Dan Chase Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 I have been experiencing wildly fluctuating temperatures in my 10 gallon tank, as much as 10 degrees between the morning when I wake up around 7:00am and around 10:00pm when I turn off the lights. Our house varies in temperature from (on a very cold night) upper 50's to mid 70's in the day during the winter, in the summer it. It's even worse, we have no AC, and temps inside the house can reach 90+ degrees. I currently have a 90w heater in the tank and a 32w PC light with one side 10,000k & the other an "Ultra Actinic." I have one powerhead near the surface to circulate the top water. I'm assuming the lights and raising ambient temperature are the reasons for the water temps to increase so much in the day. I had this same problem more then 15 years ago when I last tried a 10gal reef. Dose anyone have any suggestions for keeping a more even temperature? My future plans will be to add an AquaFuge, in the third chamber I will add my heater and a Coolworks IceProbe Aquarium Chiller, a custom hood with a 96w PC lighting system so I can try a clam and maybe some SPS coral. Should I add a larger heater? 10 degree variances in tempture over a 24 hour period can't be good for the inhabitants! What do your tanks normally vary throughout the day? TIA! Link to comment
LakerFan Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 Okay first you have to tell us what the temp fluctuates from, you say ten degrees, but a 70-80 degree shift is different from a 80-90 degree shift as far as treatment goes. If the temps get too high, which I'm assuming it does, then you can add a small fan to your setup. Fans really do a good job in dissipating heat produced from your lighting or from equipment in your tank. If you don't want the fan on all the time, buy a controller to go with it. If the temps are too low, then check into a new heater and circulation on that heater. I once had a FW tank that was warmer on the back side than the front due to lack of filtration. Link to comment
Satchmo Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 If your house temp gets in the 90's during the summer, I don't see this working unless you either use a chiller, or embrace air conditioning. Link to comment
Dan Chase Posted February 19, 2003 Author Share Posted February 19, 2003 LakerFan, thanks, The temps are ranging from 72 degrees in the morning to 82 degrees when I turn off the light at night. The circulation is a good suggestion, I hadn't thought of that. I'll move another thermometer to the side the heater is on, there are a lot of LR in that area to help hide it. BTW: I REALLY like your stand & hood you built, it gave me an idea for adding a drawer to my stand to keep my supplies in & keep the wife off my back! :woot: Satchmo, in my first post, my current upgrade in the next month or so, I do plan to add a chiller to the AquaFuge. I will probably add a few fans when I build the hood for both the top of the water and for light cooling. Unfortunately for now, it's an old tank I had in storage and similar to an Eclipse, it's difficult to move equipment from where the mfg. *wants* you to have it, that's why I'm building a new hood. Link to comment
lizbeth Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 What do you have the heater set at? If it's set to 79-80, where IMO it should be then you've got a bad heater or lack of circulation as suggested. Fans can do wonders for cooling a tank down but if you want a chiller for summer go for it. Link to comment
SBGRAD24 Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 Are you using a heater? Get that range up to 78-82 and you'll be fine. Link to comment
sjpresley Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 I agree, your heater is not set to what you think it is....set it at 80 and see what happens. My tank gets up to 83 and no higher by lights out whether the heater is set at 80 or 82. Just seems like that is the point at which heat added to the tank = heat lost to the environment. So I keep the heater set at 82 (which actually looks like 78 on the heater's thermostat, they often aren't accurate though they are usually consistent), to reduce variation...it gets to 83 after a couple of hours of lights, the heater never comes on during the day and the temp stays at 83 until lights out. Link to comment
freakaccident Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 Dont trust the stupid thermostat degree scale on the heater. Set it according to the thermometer in your aquarium. I have a 150w AND a 75 watt in my 10g. One in the sump and one in the tank. The big one is set at 72 according to the thermostat scale. It keeps the water at 79.5 like that. The small one is set at 82 to keep the water at 79.5. I set them one at a time when I initially set them. The point is just don't trust those things. The reason I have two heaters is that my heater broke when I was out of town this winter and a lot of stuff died in my tank. I will always have a backup now. Link to comment
Dan Chase Posted February 19, 2003 Author Share Posted February 19, 2003 Thanks to everyone for their replies, there is a lot of good advice there. I have had the thermostat set to 80 on the heater (90w) I cranked it up to 90 and will keep a close eye on it all day and tonight. I also think that circulation could be a real factor, so I'm leaving for the LFS to pickup another powerhead, while I'm there, I'm picking up a second thermometer to check reading's on the same side of the tank the heater is on. I have had this problem in the summer trying to keep the temps down, first time it's happened in 20 years in the winter, though! I suspect the thermostat on the heater is WAY off, I always go by the thermometer anyway. freakaccident, I have used duel heaters in all my large reef tanks in the past, I hadn't thought about it for this tank, but I think I will take your advice and add a second heater. Thanks all, I'll post what finally works for future reference. Link to comment
Crakeur Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 not sure if the microchiller will work on the aquafuge. I have both and I hang the chiller on the right side of the tank when it is needed. Lately I haven't had big swings in temp so I haven't had it out of the closet since the fall but spring is fast approaching and a chilling I will need. One thing you will have to watch is the drop in temp. The chiller pulls down temps up to 10 degrees, as advertised, so make sure your heater will suffice. I notice that, with the chiller on, in the hottest of hot summer days, my heater is still on most of the time. the microchiller is that good. Link to comment
freakaccident Posted February 19, 2003 Share Posted February 19, 2003 The chances of a heater breaking are slim but it won't happen to me again. Unless the breaker blows or something. A backup battery isnt a bad idea. Link to comment
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