90 degree problem

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Rich42082

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
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Anyone know why my tank temp is 90 degrees?

My house is constantly between 72 degrees and 78 degrees. I just noticed its at 90 degrees. I have an 8 bulb nova extreme light fixture but I only keep 4 bulbs on most of the time. I have a regular HD bulb in the sump that I was keeping on 24 hrs but just recently turned off due to the high temp.

I don't want to buy a chiller. Any other thoughts on how I can keep temp low?
 
check your thermometer to see if its broken and giving false readings or its possible that your heaters internal stat is pooched and its constantly on
 
It's also possible your lighting is a factor, it's surprising how much heat the add to the system. I would put your light in the sump on a timer and run it at night as this will help reduce ph swings in the evening and it will help stabilize the temp. I would also suggest raising your lights above the tank a couple inches. This should help cool things off and if it doesn'tdefinately check out the heater.
 
the lighting doesn't have that big of an effect on the temperature of the tank. 2 or 3 degree shift i can see from a 4 lamp T5 but not 12 even from all 8 i don't see thsat happening
 
I have it set at 75 degrees and I don't have a lid. I have a hydor theo heater.

I opened all my cabinets and turned off all the lights and my temperature is at 88 degrees now.

Originally it was a little over 90 degrees.

Could the pump be over heating the water? Not sure what could get the water so high. I am slowly cooking my fish.
 
Get temp down. Any fish or coral? Did they survive?

Freeze 2 liter bottles full of water and put in tank.
 
All fish and coral are alive. My hammer corals have not opened.

The only difference I have done is I added 2 hydor koralia 1400 wavemakers to my DT.

I could add the 2 liter bottles but that would only be a temporary fix.
 
Go buy a couple of the $1 glass thermometers from the fish section at walmart... you need to validate that you are actually at 90 and it's not an issue with your thermometer. You should also unplug your heater and validate that you don't have a faulty thermostat in there causing it to stay on or think it's at a lower temp than it is.
 
+1. If it isn't the above 2 issues I would look at your return pump possibly overheating. Simply turning it off overnight would test that out, just make sure you have enough room in there for the water coming through!

I'd still test the thermometers and heater first, they are more likely culprits.
 
Temp is down to 85 now with my cabinet doors open and all lights off. All the heat was coming from the inside of my cabinets. I just unplugged my heater but I don't think that's the problem.

I'm thinking it might be my return pump. I'll give this a try and also I'll buy some extra thermometers. Just in case.
 
check your thermometer to see if its broken and giving false readings or its possible that your heaters internal stat is pooched and its constantly on


:) mostlikely one of these is the cause of the temp.

do your fish seem to be swimming loser to the surface or their gils going purple? usually with high temps you will starve the water of oxygen and the livestock can be struggling to breath. this may be a sign that your thermometer is infact correct and there is a fault with the heater.

either way don't let it sit to hot your livestock won't survive long if the temps are infact to high
 
No the fish are not swimming closer to the surface and no purple gills.

Temp is slowly lowering down to 80 degrees. Mainly because I have my cabinet doors open.
 
Heater was the culprit. Thank you all for your input.

Anyone have a link to a truth worthy heater?
 
i've never had an issue with my aqueon, my 26g kit came with an aqueon glass heater, and for my new build i bought an aqueon pro, which is the shatter resistant ones. keeps the temps pretty consistant
 
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