Red Sea Max E 170 Protien Skimmer Overhearing Tank

[Amanda Boda]

Hi,

I'm new to keeping and this is my first tank. As the title states, I have a red sea max e 170. I set this tank up and cycled it with the rear protien skimmer off. I just completed the cycle and went out and bought my first two fish yesterday.

It never occured to me that the protien skimmer would cause this much of a heat fluctuation. My tank was consistenly at 77° F and overnight it went up to 82° F after turning on the skimmer. How do I know if it's running efficently or if there is a problem that's causing it to overheat?

I have to go to work today (5 hours) so I turned off the skimmer to see if that will bring the temp down. It is my plan to get this sorted as soon as I get home. Is this normal? Did I make a mistake in setting up? I know now, I should have let the skimmer run for a day to monitor, but I didn't even think about it. I was too excited about my new fish.


Thanks for taking the time to read and help if you can.
- Amanda

 

[TX_REEF]

Hi,

I'm new to keeping and this is my first tank. As the title states, I have a red sea max e 170. I set this tank up and cycled it with the rear protien skimmer off. I just completed the cycle and went out and bought my first two fish yesterday.

It never occured to me that the protien skimmer would cause this much of a heat fluctuation. My tank was consistenly at 77° F and overnight it went up to 82° F after turning on the skimmer. How do I know if it's running efficently or if there is a problem that's causing it to overheat?

I have to go to work today (5 hours) so I turned off the skimmer to see if that will bring the temp down. It is my plan to get this sorted as soon as I get home. Is this normal? Did I make a mistake in setting up? I know now, I should have let the skimmer run for a day to monitor, but I didn't even think about it. I was too excited about my new fish.


Thanks for taking the time to read and help if you can.
- Amanda

Hi!

It is possible, but it would surprise me if a skimmer would affect water temperate that much - unless the temperature in your home is in that range.

A quick overview of your full system and all equipment, with pictures and/or a brief video might help!

 

[Amanda Boda]

The virdict was that my heater failed. My first assumption was the skimmer, because it's been off this whole time.

 

[Vinaka_vakalevu]

The virdict was that my heater failed. My first assumption was the skimmer, because it's been off this whole time.

Invest in an ink bird or another heater controller because heater failures are inevitable. Seems like you caught it before things got bad.

 

[TX_REEF]

The virdict was that my heater failed. My first assumption was the skimmer, because it's been off this whole time.

I’m glad you found the problem and that the heater failure didn’t cause more damage!

 

[Amanda Boda]

Invest in an ink bird or another heater controller because heater failures are inevitable. Seems like you caught it before things got bad.

Thanks! I am going to do some more research today. The heater I was given was bundled with the tank. It was definitely a stressful morning.