Currently my tank is sitting at 83.7 degrees. WOW . I havent had this happen before and the room temp is only about 70 degrees. When do i starting seeing a danger level for my fish or snails ? How can i tell is my heater is stuck ? Should I unplug the heater now or see if it goes back down, I just now opened both windows in the room.
Tank heating up
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I floated two bags of ice on each side of the tank and I didnt turn the heaters off. The temp has already dropped an entire degree, I strive to keep this tank bw 79 - 81 degrees. I dont know what happened, I hope this isnt a bad sign for the summer months ahead.
Air movement over the surface of the water will speed evaporation and thus cool the water more quickly, so a fan blowing over the tank wouldn't hurt. But it's probably worth giving your heater a good inspection and making sure it's not working too hard.
tawolcott
Aquarium Advice Freak
If the ambient air temp of the room is 70, the only way the water can get that much above 70 is for the heater to be doing it. My guess is that the heater is bad. Happened to me. Do a water change lately and forget to turn the heater off? DId any part of the heater get exposed to air? That was my story, the heater didn't break as in not working anymore, it broke as in it won't shut off. Lost a couple fish, had the rest of the pretty po'd at me. Anyhoo.. take the heater and test it in a pot of water.
Floating the ice packs is probably lowering the temp faster than the heater can reheat the water, so don't just go by that anedoctal evidence.
Floating the ice packs is probably lowering the temp faster than the heater can reheat the water, so don't just go by that anedoctal evidence.
austinsdad
Aquarium Advice Addict
Could be a pump maybe...
cmor1701d
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yep, broken heater, lights or pump. Do you have any internal pumps that have not been cleaned in a while?
If you have MH lights going you probably want to have a fan blowing across the top or the sump to help with evaporative cooling.
I had that problem when I was out of the country and friend was stopping by to feed the fish. The house heated up into the 90's from the lights (it was a warm November) and I had shut all the windows. I lost all my sps and some lps corals. I had to frag my leathers to save what was still good.
If you have MH lights going you probably want to have a fan blowing across the top or the sump to help with evaporative cooling.
I had that problem when I was out of the country and friend was stopping by to feed the fish. The house heated up into the 90's from the lights (it was a warm November) and I had shut all the windows. I lost all my sps and some lps corals. I had to frag my leathers to save what was still good.
lando
Aquarium Advice Addict
Whatever you do, change the temp SLOWLY. Marine animals can withstand a surprisingly wide range of temps as long as the swings do not take place rapidly. As mentioned, check your equipment for any mal-functions, utilize a "topless" tank if possible and postion a small desk fan to blow across the surface of the water. You will be amazed how well this works for temp control. Just keep in mind that FW water top-offs will likely need to be done on a more regular basis due to the convection evaporation.
