Over Heating My Tank

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daveydoodle

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 4, 2009
243
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Colorado
If it's not one thing, it's another!! The problem now is controlling my heat/temp. Set Up is 150 gallon tank, 40 gallon sump. I have two (2) heaters in the sump; 300 watt Hydor and a 200 watt Hydor, both set at 80, but my tank keeps hitting 84-85. I've had both heaters unplugged for almost 24 hours now, and the temp is 83.5 right now.
It's been warm lately (80's-90's), and I run a Mag Drive 18 return pump. I also temporarily have a shop light (2 - 48" bulbs) as the lighting source while I'm working on the canopy.
Do you guys think the Mag Drive is kicking off a lot of heat? It's wide open (ball valve) so the pump is running at full steam! I left the lights off all day today as well.
Think I can get away with a single 300 watt heater set at 78 or so through the summer in order to keep the temp closer to 80? Ideas? I have a dual fans installed in the custom canopy I’m currently building, but that only cools the light source. If the pump is the main culprit for the unwanted heat source, how do I compensate?

 
The mag0drive 18 is submersable. Are you using it in the sump or in-line? Running it in-line will reduce heat buildup. Also, running a fan over the water's surface will act like a swamp cooler and pull heat from the tank. You'll lose water to evaporation more quickly but, the temp will drop. Best bet is to set an a/c in your window. Keep the temp at 80 in the room and you'll remove the problem.
 
don't know how much heat you are picking up with the pump, but i have had trouble with Hydror heaters. had it set to ~78 and the indicating light showed the heater was still "on" with the tank temp at 84. you may want to check em out.
 
Yeah, the mag drive is in the last baffled chamber. I can definetly do a fan over the water, but I need to keep a lid on it because I have an Arial Acrobatic Arowana (try saying that 3 times fast!) I can crank the AC lower in the house too. Ironic, I suffer all winter with ungodly cold just so that I can finally enjoy a nice comfortable 90 degree day, my fish can't!
 
daveydoodle;4172251; said:
Yeah, the mag drive is in the last baffled chamber. I can definetly do a fan over the water, but I need to keep a lid on it because I have an Arial Acrobatic Arowana (try saying that 3 times fast!) I can crank the AC lower in the house too. Ironic, I suffer all winter with ungodly cold just so that I can finally enjoy a nice comfortable 90 degree day, my fish can't!
Click to expand...

Obviously, you're not in the heat and humidity of Mississippi. No one ever enjoys 90 degree days here.
 
I keep my tank at 86 all day everyday. I live in Missouri, and last summer before I moved my tank to the basement my tank's where hitting like 92. I tried it all, 2 large fans one on the sump on on the tank, floating 1 gallon buckets of ice *like that helps cool 300 gallons*

I came to the conclusion if the air temp is hotter then the tank only thing you can do is buy a chiller. I ended up tearing down the tank and moving it to the basement this year so I don't have that problem.

The ironic thing is a water chiller that can handle like 300 gallons or so is big $$$, a window AC or portable AC less then half the price of a chiller; just food for thought.
 
Okay, now what? I put a small portable fan over the top of the water and I've dropped the temp of the house down to about 69-70 via AC, ceiling fans and attic fans. Yesterday I left for work at 4 pm at temp was 80.6 and this morning I returned at 4 am and the temp way 85.4. I immediately unplugged the heater and it slowly dropped by noon when I woke up.
Is the fact that the heater is in a small sump (40 gal) confusing the thermostat inside the heater? Is cooler water from the overflow box tricking the heater into working harder to heat the water which gets returned to the tank?
I know a single 300 watt heater shouldn't be overheating a 200 gallon system; I've had the second 200 watt heater unplugged for over a week now. The 300 watt heater is relatively new but worked great on the previous tank, so I don't think it's malfunctioning. I'm worried the swing in temps (80 - 85) is going to cause problems for my inhabitants.
Any other ideas???
 
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