Warm water reason?

[Depwraith]

I have a new (1 month) 65 gallon drilled tank sitting on an enclosed stand. It has a Deep Blue Triton 3 pump in the sump with an in sump Reef Octopus Skimmer and I have the 36 inch Marineland Reef LED.

My water was originally around 84.4 degrees with the house temp usually at 77-76. The tank doesn't get any sunlight and isnt near any heat sources. I removed the transformer (only thing I noticed heat coming from) from inside the stand and temps lowered to around 82.9-82.4.

Any thoughts on why the water is so warm? The LED's aren't giving off any heat towards the water. Is it possible either the pump or skimmer (both new) are the cause or does anyone have other possible causes?

Any other options other than a chiller? (like is it ok to have the glass hoods off the top?)

 

[Rockadile]

tking the hoods off will help for sure. I suspect the interal pumps causing your issue. A cheap way to get this lower is to use a cheap clip on fan to blow across your sump.

 

[Pappy]

Glass lids off would prob help. Pumps maybe causing heat. Is there a sump? I would def add fans blowing across sump and that will help significantly (prob 2-3 degrees).

 

[Poseidon]

Welcome to R2R!

The internal pumps are the cause of the heat. The skimmer pump much less then the return, this is a good reason why some reefers choose to use external return pumps, as they add less heat to the tank.

As for the glass tops, ABSOLUTELY take them off the tank! If you check out my build thread you will see an option that keeps the fish in, but not the heat. Also, not having the tops on will allow for more evaporation, so you can add limewater as top off later. This will become more important later as you add corals.

Once again, welcome to R2R, post up some pictures, everyone likes to see new tanks!

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

Are you planning on corals? Keep in mind that your lighting is not adequate for anything other than softies. I hope that the glass covers will solve your heat issues, welcome to r2r!

 

[returnofsid]

Your glass covers are trapping all of the heat that is produced by the internal pump. Removing the covers will allow the heat to escape. Keep in mind, removing the covers will also allow for more evaporation, requiring more RO/DI top off water. An inexpensive, plastic, clip on fan, blowing across the water will also dramatically reduce the temperature.

 

[Depwraith]

Thanks for the quick replies, I will take the tops off and see how that goes then try a fan if needed.

Are you planning on corals? Keep in mind that your lighting is not adequate for anything other than softies. I hope that the glass covers will solve your heat issues, welcome to r2r!

Is this first hand experience? I did some research before hand and found many who said the new LED worked fine for sps, lps, softy, etc?

 

[Rockadile]

Thanks for the quick replies, I will take the tops off and see how that goes then try a fan if needed.



Is this first hand experience? I did some research before hand and found many who said the new LED worked fine for sps, lps, softy, etc?

LEDS will support all those, just the marineland ones wont because of the type of leds, 1 watt I believe and how few there are.

 

[Depwraith]

LEDS will support all those, just the marineland ones wont because of the type of leds, 1 watt I believe and how few there are.

Gotcha. I have the newest one, it has 36 white and 6 blue (2610 lumens). PAR/LUX at 12'' is 130/12700 and at 24" is 64/5870. My tank is 24" deep, how much more light should be adequate?

 

[Rockadile]

well some where in the range of 2 too 3 times that amount imo. Basically if those were 3watt leds you would be good.

 

[Depwraith]

well some where in the range of 2 too 3 times that amount imo. Basically if those were 3watt leds you would be good.

So you're going by watts then? Watts are just a measure of energy used by the light, not the light output.The whites are 10,000k+ and I was informed that coral needed a minimum of 3000 LUX at the deepest part of the tank (mine provides 5870). LEDs have focused lumens which results in very little light loss and the PAR/LUX numbers appear to be sufficient as well.

Not looking to argue, just trying to understand and learn what lighting requirements I would need and why exactly my current light is not adequate for the corals mentioned.

 

[Rockadile]

I am going by your par readings actually. and yours show at the top what it should be closer to the bottom. This is because those are 1 watt LEDs in the marineland fixture, if you were using 3 watt leds your par would be much closer to what you need for more then softies.

 

[Pappy]

I have LEDs (3 watt Cree) and on the sand bed par is 120, halfway up 240, and up top 400ish. It's hard to get par readings with less so these are averages. IMO the light you have is extremely whirs and it "may" grow coral at best but colors will not be good at all. The typical ratio on less is generally 2:1 or 3:1 blues to whites. You def will not be able to grow anything but softies with those lights unfortunately sorry to add to the bad news. GL

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

Thanks for the quick replies, I will take the tops off and see how that goes then try a fan if needed.



Is this first hand experience? I did some research before hand and found many who said the new LED worked fine for sps, lps, softy, etc?

I have never heard of marineland LEDs being reef capable. I have been building LED fixtures for quite a while now. You will get maybe 60 par (the usable for corals) max, when you need at lest 100 to effectively grow sps/lps

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

I have LEDs (3 watt Cree) and on the sand bed par is 120, halfway up 240, and up top 400ish. It's hard to get par readings with less so these are averages. IMO the light you have is extremely whirs and it "may" grow coral at best but colors will not be good at all. The typical ratio on less is generally 2:1 or 3:1 blues to whites. You def will not be able to grow anything but softies with those lights unfortunately sorry to add to the bad news. GL

The best ration is 1:1 450nm royal blue to 7500k cool white. Then, add colors like reds, blues, greens, and 420nm ciolets to make it 3:2, colors to whites. That is my experience, I tried 2:1 a while back, and it was way too blue. I agree with you, you have a little less power than most, actually, but certainly enough. A good LED system should give you at least 200 at the bottom on full power, including the 20% added to make up for the royal blue spectrum.

 

[Rockadile]

I have never heard of marineland LEDs being reef capable. I have been building LED fixtures for quite a while now. You will get maybe 60 par (the usable for corals) max, when you need at lest 100 to effectively grow sps/lps

Marineland claims they are lol

Marineland Reef Capable LED Light w/timer- 48 in. to 60 in. | ThatPetPlace.com

 

[Poseidon]

Figures most of the LED industry is at 1 to 1 or 2 to 1 Blue to white ratio, and an industry giant comes out with a fixture that has 46 WHITE to only 6 blue? That seems very strange.

 

[Rockadile]

one of the first LEDS on the market posidon

 

[Poseidon]

Ahhh,,, That makes more sense. I have been in the hobby for a LONG time, but I'm coming back from a 2 year break. LED's have went from $2K plus fixtures (Solaris) to $200 in that time.

 

[Depwraith]

Well, I've talked with some people and fish stores who say they are working fine do them so I'll just have to see how it goes in my tank. Someone said not enough blue? I'm new to hobby and I'm guessing they are talking about non visible blues? This tank is real blue when they are on.