Temperature question

Shawn_epicurious · Apr 13, 2020

i have a 200 gallon mixed reef tank, mostly softies and fish. It has been running at a very solid 78.5 to 79.3 with no heater running. My lights ate 2 Hydra 32s and 1 Hydra 26... I am NOT running high intensity levels right now (all of this on my build thread)... I am at the very beginnng stages of moving towards an SPS tank. I have been doing a lot research lately... and of course, trying a few things in different ways.

My tank had/has plexiglass tops covering it... I took the tops off to improve oxygenation and had a result I was not expecting. My water temperature dropped to 75.7f overnight... I know that is an acceptable temperature: ) it’s in the right range...

But it dropped that much overnight... that’s a lot of water : ) I am watching to see if it keeps dropping. Yes, I have heaters I can turn on...

At what point do I need to start worrying, or should I just put the tops back on?

Shawn_epicurious · Apr 13, 2020

Shawn_epicurious said:
i have a 200 gallon mixed reef tank, mostly softies and fish. It has been running at a very solid 78.5 to 79.3 with no heater running. My lights ate 2 Hydra 32s and 1 Hydra 26... I am NOT running high intensity levels right now (all of this on my build thread)... I am at the very beginnng stages of moving towards an SPS tank. I have been doing a lot research lately... and of course, trying a few things in different ways.

My tank had/has plexiglass tops covering it... I took the tops off to improve oxygenation and had a result I was not expecting. My water temperature dropped to 75.7f overnight... I know that is an acceptable temperature: ) it’s in the right range...

But it dropped that much overnight... that’s a lot of water : ) I am watching to see if it keeps dropping. Yes, I have heaters I can turn on...

At what point do I need to start worrying, or should I just put the tops back on?

Nevermind... worry when the water gets to cold... or doesn’t lol sorry, this was a stupid question.

I got this

35ppt · Apr 13, 2020

It's not a stupid question. IMO even if you're still in the "OK" range you still don't want fast swings. A rule I was told was you want no more than 2 degrees fluctuation in 24 hours. IMO just set the heaters to 78 and forget about it. They're on a controller right?

Copingwithpods · Apr 13, 2020

Not a stupid question at all and a very good example of evaporative cooling. While 75 isn't bad that 4 degree drop can be problematic if it continues to happen. Hope you got it figured out and good luck

Shawn_epicurious · Apr 13, 2020

Copingwithpods said:
Not a stupid question at all and a very good example of evaporative cooling. While 75 isn't bad that 4 degree drop can be problematic if it continues to happen. Hope you got it figured out and good luck

Thanks: ) I put 2/3 of the tops back on for now. What really just happened is I learned how to control the temperature in my tank : ) ...now I just need to keep playing with it the way I am... I think. I may have just created the thermostat I need : )

I am moving towards SPS... I’ll have more heat to deal with later : )

Shawn_epicurious · Apr 13, 2020

35ppt said:
It's not a stupid question. IMO even if you're still in the "OK" range you still don't want fast swings. A rule I was told was you want no more than 2 degrees fluctuation in 24 hours. IMO just set the heaters to 78 and forget about it. They're on a controller right?

They are not on a controller yet.... another week... maybe two. I am getting very close to deciding on a Neptune/Trident combination. Still researching systems.

35ppt · Apr 13, 2020

Shawn_epicurious said:
They are not on a controller yet.... another week... maybe two. I am getting very close to deciding on a Neptune/Trident combination. Still researching systems.

You don't have to go all out on a full system controller, an inkbird or ranco temp controller will do you just fine. I'd rather not have all my stuff on one system anyways. I think the Neptune stuff is neat and if I had a larger budget I'd probably play with some of it but even then I'd rather have a ranco controlling something so critical as temperature.

esther · Apr 13, 2020

Shawn_epicurious said:
They are not on a controller yet.... another week... maybe two. I am getting very close to deciding on a Neptune/Trident combination. Still researching systems.

Consistency is going to be key. We control our 220 with two 300W heaters. Never swings more than 1.5º and everything is super happy in the tank (including SPS). Good luck!

Dom · Apr 13, 2020

I just removed glass tops from one of my tanks. They cut back on light penetration as they become hazed over. Now I use egg crate.

