Pump/temp question

Wiz · May 20, 2017

Hey guys, have an issue I was hoping you all could help with. I usually keep my tank temperature around 80 to 82 degrees. After going to reefapalooza and hearing some of the experts speak I decided to cool it down. I adjusted my heater down to 72 degrees just to see what would happen. The tank fell to about 74.5 and leveled out there. Gets warmer during the day. Up to about 78.
It recently got much warmer in my area. We had to 85 Degree days in a row. Coincidentally in the first morning I woke up the tank was sitting at 82 degrees. It was not even that warm out just yet. So I thought something might be funny but turned the AC on and thought nothing of it. That night when it cold outside the tank did not go below 80 degrees. The next day got up to 84 degrees and I had to turn the AC on again. And last night it dropped to about 81 but did not go below. So I started to think something might be wrong.
I know my skimmer sometimes gets buildup on it from the dosing and we'll stop. At which point I need to clean the impeller with vinegar. I have not noticed any issues when I do this but it was in winter so I might not have. The skimmer has not stopped but I shut it off just to see if that might be the issue. I'm assuming it runs warm since it gets enough build up to stop the pump. This morning I woke up to 75 degrees. It is now about 80 degrees in my area and the tank is sitting at 74. It would appear that the skimmer pump is what was heating the tank up. Even though it had not stopped. Can anybody speak of experience with this. Or any thought on if this might be the problem?

Flippers4pups · May 20, 2017

When the skimmer pump is running, is it warm to the touch? What skimmer are we talking about? How old is it?

Wiz · May 20, 2017

I won the skimmer on the site actually. It is in a atb Nano one. It has been running for a little over seven months. Brand new before that. I cannot say that I noticed a stronger warmth on the pump when I shut it off. But to be honest I was not paying very good attention.

Wiz · May 20, 2017

It is at least 75 to 80 degrees again. And the tank is sitting at 74 degrees with the lights on. There is at least a five or six degrees difference without the skimmer pump on.

ndrwater · May 20, 2017

Many pumps can/will add heat to the tank. IMO, your heat gain seems excessive.
Also, double check your heater, a notorious piece of equipment prone to failure.
If the pump on the skimmer is anything beyond warm to the touch, I would consider replacing it sooner than later.
As an aside, if you are having to clean the impeller as often as you mentioned, you may be precipitating Calcium and or Alk due to an imbalance in water chemistry. Magnets are one of the 1st pieces of equipment to be affected.

Wiz · May 20, 2017

I do get precipitation on my refugium glass. As well as on the skimmer pump. But the chemistry is exactly the same as it has always been. The precipitation started when I moved. But I get the water in the same place the only difference is that the tank is larger. Perimeters are exactly the same

Wiz · May 20, 2017

The heater is brand new and has not turned on. I checked periodically for the light.

Wiz · May 20, 2017

I think the precipitation might be due to how fast I dose. I do not have pumps. So I use a drip line method with air tubing. I am adding a good amount more of elk and calcium do to the size increase. However the percentages should be exactly the same so I do not understand why I would get the precipitation

ndrwater · May 20, 2017

Wiz said:
I do get precipitation on my refugium glass. As well as on the skimmer pump. But the chemistry is exactly the same as it has always been. The precipitation started when I moved. But I get the water in the same place the only difference is that the tank is larger. Perimeters are exactly the same

Here is something else to look into as far as precipitation. If you are using a doser, are the Ca and ALK set to dose at the same time? You would be amazed at how fast the reaction is if you mix the two additives. I had a similar problem in the past, and solved it with staggering my dosages as to make sure not to mix the two.
If you are precipitating at all, something is amiss. The analogy I will use here is Phosphate and how people say "my test reads zero" and yet there is hair algae everywhere. Obviously, the Phosphate is being consumed by the algae, but the test reads zero.
It is possible that your water chemistry is at a relative ballance, but the extra Ca/ALK are precipitating out, in the glass, skimmer impeller etc.

Wiz · May 20, 2017

I do add both at the time.

calc in display and alk in fuge. I could do one at night and one in the a.m.

ndrwater · May 20, 2017

Wiz said:
I think the precipitation might be due to how fast I dose. I do not have pumps. So I use a drip line method with air tubing. I am adding a good amount more of elk and calcium do to the size increase. However the percentages should be exactly the same so I do not understand why I would get the precipitation

Remember, Ca and ALK additions should only be increased by coral demand, not by water volume. Again as an example, if you were dosing "x" ml of both Ca and ALK in a 50 gallon tank with 5 corals, by moving the same corals to a 100 gallon tank does not require a 2 x "x" increase in dosing. By checking often if not daily, you can get a real time indicator of what you corals are actually using, and then dose accordingly.

Wiz · May 20, 2017

I did not mean to imply that I was a dosage by the water volume. The first two months were testing every three days. Just took more to bring the levels up in that amount of water at first

ndrwater · May 20, 2017

Absolutely no harm, no foul. Without speaking face to face, sometimes details can be lost. I just wanted to make sure you understood. Dosing can be rather tricky, with many of the pitfalls rarely discussed.
To be honest, I am seriously considering a Ca reactor for my big system. Removes a lot of the little mistakes that are unfortunately common. I have made ALL of them, and can speak from experience.

Wiz · May 20, 2017

I did a full round of testing yesterday. The only problem was nitrates were just under 20. Other than that everything was good. Alk about 9.7 + calcium about 400

ndrwater · May 20, 2017

Here is yet another debatable topic. IMO Nitrate at or around 20 is perfectly acceptable if not ideal.
For quite a while, nearly all reefers, myself included, were chasing near zero numbers on things line Nitrate and Phosphate. This has been proven to be detrimental to coral health and coloration. People are now ADDING nitrate to their systems to help improve growth and colors.
Unless you are running a ULN system such as Zeovit, zeros are, again IMO, a bad thing. Stability is key. Manageable levels of both are easily attained without things like Bio pellets or GFO.
Really the proof is in the pudding so to speak. If your tank LOOKS happy, it probably is. I have a few canary in a coal mine corals in my tank that with a glance I know if things are good or amiss.
To be honest, I couldn't tell you the last time I tested for nitrate. Alk on the other hand, daily. Using a Hanna ALK Dkh tester it takes maybe 2 minutes.

Wiz · May 20, 2017

Yeah my nitrates generally float around 5-10 which does not bother me at all. The only reason why 20 is slightly worrisome is because it is real easy to go up from there.

ndrwater · May 20, 2017

Also note that BRS just did a video on Chaeto to try and see if a fuge was a good nutrient export method. While doing their experiment, they determined that Nitrate test kits are horribly unreliable. Again IMO, regular water changes will keep nitrates at a reasonable level. It can be however, a slippery slope as you mentioned. Unreliable, inaccurate or not, consistent readings are key.