Temperature problem - water is cold

[Tangs Rule]

I know there is another thread out there about this, but that member is having the opposite problem I am having.

I noticed that the temperature of my water is around 70 degrees. I have 2 heaters in my sump both set to 79 in this 150. Obviously they are not working. I put in a new heater last night and set it to 79. I watched it for 10 minutes and the light stayed on. This was around 11 pm. I went to bed and checked it again this morning around 7am. The light on the heater was still on, but the temperature had not gone up at all. Does it take this long for the tank to heat? This was probably only a 100 watt heater. It is an extra for my QT tank. Should the heater be placed in my tank instead of the sump?

The tank is in my basement which is naturally colder than the rest of my house.

 

[Killerdrgn]

You should switch heaters with the guy in the other thread. It would probably balance out. :tongue1:

 

[gimincorp]

I have an inline 200Wt heater that you can install on the water output back into your tank right before it reaches the aquarium. Some tubing will be required though. Let me know if you are interested. I believe it is by Hydor 200Wt. I planned to use it for 55 G, but never got the tank... How about $35? - it is new never used in original box.

 

[Chongpark27]

Try using a bigger watt heater ex. 400watt or 250watt,IMO 100watt heater is too weak to keep temp up and stable during the winter.

 

[junglebase]

I doubt a 100 watt heater will do anything on a 150 gallon tank (i am guessing you have a sump too). I would get at least 2 x 200 watt heaters for that size tank...

chong beat me to it...

 

[masterswimmer]

You said you have two heaters in the 150 already, but you didn't say what wattage they are.

Also, if you replaced a potentially broken heater with a good one and the temp didn't change, maybe the thermometer is broken? Are you using a digital thermometer or a mercury therm?

swimmer

 

[Tangs Rule]

The two heaters I had in the tank are 250 watts. I realize the 100 watt heater wouldn't be the solution but I did hope it would raise the temperature a couple of degrees overnight.

I am using a mercury thermometer.

 

[Killerdrgn]

Actually those thermometers should be iodine.

 

[MatthewScars]

This is how you solve this:

Buy two 250 or two 300w heaters, set them both to 85 degrees.

Buy a Ranco Temp Controller ($50) and split the input so you can plug both heaters into it.

Set the Ranco to 79 degress.

This way, your tank will always be ay ~79 and if one heater fails you have another as back up. Or if the ranco fails (never will but) the temps will only reach 85 (in theory).

I do this on my 90 and have not had issue for over a year.

 

[Keith P]

Matt has the right idea. May be a pricey option, but the safety net is worth the cost. I run the same setup, but with an ACJr.

 

[Marteen]

I would first check to see if your heaters are dialed in correctly. Take a 5 gal bucket and fill it with just regular tap water and put one heater inside. Wait 24 hours and measure the temp. Is the temp the same as the heater is set to? If not adjust the heater and see if you can't bring the water temp up to your desired levels. Do the same thing with your other heater. Most heaters will only be off by a few degrees but this way you can make sure your heaters are working. It could be your heaters have just gone bad on you and if you bought them at the same time there could be a fault in the batch.

If you do decide after testing to purchase new heaters I would recommend the 250w Visi-Therm Stealth heaters. Get two since they are only rated for 75g. It is odd that you are not getting any temperature increase with your current heaters though, have you checked your chiller if you have one? Also go out and get one of the $.99 alcohol thermometers they sell at petco and measure your temp those are pretty accurate.

 

[Tangs Rule]

The temperature is still low even with two 300 watt heaters in the tank. I do not have glass covers on the tank as I thought the direct light would be better for my corals. Does it make a big difference for my corals if I put the glass covers back on to keep the heat in the tank and raise the temperature?

Would a canopy help keep in the heat without glass covers?

 

[mluz]

It seems the basement where the tank is located is very cold.
What is the temperature in the room?

You can get some foam insulation and insulate the sump and make some type of cover for it as well. You would have to remove it the summer if the tank was getting too hot.

I addition you can also cover the back and sides of the tank if they are not visible, or you don't care for aesthetics (only in the winter).

Building some type of canopy (what i did in my tank) seem to keep the temperature pretty stable in the winter in my house set at 70f and the tank set at 78f. In the summer i have to run some fans in the sump to cool it.

Just my .02 cents

 

[Tangs Rule]

Thanks for your .02 cents. The temp in my house in 74, but the basement is more like 68. Before I removed the glass covers, the temp of the tank was stable at 78. Everything in my tank seems happy with the water at 70 degrees, but I would still like to get it up to 74 at a minimum.

Having the tank in a basement is great for the summer, as the basement never gets above 75.

I am thinking of adding a canopy because that is the most aesthetically pleasing.

 

[Killerdrgn]

are you sure you don't have a broken heater?

 

[Tangs Rule]

positive. I replaced them both, and have tested them on buckets before putting them into the tank and again 2 days ago when the tank wasn't getting any warmer.

I was also thinking about buying a titanium heater or two. Maybe that will help?

 

[mluz]

I think replacing the glass covers will work best in the short term. At least until you make some type of canopy for it.

 

[Tangs Rule]

Or buy a used one or have somebody build one for me. I am not a DIY guy (mostly because I am not good at it. I've tried.)

 

[mluz]

I don't believe you mentioned what type of lighting you are using.

I use 6 t5's, if you are using MH lighting building a canopy may not be a long term solution, unless you wan to use a chiller also.

I'm sure someone with more experience with MH lighting and will chime in and correct me.

 

[Tangs Rule]

I am not using MH lighting, I am using a coralife aqualight PC with 4 x 96 lighting.