New tank temp - how high is too high?

[newocean]

8O I am starting my first reef tank and have an Oceanic 72 reef ready bowfront with a 4 foot 130-watt Smartlite with daylight/actinic combo bulbs. I have a 3" sand bed and 110 lbs of fiji live rock. I also have a 20 gallon sump w/a skimmer and the heaters. All is cycling well, BUT my temp averages 90 degrees with the lights on and doesn't drop below 85 in the morning with the lights off all night. I've unplugged both 200W heaters in the sump with no effect on temp. I'm afraid to add hermits and detrivores with the temp this high, although the live rock doesn't seem to mind. How high is too high, and how can I lower this (without spending $1K on a chiller!). Also, what are the barely visible white "bugs" that are all over the live rock and in the water? I don't think they are dinoflagellates but then again I don't know - hoping they are beneficial. Many thanks - I've been lurking this board for the past several months while researching before putting my tank together - great info here!

 

[Anonymous]

where are you living?

the white "bugs" are beneficial. you will here them reffered to as pods. short for amphipod, copepod, anthropod, etc.

 

[Ryan7]

I would not have your temp above 82. If it is, install some fans onto your system. One blowing into the lights, and one blowing out. Also, you can add a fan blowing over your sump.

 

[ScottC]

you can find chillers for way under $1000, especially for a 72 gallon tank...www.drsfostesmith.com has them starting at $270, plus they are always on eBay, averaging $300-400 for 1/4-1/3 hp units that wil turn a 72 g into a lobster tank.

 

[liquid]

Hello newocean and welcome to reefs.org! To get the most out of your reefs.org experience please take a look at this webpage describing all the features of this website: http://www.reefs.org/library/howto.html

To answer your question:

* Temperature:
http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm ... efault.asp
http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm ... efault.asp

I would not add anything until you get your temp under control. Try adding a couple 4" or 5" muffin fans to your setup -- maybe around 100 cfm or so. You can purchase them at Radio Shack or http://www.hosfelt.com/ for about $20 per fan. Also, do you have a glass top on your tank? If so, remove it as you are getting a 'greenhouse effect' in your tank with it on there.

* White bugs:
http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/index.html

hth

Shane

 

[danmhippo]

Try installing a couple fans blowing into water surface in the sump as evaporative cooler. Also, direct one or two powerheads in the main tank to create surface agitation in the display tank, but make sure the water does not spray onto the lights. If you live in the hot climate, a chiller is the safest bet to protect your $$$$ investments.

 

[trigger0214]

I just lost ALOT of my alevopora and frogspawns (LPS's) because my temp got UP to 90.....

 

[Will C1]

what kind of pumps are on your tank? mabe their over heating?

 

[newocean]

Thanks for all the replies. I live in the northeast - where we still have about a foot of snow on the ground! I can't believe temp is an issue at this time of the year. My house temp is 70 degrees year round between heat and central air.

I am running a Mag 950 in a 20gal sump with a Sealife Systems NV 150, both submersible pumps. I was blaming the lights, but Will makes a good point that the problem might be the pumps creating the heat.

I also did not have a powerhead installed, but I have placed a Maxi-Jet 1200 in the tank this evening. Hopefully that will help. If not, the Y in the road becomes chiller vs an external main pump. Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

something's amiss

 

[Will C1]

those pumps usually dont over heat i use mags in my tanks, do you know for sure the temp is that hot? what kind of thermometer are you using?

 

[danmhippo]

If you want to which road on the Y you should take, try stopping the MAG or turn the light off for a day and see what happens.

 

[Steven]

How far is your tank from the nearest heating vent? We also have over a foot of snow on the ground here and keeping a house at 70 requires steady output from the furnace, especially during the recent cold snaps. Could be hot air is blowing too near your tank.

 

[baseman]

What kind of pump runs the skimmer? I have two mags in a 20g sump. A 9.5 return and 5 running the skimmer. I too live in the northeast (but I have closer to 3 ft of snow), my tank is directly in front of the baseboard heat, and I run 4x96W PC lighting. I've never had a problem with heat.

 

[newocean]

I initially thought the thermometers were a bit off, so I purchased a glass unit in addition to another strip type. They all seem pretty consistent, so I can't blame them (wish I could!). I don't have the tank near any heating vents, and it is not near any other source of heat like a fireplace. The pump on the skimmer is a RIO CA2200 that came with the Sealife Systems NV150 skimmer. The powerhead that I added last evening helped a bit and brought the temp down to 85 degrees. Overnight, I left the lights off and the canopy open, but interestingly the temp was 85 degrees in the morning as well. I guess that eliminates the lights as the prime culprit. Does this start to sound like a pump heat transfer issue? With the exception of the lights, they are the only things turned on. Since I am in the process of curing 110 lbs of live rock in the tank, would it be harmful to turn off the skimmer for a day to see if it is causing the heat buildup? Thanks for the replies & suggestions.

 

[danmhippo]

At this point, you have no other livestock other than the LR. Yes, you can turn each electrical device off to test which is the culprit.

Also, try filling a bucket of freshwater and place it next to the tank. Leave it for 24 hours and test the temp.

 

[0db]

Are you sure you didn't accidentally drop a large chunk of uranium or some other radioactive waste into your tank? 90 is incredibly high, and your lights shouldn't be producing nearly enough heat to get it there. In the middle of summer, with a 400W metal halide light + actinics on my 55, and room temps approaching 85 at times, my tank never went above 86 degrees.

 

[newocean]

Two days ago I setup my quarantine tank, a simple 10gal tank with a foam filter and some LR. This tank is in the same room as the main display tank, and interesting it's temperature is a consistent 74 degrees without heaters. That's over 10 degrees difference between this tank and the 72-gal main tank. With the lights and skimmer pump turned off, the temperature maintains at 84 degrees. The only other device running is the Mag 950 main pump, which I really do not want to turn off for an extended period to determine if it is the cause. The PVC hard line attached to this pump seems warm to the touch. I hate to tear the hardline apart to get to the pump which is under a plexiglass cover in my sump unless I am going to replace the pump(I did put bulkheads on both the inlet and the outlet, so this is doable). Anyone ever have one of these Mag pumps overheat? Is it reasonable to believe that this pump could be causing a 10+ degree temperature shift on a 72 gallon tank?

Thanks - any suggestions appreciated!

 

[Anonymous]

Set up the powerheads to agitate the surface, set up a strong air pump with a bubble bar for the l/r, and turn off the main pumps for 12-24 hours to determine if they're the cause. You must determine now whether or not they're the culprits, or you will be battling this problem for the life of the tank. It would be irresponsible at this point to add anything knowing that you have a problem like this. The l/r, if it's well cured at this point, will not suffer any significant die off for this period of time.

Also, why are you lighting your l/r? This is completely unnecessary.

 

[Anonymous]

OH YEAH! Leave that skimmer running! Please tell us you used ball/gate valves on each end when you plumbed in the pumps, please? And that you used threaded connectors, not glued in, yeah?

Save your money and turn off those lights, they really are unnecessary when curing l/r, and if the outlet from the pump is warm it seems to me that you've found your answer.