Bad heater

[Fragged Up]

Just looked at the temp in my tank and it's showing 87 degrees. I put in a pack of ice and checked the heater and it was very hot. The thermastat is junk. I had it turned down to 70 but it was still running. All this time I thought it was my new light!

 

[Moe_K]

Moving out to Reef Talk.

The "Equipment" forum isn't for questions on equipment - it is a "for sale" forum.
Please don't take this as a rebuke. It's not a rare mistake.
Hopefully you'll get more replies out in Reef Talk.

 

[smcnally]

Wow, I don't think I would ever put ice in my tank. Not only will it cause really cold water to blow on livestock that is now overheated, but it will also lower your salinity. Believe it or not water will lower temperature at a more rapid rate without the ice. It will change temperature at a more rapid rate when what is causing it to change (room temp in this case) is a "nearer" temp. Something I learned on "Mr Wizards World" when I was about 10 and for some reason has stuck in my head ever since.

 

[maurod]

Just the act of siphoning water and re-pouring it in the tank should cool it by allowing it to radiate heat as it is falling into the bucket. (Maybe put a bag of ice in bucket ?)

This could help you until you get a new batch of SW made up.

M.

 

[Mr. Slippery]

Heaters suck, IMO. I don't trust them and I don't even run one on my system. My lights are all the heat I need FWIW, the Ebo-Jager 150 I use for change water is on it's lowest setting, and the temp in the barrell gets close to 90 overnight. Probably the only way I'd use them is through a controller, so I can be sure they shut off when not needed.

 

[smcnally]

Yep, that's what I do. I have them set to about 82 degrees, but they are controlled by a nice and expensive temp sensor and controller.

 

[NateHanson]

An Ice pack is a perfectly good way to cool the tank down. Siphoning and returning water to your tank won't cool it at all. Water has a very high specific heat, so it holds its heat very well and for a very long time. At anything over 85 degrees, IMO, you need to cool it down fairly quickly, and icepacks are a great way to do it. I always keep a couple in the freezer just in case.

And with all due respect to Mr. Wizard -- if you add room temperature water to your tank (say 70 degrees) you'll need about 1/3 or your total tank volume to lower the temp from 87 to the low 80s! That'd be about 30-40 gallons into my 80g system!

 

[smcnally]

And with all due respect to Mr. Wizard -- if you add room temperature water to your tank (say 70 degrees) you'll need about 1/3 or your total tank volume to lower the temp from 87 to the low 80s! That'd be about 30-40 gallons into my 80g system!

LMAO. I think an ice pak would be much better than ice in general. I honestly don't know what would be more effective. I was just also wondering what would be better for the corals, a gradual change back down to temp, or faster.

 

[Fragged Up]

I actually put the pack in a ziplock bag, in case it had a leak. It did work and Nate is right it would take to long to cool it by siphoning it out. Temp is now back to where I need it!

 

[smcnally]

Oh, I thought you said you put an package of ice in...Not an ice pack