Shawn_epicurious · Apr 13, 2020

35ppt said:
You don't have to go all out on a full system controller, an inkbird or ranco temp controller will do you just fine. I'd rather not have all my stuff on one system anyways. I think the Neptune stuff is neat and if I had a larger budget I'd probably play with some of it but even then I'd rather have a ranco controlling something so critical as temperature.

The temperature change was a surprise, I won’t lie : ) still... Kinna glad it happened. I just learned some valuable information on controlling temperature. Yes, I agree I should have had my heater plugged in... it wasn’t. My water just stays at 78.7 almost constantly with no help from me. i freaked a little out when I saw the drop. ...started this thread : )

I am a gadget guy. I want the constant testing and probing ...adjusting... an automated system offers. I do understand the risks involved. i may regret it

Shawn_epicurious · Apr 13, 2020

Did I mention I live in Houston, Texas? Heating water isn’t usually a concern here... it’s cooling it.. or keeping it cool

sarcophytonIndy · Apr 13, 2020

I think temperature stability is more important that the actual temperature, within reason of course. I use an APEX, and keep my 125 within +/- 0.1 degrees of 77.5F

vetteguy53081 · Apr 13, 2020

It lowered gradually so, no worries. I would still get a heater for instances like this. I run an external pump and my tank is typically 80 year round. Still have twin 800wt titaniums in sump.
Worse that can happen is they Don't kick in which is Not a bad thing

Shawn_epicurious · Apr 13, 2020

sarcophytonIndy said:
I think temperature stability is more important that the actual temperature, within reason of course. I use an APEX, and keep my 125 within +/- 0.1 degrees of 77.5F

That’s exactly what I want... stability!

my tank is only 3 months old... I have the bioload I want... so, really can’t do much until it matures. So, I plan on refining my equipment.... and yeah, I prefer to live in a digital world : )

Shawn_epicurious · Apr 13, 2020

vetteguy53081 said:
It lowered gradually so, no worries. I would still get a heater for instances like this. I run an external pump and my tank is typically 80 year round. Still have twin 800wt titaniums in sump.
Worse that can happen is they Don't kick in which is Not a bad thing

That makes perfect sense! I did just plugged my heaters in back in : )

35ppt · Apr 13, 2020

Shawn_epicurious said:
The temperature change was a surprise, I won’t lie : ) still... Kinna glad it happened. I just learned some valuable information on controlling temperature. Yes, I agree I should have had my heater plugged in... it wasn’t. My water just stays at 78.7 almost constantly with no help from me. i freaked a little out when I saw the drop. ...started this thread : )

I am a gadget guy. I want the constant testing and probing ...adjusting... an automated system offers. I do understand the risks involved. i may regret it

I'm the same way but I was just saying that you don't need an Apex to have heater controller redundancy. And if you got a Ranco it doesn't mean you can't get an Apex as well. Also, IIRC you will end up burning out the outlet on the EB8 if you control heat with it. Too many on/off cycles. You could double check that as I've never had an Apex, just something I remember reading.

Shawn_epicurious · Apr 13, 2020

35ppt said:
I'm the same way but I was just saying that you don't need an Apex to have heater controller redundancy. And if you got a Ranco it doesn't mean you can't get an Apex as well. Also, IIRC you will end up burning out the outlet on the EB8 if you control heat with it. Too many on/off cycles. You could double check that as I've never had an Apex, just something I remember reading.

Oooooooonhhhhhh.... yeah, I will go look at that!

Shawn_epicurious · Apr 13, 2020

Dom said:
I just removed glass tops from one of my tanks. They cut back on light penetration as they become hazed over. Now I use egg crate.

Egg crate? Really? Show me a pic : )

35ppt · Apr 13, 2020

Shawn_epicurious said:
Egg crate? Really? Show me a pic : )

He's talking about this stuff:

egg crate diffusion at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

But that stuff reduces PAR as well. I recommend 1/4" black mesh and regular window screen frame from Home Depot.

Shawn_epicurious · Apr 13, 2020

35ppt said:
He's talking about this stuff:

egg crate diffusion at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

But that stuff reduces PAR as well. I recommend 1/4" black mesh and regular window screen frame from Home Depot.

That keeps things from jumping out... looks hard to keep clean : )

Over the next six months, the things I am doing to my tank are going to drive the heat higher. If my heaters are running or not... I want the light and extra oxygenation improvements you get with leaving the top open. From the awesome responses above... I can put my heaters on a separate and simple controller and then just kinna forget about them. ... or go all in on the Apex system.