Ok someone explain this

[Tj203]

I have a 600 gallon tank, before I had a 125 gallon sump underneath the tank and I needed 2200 watts to keep is at 79 degrees. I just switched to two 275 ibc totes in the basement and now I have all my heaters unpluged but my tank temp keeps going up to over 81. I don't get how I almost double the water volume and I need no heater. My basement is not hot it is under ground on 3 sides so it is very consistent temp down there. The only other think I could think of is the friction of the water in the pipe because I am pumping over 7000 gph. Has anyone else experienced this or have any other ideas of why this is happening. If I don't need heaters the move will pay for itself

 

[Rocksor]

I have a 600 gallon tank, before I had a 125 gallon sump underneath the tank and I needed 2200 watts to keep is at 79 degrees. I just switched to two 275 ibc totes in the basement and now I have all my heaters unpluged but my tank temp keeps going up to over 81. I don't get how I almost double the water volume and I need no heater. My basement is not hot it is under ground on 3 sides so it is very consistent temp down there. The only other think I could think of is the friction of the water in the pipe because I am pumping over 7000 gph. Has anyone else experienced this or have any other ideas of why this is happening. If I don't need heaters the move will pay for itself

insulation properties of plastic totes and larger water volume in the totes is keeping the water temperature from dropping as fast. Was the 125 g sump glass? It also sounds like the pumps are contributing to the heating of the water.

 

[Tj203]

No it was 1/2 acrylic. And I thought I was going to have to insulate the ibc totes lol. 2200 watts is a lot of heat just crazy I don't need them and my basement is anywhere from 5 _10 degrees cooler then my living room.

 

[jjohnwm]

Gotta be the pumps.

 

[Tj203]

Gotta be the pumps.

Well pump I agree not to many other variables but how? 2200 watts the motor is 1.5 hp 1 hp=746
746 x 1.5 = 1119 watts for my pump and not even 10% of that can be transferred into the water. When I had ick and had to raise the water temp to 84 I needed over 3000 watts. Maybe a combination of things but I am happy lol

 

[jjohnwm]

Just spit-balling here...was the old pump perhaps an external model, which would transfer most of the heat generated into the surrounding air? Whereas if the new pump is a submersed model it transfers all the heat it generates into the water? I've noticed measurable temperature increases when making that type of change.

It certainly isn't friction developing in the pipes; if anything, longer pipes would allow more heat to be lost to the surrounding air.

Beyond that... I've got nothing.

 

[Tj203]

Just spit-balling here...was the old pump perhaps an external model, which would transfer most of the heat generated into the surrounding air? Whereas if the new pump is a submersed model it transfers all the heat it generates into the water? I've noticed measurable temperature increases when making that type of change.

It certainly isn't friction developing in the pipes; if anything, longer pipes would allow more heat to be lost to the surrounding air.

Beyond that... I've got nothing.

No both reeflo external pumps. I am lost too!!
I would understand it going down slower OK but to go up? I thought my controller went bad but I have all the heaters unpluged now too and it just keeps going up.
Logically to me something just didn't make sense that's why I figured ask on here. My basement is colder then my where the old sump was

 

[TwoHedWlf]

I have a 600 gallon tank, before I had a 125 gallon sump underneath the tank and I needed 2200 watts to keep is at 79 degrees. I just switched to two 275 ibc totes in the basement and now I have all my heaters unpluged but my tank temp keeps going up to over 81. I don't get how I almost double the water volume and I need no heater. My basement is not hot it is under ground on 3 sides so it is very consistent temp down there. The only other think I could think of is the friction of the water in the pipe because I am pumping over 7000 gph. Has anyone else experienced this or have any other ideas of why this is happening. If I don't need heaters the move will pay for itself

Did you actually average 2200 watts of heating, or did you just have a 2200 watts max heating? That is a HUGE amount of heating, Seven(and a bit) 300 watt heaters I doubt would be on full time to keep it warm. I'd be surprised if you were averaging much more than like 400-500 watts of heating unless it's in a cold garage. Less than that if it's a warm house.

If you were only drawing a few hundred watts or less for heating I could easily see bigger more powerful return pumps heating the water enough to overheat the tank.

 

[duanes]

Maybe one of your heaters thermostats is malfunctioning in the "on" position.
I have found heaters fail 50% of the time in the "on" position and can cook the fish.
I noticed one of mine fail, when the PVC carrying water started to sag, because it was almost melting.
If the heaters are over a year old, this would be my first Investigation point.
Unplug them one at a time, and see what happens.

After this type stuck "on" thermostat happened a couple times, I started buying significantly undersized heaters and using a few per tank as a safeguard instead of the size that could cook a tank, and replacing them yearly.

 

[Tj203]

Did you actually average 2200 watts of heating, or did you just have a 2200 watts max heating? That is a HUGE amount of heating, Seven(and a bit) 300 watt heaters I doubt would be on full time to keep it warm. I'd be surprised if you were averaging much more than like 400-500 watts of heating unless it's in a cold garage. Less than that if it's a warm house.

If you were only drawing a few hundred watts or less for heating I could easily see bigger more powerful return pumps heating the water enough to overheat the tank.

Great thought but I know I was using most of the 2200 watts because when I had to treat for ick I was not able to get it to 84 without adding more heaters. The room the tank is in is anywhere from 65 to 70 so that's 10-15 degree temperature delta. The pump can't do more then 50-100 watts top and it is much less then that. They call for 3-5 watts per gallon so that's 1800 to 3000 watts just for tank volume.

Thanks for the input!