Rising temp for no reason

[TurboTang]

My temperature has been rising slowly. It has consistently been 78 and about 2 days ago I noticed it was at 78.5. Yesterday it was 78.9. And tonight it has risen to 79.8. I unplugged my heater earlier today - temp keeps rising. I unplugged the 2 tunze pumps now. And only mp40 is working. Can return pump be the problem

 

[Biglew11]

Return pump could be heating the tank but I wouldn't worry about temperature until it reached 83-84. You can place a fan blowing at the surface for evaporative cooling.

 

[Arabyps]

What is the room temperature? What is the local dew point? Other than a cool room, the primary way temperature is reduced is through evaporation (if you don't have a chiller). If the room is warm and the dew point is above 50 degrees, evaporation is significantly reduced. What are your environmental parameters and what kind of cover is on the tank? Also, keep surface agitation going.

 

[TurboTang]

Return pump could be heating the tank but I wouldn't worry about temperature until it reached 83-84. You can place a fan blowing at the surface for evaporative cooling.

Ok thanks. I was getting nervous it might cause stress. Corals look same - maybe euphyllia are a little less extended. But my white tail tang is more of a grey tail tang with a bit of an attitude. All the fish are more active. If the temp can safely get that high it gives me time for process of elimination

 

[TurboTang]

Ok thanks. I was getting nervous it might cause stress. Corals look same - maybe euphyllia are a little less extended. But my white tail tang is more of a grey tail tang with a bit of an attitude. All the fish are more active. If the temp can safely get that high it gives me time for process of elimination

The room has stayed consist at 72-74. Definitely something in aquarium is generating heat suddenly.

 

[Pistondog]

The room has stayed consist at 72-74. Definitely something in aquarium is generating heat suddenly.

Clean or inspect the return pump, it might be clogged, not working efficiently and drawing more current.

 

[TurboTang]

Clean or inspect the return pump, it might be clogged, not working efficiently and drawing more current.

Yanking out R pump now and cleaning up
Tunze have been off an hour with no change in temp.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Clean or inspect the return pump, it might be clogged, not working efficiently and drawing more current.

I agree, one of your pumps is struggling and heating up

 

[vetteguy53081]

Return pump likely suspect, any leakage of sunlight in your room that would hit the tank will also cause this and lights are the other culprit.

 

[smm52487]

I had a similar experience recently. Even after turning the heater off to rule it out the temp rose so figured it was not that at first. Turned out the heater needed to be re calibrated and was the culprit after all. Never made sense that it was the heater, but once I re calibrated everything was good. Super odd as it seemed to happen out of nowhere.

 

[TurboTang]

I had a similar experience recently. Even after turning the heater off to rule it out the temp rose so figured it was not that at first. Turned out the heater needed to be re calibrated and was the culprit after all. Never made sense that it was the heater, but once I re calibrated everything was good. Super odd as it seemed to happen out of nowhere.

Good point. I'm not absolutely sure I've ruled out the heater yet. I have (2) 300w heaters. One of them is set slightly below the other and I rarely see it switch on. I have switched off the main heater and I keep checking the other one by feel to see if it is generating heat.
I rebuilt the return pump now and got system back up and running with tunze on also. The process of rebuilding pump I noticed temp dropped 0.3 degrees.

 

[Pistondog]

Good point. I'm not absolutely sure I've ruled out the heater yet. I have (2) 300w heaters. One of them is set slightly below the other and I rarely see it switch on. I have switched off the main heater and I keep checking the other one by feel to see if it is generating heat.
I rebuilt the return pump now and got system back up and running with tunze on also. The process of rebuilding pump I noticed temp dropped 0.3 degrees.

Unplug the heaters to eliminate them as the problem source.
Sorry. Thought this was done.

 

[TurboTang]

Unplug the heaters to eliminate them as the problem source.
Sorry. Thought this was done.

Sorry - I first unplugged the main heater which is about 14 months old. The other heater I purchased about 4 months ago. It doesn't seem to be switching on. But I've unplugged it now also.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Those are big heaters, what size tank?

 

[TurboTang]

Those are big heaters, what size tank?

Tank is 135g with 30g sump. The 2nd heater I put in as backup in case other unit fails. I almost never see it switch on. The primary heater I see switch often.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Tank is 135g with 30g sump. The 2nd heater I put in as backup in case other unit fails. I almost never see it switch on. The primary heater I see switch often.

Pretty close to the size of my set up (112g tank, 40g sump). I think 2 300w is a bit much, I use 2 200w. Do you have a temperature controller for them?

 

[TurboTang]

Pretty close to the size of my set up (112g tank, 40g sump). I think 2 300w is a bit much, I use 2 200w. Do you have a temperature controller for them?

Both heaters have there own temp set dial. I don't have a separate controller

 

[TurboTang]

It has been 24 hrs now since I unplugged every heater and wave pump. Only return pump and mp40 have been running. Temp remains above 79 - full 6 degrees above room temp. So it is confirmed to be caused by return pump. Thanks for everyone's advice. The return pump would have been my last guess. I would have expected it to be making horrible sounds to generate that much heat.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Both heaters have there own temp set dial. I don't have a separate controller

That sounds like trouble, those temp dials are notorious for failing and with 300w heaters you can cook your tank. Ink bird temp Controllers are cheap and I've had good luck with them.

Anyways nice job figuring out the pump issue!

 

[TurboTang]

That sounds like trouble, those temp dials are notorious for failing and with 300w heaters you can cook your tank. Ink bird temp Controllers are cheap and I've had good luck with them.

Anyways nice job figuring out the pump issue!

Good advice - I've been looking at the inkbird, but it is always out of stock. Sign of a good product I guess. When I purchase my return pump I can get the inkbird too