Well, I came home today, and did some tank maintenence... temp was 81.xx, looking good... changed the filter bags out... while I was changing a bag out, I just happened to position one of the drains over the top of the temperature probe for the heater... and looked at the temp by chance, and it was 88+!!! I found that (I think) the temp probe was only partially in the water, after shoving it a few inches under the top, it read a solid 88.... I ran and got a 5 gallon hex with an attached temp sticker, and filled it, and it immediately went from low 70's (air temp) to off the scale.
This is the final straw... I'm afraid that I've been running at this temp for a while without knowing it! everything's fine, amazingly enough!
What do I need? I cut the MH's off for now, and the temp has dropped down to 88.0 and is still slowly dropping... looks like I need a SERIOUS chiller?? I want to run 81 or so normally... so delta 9 degrees in about 300 gallons of volume?
Help, I need advice!
overheating the tank (near disaster), need advice!
Moderator: snoopdog
overheating the tank (near disaster), need advice!
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-Josh Murrah
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snoopdog
- Yellow Tang
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Well the only way to run serious lighting is either keep your house chilly all the time and pray that helps or get a chiller. Personally i like my house like a sauna and that is not an option. I had to run a chiller in the 75 gallon when i wanted to run the halides for long times. For that size tank though you will need quite a large chiller probably 1HP or above. Chillers are very expensize and pull major juice. The 1/5 horse i had pulled around 10 amps while it was running. The only plus side to the chillers is the ability to totally remove fans and being able to run true cold temps like 76 degrees which is what some reefers like. A chiller is a major investment because of the price and the room they take up. Chillers can seldomly be run under the tank because of noise and the heat they produce on there on.
If you are really wanting to get one check with Rich, i got mine used from him for less than what a 1/5hp would had run.
If you are really wanting to get one check with Rich, i got mine used from him for less than what a 1/5hp would had run.
"When they was no meat we ate fowl, when there was no fowl we ate crawdad. And when there was no crawdad to be found, we ate sand."--Cellmate
"You ate what?"--H.I.
"We ate sand."--Cellmate
"You ate sand?"--H.I.
"That's right."--Cellmate
"You ate what?"--H.I.
"We ate sand."--Cellmate
"You ate sand?"--H.I.
"That's right."--Cellmate
Salt N'Lime made an incredible suggestion to us and gladly I can say it worked. We have reversed our lighting schedule. Our tank lights come on at 6:00 PM and go off at 6:00AM. Heck, we aren't here during the day anyhow and the house is WAY cooler at night than in the day. I keep the ceiling fans on during the day and all the living room lights out. The tank stays at about 78-80 degrees F.
Thanks Shawn for the suggestion!!!!!!!!!!!
Good luck Josh!
Elizabeth
Thanks Shawn for the suggestion!!!!!!!!!!!
Good luck Josh!
Elizabeth
I have the same tank (240gal) and run 4xvho and 4x400watt mh and I run a 1/3hp chiller (7.2amps) which runs about $700. I placed it outside to keep the noise and heat outside. Just removed one brick and ran power and water lines thru the wall. I also run one 4in computer fan in the hood to help remove the trapped heat. The fan comes on with the lights. I have very little evaporation and it keeps my tank at 80 to 81deg f. I find it is worth its weight in gold since my temp stays constant. I have it hooked in series with one of my return lines to the tank so no extra pump was needed. I control the heater and chiller with an Octopus controler.
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snoopdog
- Yellow Tang
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- Joined: Mon Feb 17, 2003 7:37 pm
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Yes the lesser evaporation is one more plus of the chiller. Less fans, lower temp much less evaporation.
"When they was no meat we ate fowl, when there was no fowl we ate crawdad. And when there was no crawdad to be found, we ate sand."--Cellmate
"You ate what?"--H.I.
"We ate sand."--Cellmate
"You ate sand?"--H.I.
"That's right."--Cellmate
"You ate what?"--H.I.
"We ate sand."--Cellmate
"You ate sand?"--H.I.
"That's right."--Cellmate
Well, I'm going to keep an eye on it...... I'm gonna chaulk this up to maybe a one time spike, I've never seen the temps like this, and my two show-like tangs (hippo, power-blue) both have ich due to the temp changes... I'm just hoping that everyone makes it right now, the tank has gone from 88 at 5pm, down to 82 at 10pm... I don't know what the heck happened, I just can't believe the temp got that high. I'll watch it tomorrow and see what happens. I'm afraid I'm gonna have to do like Terry and run a chiller, through the wall, sitting outside. Thanks for the tips kevin, I'll call Rich, and thanks for the idea Liz, although since our tank is so close to a set of bay windows we unfortunately can't run that schedule.
-Josh Murrah
Simular incident
Josh, My wife called me at work one day saying the temp was 88 in the tank. She turned off the halides and dropped the room temp and said it helped some. When I got home I found the temp probe wasn't submurged. It was in the hood reading the lighting temp. When I fixed the probe the temp went to 79. Maybe if your probe was in a cooler place then the heater may have run constantly trying to raise the temp. If so maybe it want happen again. Just a thought. Hope I never have the expense of a chiller although I'm sure their nice to have. Good luck.
Max
Max