New 90 Gallon Setup: Help with Temp Controll

[TheChad]

Hey All,

I just moved into my new home, and setup my new 90 Gallon Tank with built in overflow.

I have a 250watt Stelth heater, that kept my 55g tank at a constant 78.2 degrees for over a year.

In the 90 Gallon, I could not get it over 76 degrees with the Stelth cranked all the way up, so I put in a second heater, a 300 watt heater.

The problem I am having is that durning the day when I have the 2x 150w MH's fired up, My temp wants to climb into the 80's, but when they are off, the temp dropes to the mid 70's.

How do you stabilize the temp? The house temp will stay between 65 and 70 year around.

Also, this tank is a Marineland Corner flow, its a 4' tank, and its got the water return from the sump in the left corner, so the right side has next to no flow, Obviously I am going to have to put powerheads to get flow.

Has anyone with this tank put some PVC on the water return to extend the difusers to the middle of the tank?

Thanks,

-TheChad

 

[ccCapt]

I have 2 250w heaters for my 125. I will say it was tricky setting them up right, but I now have them dialed in so they kick on at 79. I have 3 175 mh's and when they kick on at 1 PM the temp is 79 and when they shut down at 9 PM the temp is about 80.5. It took me about a week messing with them to get it set right so the temp doesn't drop too much when the light are off, but also so they don't stay on once the temp starts rising.

I have a CornerFlo also, but I have overflows and returns in both corners. You definitely want a few powerheads in there for more water circulation. You can make a spray bar and extend the return across the back, but that will add some more head pressure to the pump and actually result in a little less flow.

 

[lando]

I have two 200 watt heaters in my 95gal. I had the same issue on the summer with heat. I started running a small desk fan over the surface of the water while my 250watt MH lamps are on. It keeps my tank a constant 79-80. IT only seems to be an issue when the daylight lamps are on.

 

[roka64]

I had the same issue with my 125. I had 2 finnex 300W heaters with three 150W MHs. I set up the floor fan on the same timer at the lights and it works great.

 

[TheChad]

ok, I got rid of the 250w heater, now I just got 1 300 watt heater, still having the same problem... 75 degrees when MH's are off, 80 when MH's are on... No matter what temp I set at while the MH's are off, in the 10 hour MH cycle the tank increases about 4-6 degrees.

How is it possible to stabilize the temp? I'm thinking of putting a timer on the heater to turn it off while the MH's are on, but that shouldn't make a difference right? The heater shouldn't be running anyway when its at or above its set temp.

Thanks,


-TheChad

 

[roka64]

Try the fan idea.....

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Yup... have a fan timed to come on with your lights, blowing across the top of your tank. You'd be surprised. Just get one of those little 6" clip on fans.

 

[TheChad]

Anyone ever tried these Aquarium fans?

New JEBO Aquarium Fish Tank Multi Fan Cooling System - eBay (item 190213579669 end time Apr-14-08 13:12:56 PDT)


I was going to just buy some AC computer fans, and mount them to the wall behind the tank, but I came across those Aquarium fans, which mount on the tanks edge, Thought if they work that's a bit easier than having to come up with mounting myself.

-TheChad

 

[ccCapt]

Seems like you just don't have the heater dialed in. Don't let it drop to 75. That's too cold. I would concentrate on keeping the temp 78 at the lowest point and if the lights cause a big rise in temp, work on setting up fans to help with the heat. A 5 degree swing from 75 to 80 is pretty big.

I have 2 fans from PLC units (basically computer fans) on each side in my canopy that are on the same timer as my actinics. I also have a bigger fan on the back of the tank in the canopy that is on the same timer as the MH's.

 

[TheChad]

Normally I keep my tank right at 78, the reason I let is drop soo much, is because the temp would rise soo much from the MH's I didn't want 85 degree temps!

But Over the last 2 days I've been keeping the MH's off, and dialing the temp to 78 with just actinics, Then I'll fire up the MH's and see what happens.

What about that JEBO fan I posted above? Anyone tried em? I don't have a canopy or I would just mount some fans in there, I just have the Light hood.

-TheChad

 

[Ziggy953]

I would suggest having 2 300w heaters on the tank. You don't want to depend on just one. Where do you have the heaters located? I run 3 heaters on my system 2 in my sumps and one in my refugium.

Really the temp to shoot for is closer to 80. My tank usually stays between 78.6 and 81. I have dual 175s on a 72g tank along with VHO and T5s. I have 3 fans in my hood 1 large fan blowing heat out of the canopy and 2 smaller ones blowing water into the canopy. This has worked very well for system. The only time I have a problem is when the temp in the house has a major drop or spike and then I have to change something.

 

[TheChad]

Right now I have my 300w heater in the center of the tank, just to make it easy to adjust, once I get the temp controll figured out, I will be putting the heater down in the sump.

I can do 2 heater in the sump, but whats the point if 1 300w heater will do the job?

-TheChad

 

[ccCapt]

I'm not sure about the quality of Jebo products, but that fan does look real nice.

2 heaters for redundancy. If 1 fails, you have a back up.

 

[cmor1701d]

As usual I agree with cccapt. I'm using a larger fan to keep my temps stable during the day (125g). I bought the Coralife which is really designed for a canopy and does not put ut emnough air for tank. I'm going to return it. You may also want to look at this Azoo unit that comes in a 2 or 4 fan unit.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I'm not sure about the quality of Jebo products, but that fan does look real nice.

2 heaters for redundancy. If 1 fails, you have a back up.

Not only that, if one of the two fails in the ON position, then you have more time to catch it before your tank gets too hot. If a single heater that is sized for your tank fails ON, you don't have as much time.