80° temp

[Nathan Milender]

I did not see mention of what type of heater you are using (or how many). It is not unusual for the heater reading to need to be calibrated. If you have more than one put it in a bucket for a couple of hours and measure the temp. If it warms to 80 turn it down to your target temp and put it back in the tank. I use the jagers, it is not unusual for them to need a minor adjustment. I rely on the apex and I often recheck with my thermapen (an expensive cooking thermometer but it reads nice and fast). Also, if the tank reads 80 and there is no other problem you might just leave it. If your tank is truly overheating I would expect more of a deviation in cycle with the lights then a constant read of 80.

 

[Act1n1c_L1fe]

We keep our house at 70. But in the summer it does not stay at 70. Sometimes even with the ac at a constant running my house can reach 90°. So I'm trying to get this under control

in that case, a screen lid might be a good option when your house gets warm

 

[Nathan Milender]

I use the screen lids and like them. I have never had an eel and I do not know how strong they are so consider a locking mechanism if they push as the screens are really light.

 

[mandi29221]

I did not see mention of what type of heater you are using (or how many). It is not unusual for the heater reading to need to be calibrated. If you have more than one put it in a bucket for a couple of hours and measure the temp. If it warms to 80 turn it down to your target temp and put it back in the tank. I use the jagers, it is not unusual for them to need a minor adjustment. I rely on the apex and I often recheck with my thermapen (an expensive cooking thermometer but it reads nice and fast). Also, if the tank reads 80 and there is no other problem you might just leave it. If your tank is truly overheating I would expect more of a deviation in cycle with the lights then a constant read of 80.

I'm using a aqueon pro heater its currently at 74° I do not have a apex I'm a stay at home mom so I'm always here with the tank. I've used 3 different types of temp readers. My tds/temp reader. A mercury temp. And a magnet type thing all read 80

 

[dansreef]

I may be missing this.... are you running a sump? I understand the reason for a solid top on your display. If you can get something that is more open that will keep your eel in...great. That will help alot. You could also add a fan to your stand and blow it across your sump. Evaporation will help dissipate heat. I have done it in a similar situation....it worked for me.

 

[mandi29221]

I may be missing this.... are you running a sump? I understand the reason for a solid top on your display. If you can get something that is more open that will keep your eel in...great. That will help alot. You could also add a fan to your stand and blow it across your sump. Evaporation will help dissipate heat. I have done it in a similar situation....it worked for me.

Yes I'm running a sump. I leave my cabinet doors open at night. Ima talk to my husband tonight when he wakes up to see what ideas he can come up with. Maybe make a lexan cover with alot of holes.

 

[vanpire]

You can add a fan in your sump to cool the water. I use one of the clip on fans from amazon. They cost between $15-$20 and work great.

I, however, try to keep my temperature between 80-82 for my corals.

 

[Bpb]

I run 70-81 and everything is doing fine. Lots of demanding/difficult corals in my tank thriving at those temps

 

[salty joe]

Your DC pump shouldn't produce much of any heat, as would you skimmer pump or MP40. Those just don't generate any heat.

DC pumps do produce heat. IDK how efficient they are but any energy not used to move water is wasted to heat. Mine get warm (barely) to the touch. Being submerged, the heat dissipates quickly so 20 or 30W wasted energy would probably not be enough to ever make them hot. I'd guess my 36-40W DC pumps waste well over half the energy to heat.
I agree that 80 is not a big deal.

 

[salty joe]

I run 70-81 and everything is doing fine. Lots of demanding/difficult corals in my tank thriving at those temps

That's quite a temp swing. Is that from one season to the next?

 

[Flippers4pups]

DC pumps do produce heat. IDK how efficient they are but any energy not used to move water is wasted to heat. Mine get warm (barely) to the touch. Being submerged, the heat dissipates quickly so 20 or 30W wasted energy would probably not be enough to ever make them hot. I'd guess my 36-40W DC pumps waste well over half the energy to heat.
I agree that 80 is not a big deal.

I agree any of them would produce some heat, but not nearly as much as AC pumps would.

 

[Tautog]

I had this issue, and the easy fix was to use egg crate.
My lids separated from the plastic hinge, and replaced the small portion with the egg crate
My temp stays at 76-78 degrees

 

[Bpb]

That's quite a temp swing. Is that from one season to the next?

Goodness. Typo. Good catch. 79-81 lol. 70 would be approaching temperate zone

 

[salty joe]

Darn, I stay between 77-81 winter to summer. I was thinking maybe running a little cooler in the winter to save a little.

 

[Bpb]

Darn, I stay between 77-81 winter to summer. I was thinking maybe running a little cooler in the winter to save a little.

I see nothing wrong with that.

 

[Philipgonzales3]

I have fans in my sump. Not sure how much they help yet though. Our old house would get to 85F last summer with the AC on. We moved to a new rental house so hoping it doesn't get that hot also.

 

[javafish]

Just unplug your heaters and see if the temps drop. That way you can At least eliminate the heaters as a problem

 

[mandi29221]

So this is absolutely the issue. Yesterday I opened my glass canopy. And with in 20 minutes it cooled down. So I need some options. I've been looking into the DIY screens. But my hang on overflow and return pipe get in the way. It has to fit realy well do to the fact if my eel.

 

[mandi29221]

I've done numerous DIY screen tops over the years, Including for my QT tanks. You can definitely do some for your tank, even with hang on equipment.

Back to the temp. Yes, 80 degrees isn't bad, though most of us prefer 78 degrees for a coral tank. Ambient temperature in your house also dictates how well your tank manages and regulates temp. So, this could be a issue during the summer months ahead of us here in the US. Glass tops definitely hold temp in.

Blowing air at the tank, sump helps.

What screen DIY options have you used do you have a of picture it.

 

[Flippers4pups]

What screen DIY options have you used do you have a of picture it.

I don't have any pictures of any my screens I've made on my phone. Once you have measurements of the area needed, you can purchase the parts from big box hardware stores. In the window section.