Temperature Question

[dinokath]

Hi all,

Still learning about the planted tanks and wanted to know what kind, if any, temperature spike I could expect with a planted tank? Let me elaborate:

Non planted, non high light tank temp: 76F - Like a rock, always there, summer, winter, fall, spring. Like a rock.

Non planted, high light (4x54 T5HO): 76F - ran this way for 2-3 days. Did it to see what it would do to my temp, which appeared to be nothing.

Planted tank, high light (4x54 T5HO), CO2 Injection: 80F - like a rock, since the second morning after planting. Turn the light off at night at 80F, turn it back on the morning at 80F. I did add some more fish, 8 zebra danios, three blue gouramis, one gold gourami and three plecos, all very small fish at this time.

My ambient air temp in the house is 77F, which is the highest it has been since planting the tank last Friday. At night it dips into the 63-67F range. Could all the 'growing' being done by the plants (lots of them by the way, check my profile album) cause the temp to rise like that?

Anyone have an opinion? Thanks in advance!

Dean

 

[jsoong]

I don't see how plants can give off that much heat. Did you check the heater? Maybe the dial got reset, or it was stuck "on".

 

[dinokath]

Thanks for the reply jsoong. Yep, unplugged the heater on Sunday. I took the glass off the top and stuck a very small house fan on there before leaving the house this morning (and shortly after my post) and the temp dropped back down to 76F. That must be it? The glass is holding the heat in a little more? I dont know.

Given what is in my tank (plants and fish), is 80F something to worry about?

Thanks!

Dean

 

[fort384]

80 is probably ok. 76-78 maybe better for the fish. You can retrofit some fans to blow across your hood. I just have a $5 radioshack AC powered computer fan blowing across my glass top (it just sits up behind the light fixture. It is AMAZING what that did to control the heat, and the thing is almost silent.

 

[dinokath]

Yeah, I was amazed how it dropped. Gonna leave the glass on tomorrow and see what the fan does. I will check out the AC fan at RS too. Thanks Fort!

 

[mgamer20o0]

the plants dont raise the temps its the lights lol. its highly possible its causing that jump. one of the reasons i run my tanks with out lids helps keeps the temps down. fans are a great idea. just keep playing around until you figure out what works the best for you.

 

[dinokath]

The light manual says not to run this fixture, Current USA Sundial 4x54 T5HO, without a lid in place. I assume it is due to shock risks? Fire? Rusting out the fixture? Thoughts?

 

[fort384]

It is because they dont want water to splash up on the fixture... so safety reasons.

I personally really prefer an all glass top to control evaporation (especially with high lighting required by planted tanks... water evaporates pretty fast).

I think using a fan on top of your glass top will get you the results you are looking for without sacrificing the top.

 

[dinokath]

I think I agree with you there fort. I am going to get one of those RS fans you show in one of your pics on another post. Great idea.