Who's running their tanks without heaters?

[davidcalgary29]

I have four tanks with canopies that I run without heaters: two RSM250s, and two Evo 13.5s.

The Red Sea tanks have massive issues with overheating, and equipment and lights add an average of 4-5C on top of ambient house temperatures of 20C, with minimal loss of heat at night; the only problem I have is in summer, when my house RSM250 runs up to 29C, even with evaporative cooling (I do not have A/C).

I only have heaters in the IM40 and RSR350, both are in my basement. I think I might ditch the heaters in those, too, if I get Clearview lids (with inserts) for both to minimize thermal loss and increase aeration. I do not have SPS, and existing livestock seem to be fine with seasonal temperature fluctations.

Anyone else running their tanks without heaters?

 

[DHill6]

I only run the heater in colder months, heater is removed in warm months.

 

[DIFish]

I have 2 heaters on my Red Sea 250 and neither has turned on yet. I run the house AC around 72 but the tank stays put between 78F at night and 80 Mid day without them. I am running 4x T5s and have a custom lid on the tank which helps with evaporation but definitely adds to the heat.

 

[Susan Edwards]

Heaters unplugged for the summer. When temp drops, I'll turn back on. I'll also keep house at a certain temp, though I do turn heater way down at night.

I also have clear view lids with inserts I can use. Not sure how much light they may block though. Any idea? I have Red sea tank and RS 160s lights running 90/40 so can up the lights over the winter to either 100/50 which is about 20 K (kelvin). Not sure what K the 90/40 is. 100/10 is 23K so it seems if I have blue high and white lower, it is higher kelvin?

 

[davidcalgary29]

There must be some clever person who has worked out the formulae for amount of thermal radiation produced by common aquarium equipment. I know that the left return pump alone on my RSM250 raises the tank temperature by 1C.

 

[DIFish]

Heaters unplugged for the summer. When temp drops, I'll turn back on. I'll also keep house at a certain temp, though I do turn heater way down at night.

I also have clear view lids with inserts I can use. Not sure how much light they may block though. Any idea? I have Red sea tank and RS 160s lights running 90/40 so can up the lights over the winter to either 100/50 which is about 20 K (kelvin). Not sure what K the 90/40 is. 100/10 is 23K so it seems if I have blue high and white lower, it is higher kelvin?

I can’t imagine them blocking much. There is a brs video on them blocking a few par but not a noticeable amount. I use a Seneye par reader and noticed a 10-20 par drop through 1/4inch plexiglass depending on how dirty it is.

 

[Susan Edwards]

I can’t imagine them blocking much. There is a brs video on them blocking a few par but not a noticeable amount. I use a Seneye par reader and noticed a 10-20 par drop through 1/4inch plexiglass depending on how dirty it is.

yeah, you'd have to keep them clean. I will test it out this winter and if I notice my tenius not furry with polyps then I know I need to up the lights. I was going to to to 100/50 anyway at some point. Have some new acros in there recovering so didn't want to make any changes yet.

 

[Miami Reef]

I don’t have any heaters on my tank. The pumps and lights from all my equipment heats my water for me. If anything, I need to worry about cooling it down.

 

[n2585722]

I have two 50 watt heaters in sump for a 42 gallon tank but they never come on between March and October. Only in the cooler months. My cooling fans come on a lot in the summer months and do come on even in December and January since we can have temps in the 80's during the winter. When it is cold it does not normally last more than a day or two.

 

[mfinn]

My tank seems to be running at 78.2-78.6 since mid summer.
I was having a heat issue early spring,( around 80- 80.5) but tracked it down to the Red Dragon controllers inside the stand.

 

[Joe81]

I have 2 heaters on my Red Sea 250 and neither has turned on yet. I run the house AC around 72 but the tank stays put between 78F at night and 80 Mid day without them. I am running 4x T5s and have a custom lid on the tank which helps with evaporation but definitely adds to the heat.

What kind of custom lid?

 

[DIFish]

What kind of custom lid?

1/4inch plexiglass with some clear clips. It has actually been making my tank too hot occasionally so I might switch it for a mesh top.

 

[IceRain29]

I'm running without heater on my 600 Gal system for around 4 years, I do run a 177W UV sterilizer (120W+57W), and a giant bubble king deluxe 300 EXT with my set up, and I do have radiant floor heating system so that will help as well in the winter. Tank temp was pretty stable around 76-78.

 

[moretor1]

There must be some clever person who has worked out the formulae for amount of thermal radiation produced by common aquarium equipment. I know that the left return pump alone on my RSM250 raises the tank temperature by 1C.

hate to necro this forum but i love necro'ing old posts

All electricity that goes into your tank turns into ~100% heat or 3.41btu/W or about 14 calories a minute. That is to say, per watt of energy going into your tank it will raise 14 grams of water by 1c every minute

This calculation is basically useless for aquariums tho because calculated how much heat that bleeds into the environment is much more important and wayyyyyyyy harder to do, you could roughly estimate it but you arent going to be able to dial it in the way you want to

 

[BeanAnimal]

hate to necro this forum but i love necro'ing old posts

All electricity that goes into your tank turns into ~100% heat or 3.41btu/W or about 14 calories a minute. That is to say, per watt of energy going into your tank it will raise 14 grams of water by 1c every minute

This calculation is basically useless for aquariums tho because calculated how much heat that bleeds into the environment is much more important and wayyyyyyyy harder to do, you could roughly estimate it but you arent going to be able to dial it in the way you want to

The calculation is actually fairly easy. Most of the heat transfer will be through the glass and from evaporation. A simple Fourier equation for conductivity can be used for the glass and evap estimated over any needed time period.

But even at that, most equipment is fixed input with regard to heat and if you study the thermal swing of the tank over an average time period you can easily back into watts btus being gained or shed without measuring a single thing other than temperature and system volume.

 

[ca1ore]

When I ran halide lights my heaters almost never came on. Now that I run LED they run Nov through May. I live in CT.

 

[moretor1]

I just took the heater out of my biocube and I might take the feeding slot out entirely as it sits just under 81 in the middle of the day