What is going on?- Massive Temp Drop!

[MSB123]

I was woken up this morning by my apex, at about 4:15 am. I’m so thankful it was there! I went downstairs(I have it hooked up to an intercom, which is in my room, and all over the house . And I saw that the window was open- no big deal! I then looked at the temp, and it was 74.9!!! In my 2 minute delay until the alarm started, it had dropped from 76.5 to 74.9! I looked and saw that, yes, both my heaters were on, a 500 watt and a 300 watt, and yes, they were warm to the touch. I then thought it was the apex that was the problem. So I got my insta read digital thermometer and stuck it in in two places- 73.5 and 73.7! By now, I was freaking out! Then I looked up at that window again- and then looked over at the thermometer- which was on the tank lid, and it read “43.5” OMG- the outside air was 43 DEGREES!! I rushed over, closed the window and prayed that my heaters would start up again!- Still praying for no loss of livestock! I still don’t know how the window got open!
What should I do in the future?
Should I be worried about livestock?
Thanks for calming my fears!
MSB123

 

[TheEngineer]

That's not shockingly low. I think you'll be OK. Just don't raise it back up too fast.

Over what period of time did it drop that low? I'm guessing over quite a number of hours?

 

[MSB123]

Ok good- I’ve never had this problem and I got a little freaked out

 

[MSB123]

The window had gotten hit with a falling branch which knocked it open- its really windy here.

 

[TheEngineer]

Ok good- I’ve never had this problem and I got a little freaked out

I hear you. Easy to get worked up. I've been there!

It looks like your temp fluctuates a bit during a typical day if I'm reading that graph right. That looks to be as low as 76ish. Do you have a wide control window?

 

[ihavecrabs]

Early morning for you!

As for your fish, there should be no issues at all. If you have some really finicky acros, you will likely get some browning out or STN if your temperature doesn't fluctuate in the tank much normally. LPS and Softies should be relatively unaffected.

Good early catch! Apex alerts save another system

 

[MSB123]

Yep! I’m so happy I have it In place- the scary part is it only took about 1.5 hrs to drop- 2:30 to 4 am!

I hear you. Easy to get worked up. I've been there!

It looks like your temp fluctuates a bit during a typical day if I'm reading that graph right. That looks to be as low as 76ish. Do you have a wide control window?

I have never figured out what my temp is like that- my only idea has been to upgrade from a 300 to ruining a 300 and now a 500 watt heater. Any ideas?

 

[MSB123]

I hear you. Easy to get worked up. I've been there!

It looks like your temp fluctuates a bit during a typical day if I'm reading that graph right. That looks to be as low as 76ish. Do you have a wide control window?

It drops from about 80.1 to 76.2 on an average day/night cycle

 

[TheEngineer]

It drops from about 80.1 to 76.2 on an average day/night cycle

On a positive note, that means this wasn't that big of a drop from your normal temperature swing. 4 degrees is a big daily swing though.

I don't know how to program the Apex, but I'm assuming it has an on/off window for the heater. Can you see what those settings are?

 

[MSB123]

I already have it set for that- 78-80 with 78 on, 80 off.

 

[MSB123]

Should I move my temp probe? I have my heaters in the sump, and the probe in the DT

 

[MSB123]

Heater/temp comparison chart

 

[TheEngineer]

(Cool chart )

How big is your tank and what is the temperature of the room it is in? This is with 800W of heaters in the tank?

 

[TheEngineer]

Oh, and placing the temp probe in the DT is the right place. You'd get "noise" from the heaters if it was in the sump.

 

[MSB123]

The tank is a 150 DT with a 40 gallon sump operating at 30 gallons. So 180 total volume- I am running 800 watts of heating rn, and the room is a downstairs room in a 109 year old house, not very insulated, but the warmest normally in the house- it runs at about 70 on average

 

[MSB123]

Got it- it is out of the way in the DT where there is no flow, up near the far left at the top. Center overflow and returns. Should I move it to a more central location?

 

[TheEngineer]

Let me do some math on those numbers... off the top of my head, there is no reason the temp should be dropping that low. Could be a control/heater issue, but let me mathify it first before I say that...

 

[MSB123]

Thanks for the help!

 

[TheEngineer]

Yeah, you only need about 320W to maintain that temperature differential. That makes me think you've got an equipment issue. You'll probably need someone more knowledgeable about the Apex to help with this part, but I'll try.

That graph you showed is the control state of the heater channel, right? Are the heaters both plugged into the same outlet? Does your Apex have the ability to show power draw by channel on a graph (I think that's a thing they do...)

 

[MSB123]

Are you able to access apex fusion? I can share perms with you so you can look at it yourself- I’m a bit dumb when it comes to these things.