Overheating

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
L

lister

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 2, 2012
22
0
0
UK
I'm trying to lower the temperature in my 175 (UK) gal aquarium from 80f to 75f,but after I set the heater to 75 and did a water change with cold water the temp creeps back up to 80f after a couple of days.
Initially I thought it was faulty heaters,so I bought new ones but still have the problem.The heaters light up when they're heating the water,but I've not seen the light on at all.

I have a 65watt Aqua Medic water pump inside the aquarium,driving a pressurised pond pump,and also a couple of smaller internal power filters of 30w and 10w (mainly to agitate the water surface),and have two 6ft 70watt fluorescent tubes in the hood (on 12 hours a day).

Is my overheating problem caused by the 100 watts of pumps in my aquarium,the lights or a bit of each?
 
Hello; Sounds like the pumps mentioned are submerged?? If so, in addition to some heat imparted by the friction of the pump impellers there will be heat from the operation of the electric motors. This heat will be dumped directly into the water. Lights also add heat to water.
Can you turn the pumps off?
 
skjl47 said:
Hello; Sounds like the pumps mentioned are submerged?? If so, in addition to some heat imparted by the friction of the pump impellers there will be heat from the operation of the electric motors. This heat will be dumped directly into the water. Lights also add heat to water.
Can you turn the pumps off?
Click to expand...

Yes,all are submerged,I could turn off the 30w pump and see if it makes a difference and just let the 10w blow across the surface - I can't really take the 65w 3500lph Aqua Medic pump out of the tank because it leaks from every gasket and is virtually impossible to prime.

Do you think I should replace the 2 smaller pumps with one of those wavemaker things the sell on eBay,they're only about 6 watts?

Or I could get a huge air pump,but then I'd need to install it in a bunker at the end of the garden to muffle the horrible buzzing noise...
 
I had this same problem with a 75 gallon a few years ago. My temp would go up to 90f. It turned out to be an old Dive Pro power head. I replaced it with a new one. The power head was very warm to the touch in the water. Check yours you pumps.
 
Hello; This is one reason I continue to use power filters with motors that hang on the outside of the tank. The water is only affected by the impellers and does not become a heat soak of the induction motor. Switching may undesireable as you already have the units in place and here will be the expense of new units. I have a few boxes of equipment taken out of service for one reason or another over the decades, it does pile up.
A room temp of 60 degrees F is very cool in my experience. The issue is likely to be worse as the season warms. I have an issue keeping my tanks cool during the summer season here as I do not care for air conditioning and only run it on a few of the hottest days. I switched to CFLs and fluorescent lignts from incadesence some years ago both for reduced heat and the lesser consumption of electricity. I plan to swith to LED at some point.
I always run an air pump. I find that they are somewhat less noisy if they can be hung so that the body does not touch anything. I also have wrapped them in a porous foam that helps with the noise. Some care to avoid cutting off air flow for pump operation and cooling needs to be taken. Suspended by rubber bands has worked well as long as a secondary string is attached to catch the pump when the rubber bands give way. Perhaps a member will be able to cite a quiet air pump.
 
Add a fan under ur stand it will cool everything. I put a huge fan in the middle of my stand underneath the tank and my avg temp is 2-3° cooler now!

#1 S. Vettel
 
Thanks for the replies,can't use a chiller cos I can neither afford to buy one or run one,can't see a fan helping because there's not much in the cabinet to point it at (just a filter canister and some big pipes).
I've switched off the Chinese 30w powerhead and have done a 30% water change to cool it down,I'll wait and see if that helps and let you know how it goes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom