need a little help, temp too high

[martine&maribeth]

Our tank seems to be running a little hot lately, we set the heater to 76, but the temp seems to shoot up to 80. The temp on the second floor of our house (where we keep the tank... It's a 75 gallon BTW) is currently 74. I shut the tank heater off and shut the second floor heat off too.

I'm wowrried that were doing something wrong with the heater... Looking for some helpful hints about how to keep the tank cool, as this will be our first winter with the tank (we have had it since march of last year.)

Any help would be greatly appreciated, looking to nip this in the bud before it becomes an issue this winter.

Thanks

 

[sutton6989]

what kind of lighting do you have

 

[pillowfish]

Are you certain the heater is giving you a valid reading? If you have a sump under the stand I would open the doors to allow it to get some "cooler" air for now until you can figure out what is causing your temp to spike. If you aren't running fans during your photo period I would suggest doing so, you would be amazed at how well they keep the temp down just from the surface air.

 

[sutton6989]

its most likely your lighting thats heating the tank up to 80.. you could always raise the fixture higher or add some fans and what not..

 

[pallobi]

Easiest way to drop temp safely and relatively quickly, is point a fan at low to medium speed at the top of the displays water surface, or right into the sump... i always have a fan running over my system... u would be amazed at what a small, constant breeze will do...

 

[martine&maribeth]

Thank you all for your help, we have opend the doors to where the sump is so it can get a little more air and tomorrow ill pick up a clip on fan and aim it at the sump, hopefully that will help!

We have the solar xtreme lighting system that sits right on the top of the tank, and we have 1 gueissman pink bulb, a white one and 2 blues.

 

[pallobi]

with a little cross breeze under there, and a small fan, i think your problem should be sovled

good deal... give it a day or two like this, and then let us know how its working out for you...

 

[inverted]

It seems worth finding the reason why it is going up higher. It is probably heat from equipment. However, as far as 80 goes, that is sort of a perfect temp, so, I'm not quite sure why that would be a concern, other than the unexplained reason. 76 is a bit cold for a reef. It shouldn't hurt anything, but is unnecessary and may slow down growth a bit as growth is tied to metabolism, which is tied to temperature. The thermal optima for most of our corals which have been documented, tend to be over 80, usually 80-84ish actually.

 

[KSC]

+1^ I was thinking the same thing as I struggle to keep my temp. above 80. I run both my tanks at 80-85 and have been for years. I think the average reef temp. in the wild is about 82. If your heater is set at 76 and your tank is at 80, it just means you are heating the tank with your lights and pumps.