking the heater by not using it for a while. Excess heat can also come from your lights and from your filter/circulating pump(s).

 

My main pump is an Eheim compact 300 - 5 watts at 80 gph. I found that adding a Hydor Pico Evo-Mag 180 to my 4 gal pico raised the temp from 79.2F to 80.9F. Removing the glass top helped lower the temp to 80.5. But it wasn't until I removed the second pump that the temp returned to 79.2F

 

The additional 4 watt motor added to a 4 gal pico was responsible for the extra heat. That probably wouldn't happen in an 8 or 10 gal pico, but a 4 gal pico is not very forgiving.

 

Link to comment
Partially Submerged

Hey, I'd be thrilled if my pumps could keep the temperature in the 78-80 range without a heater. Unfortunately, it looks like my heaters are the problem. If they worked properly, they wouldn't come on at all at those temperatures.

Link to comment

I had a similar problem with my hydor 50 watt. I had to dial mine down to 73 and it keeps it at 78 now. I know this didn't work for you, but maybe you have to dial it down even more.

Link to comment
Partially Submerged

Of course. Ambient temp is around 71.

 

I had a similar problem with my hydor 50 watt. I had to dial mine down to 73 and it keeps it at 78 now. I know this didn't work for you, but maybe you have to dial it down even more.

 

Yeah, that's what I am doing now. I had another Hydor lying around, which is now set to around 73 as well and delivering 78. The original one couldn't even do that. I had it dialed down to around 72 and it was still doing >80. It had been okay for a couple of months, so I guess the thermostat broke.

 

It's a shame Hydor can't make a better in-tank heater. I've had one of their in-line heaters for around three years now. Never had any problems with it, and I expect to use it for many years to come.

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...