Winter Temperature Issues

[RaisingKane]

Hi Everyone!

I CANNOT seem to keep the temperature on my Waterbox 130.4 consistent. Now that it's colder at night, I have 3 heaters (3!) in the sump and cannot seem to keep it over 73 overnight. The temp raises back to 78 during the day, but then drops again overnight. This cannot be good.

There is no lid - open top. Any suggestions on a heater that can actually do the job? Currently in sump:

Aquatop 400 Watt Titanium
Aquatop 400 Watt Glass
Aquatop 50 Watt Glass (in the smaller chamber of the sump where the return pump sits)

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[TokenReefer]

I may be off the mark here but I would put your probe where the water from the DT comes into the sump. Heaters close to the return. That way it's heating the DT water to the desired temp and not the sump's water. Does that make sense? So if you have it set to 78, the water, as it leaves your sump may be higher than that because it's reading the water from the DT and that higher temp water going into the DT from the sump will (should) alleviate the swing. Easy to move the probe and try at least...

 

[RaisingKane]

I may be off the mark here but I would put your probe where the water from the DT comes into the sump. Heaters close to the return. That way it's heating the DT water to the desired temp and not the sump's water. Does that make sense? So if you have it set to 78, the water, as it leaves your sump may be higher than that because it's reading the water from the DT and that higher temp water going into the DT from the sump will (should) alleviate the swing. Easy to move the probe and try at least...

Thank you for your response! I think I understand what you are saying, currently, the probe is in the DT - the heaters are in the Sump. You think I need to move the heater in the DT?

 

[MERKEY]

I wouldn't worry too much about overnight temp swings like you are talking about too much.

It happens naturally in the ocean.

But it's good to know the reason and be able to adjust

 

[vetteguy53081]

That does make sense and although Aquatop is not a bad product, its a lower quality product. The placement of probe should be at least 18" from heaters and you can place one of the heaters in sump if you have not done so

 

[RaisingKane]

That does make sense and although Aquatop is not a bad product, its a lower quality product. The placement of probe should be at least 18" from heaters and you can place one of the heaters in sump if you have not done so

Probe is in the DT. All three heaters are in the Sump. Two in the "Big" part and one in the smaller chamber where the return pump is. I'm just wondering if I need a better quality heating set up.

 

[TokenReefer]

Hmm. With the probe in the DT the heaters should be trying to get that up to temp.. That's where I would put the heaters... How large of a difference is the room temperature? Maybe they are malfunctioning because the wattage seems more than adequate.

If you do change them out, I suggest keeping both the probe and heaters in the sump to never have an issue like this :/

 

[vetteguy53081]

Probe is in the DT. All three heaters are in the Sump. Two in the "Big" part and one in the smaller chamber where the return pump is. I'm just wondering if I need a better quality heating set up.

Verify your temperature in tank with a glass thermometer

 

[Dburr1014]

Hi Everyone!

I CANNOT seem to keep the temperature on my Waterbox 130.4 consistent. Now that it's colder at night, I have 3 heaters (3!) in the sump and cannot seem to keep it over 73 overnight. The temp raises back to 78 during the day, but then drops again overnight. This cannot be good.

There is no lid - open top. Any suggestions on a heater that can actually do the job? Currently in sump:

Aquatop 400 Watt Titanium
Aquatop 400 Watt Glass
Aquatop 50 Watt Glass (in the smaller chamber of the sump where the return pump sits)

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

What controller do you use? Is it controlling all three heaters?

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

How is the flow in your dt and return set up. Depending on how your flow is could be getting cold spots at night that arent circulating very well. Would agree with @vetteguy53081 and checking with another source your dt temp. When you do check all areas. Could be getting good surface agitation and flow but maybe not towards the bottom of the tank. When lights go out (this would be a heatsource) and maybe overnight flow diminishes it could cause the colder temps to rise toward probe location and in tank.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Hi Everyone!

I CANNOT seem to keep the temperature on my Waterbox 130.4 consistent. Now that it's colder at night, I have 3 heaters (3!) in the sump and cannot seem to keep it over 73 overnight. The temp raises back to 78 during the day, but then drops again overnight. This cannot be good.

There is no lid - open top. Any suggestions on a heater that can actually do the job? Currently in sump:

Aquatop 400 Watt Titanium
Aquatop 400 Watt Glass
Aquatop 50 Watt Glass (in the smaller chamber of the sump where the return pump sits)

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

sounds like your heaters might not be working properly, have you tested each one? or even felt them to see if they are producing heat?

 

[RaisingKane]

Verify your temperature in tank with a glass thermometer

I have. Matches the readout on the heater controller.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

also you might need to add a glass top to contain the heat

 

[RaisingKane]

What controller do you use? Is it controlling all three heaters?

I don't have one. I am thinking from all the reading that I am doing that I need an Inkbird.

 

[RaisingKane]

sounds like your heaters might not be working properly, have you tested each one? or even felt them to see if they are producing heat?

Yes. The two glass heaters are working and hot. The Titanium might be the culprit.

 

[FOO-CAT]

Eheim Jagers are my heaters of choice.

 

[RaisingKane]

also you might need to add a glass top to contain the heat

Yeah - Its a Waterbox though and thats a custom solution. I don't like the look of screens that are out there for this tank. But yeah - that probably would solve the issue.

 

[N1tew0lf1212]

I would again suggest looking at your flow I would imagine the return is positioned toward the surface for agitation? Is that true or false if so and say you have good flow its gonna stay around the surface and heated water wont fully mix leacing cold spots. If possible adjust return towards middle if not pointing towards lower section and position wave maker higher for surface agitation this could help circulate the heated water coming directly from sump. How many return lines do you have 1 or 2? What kind of wavemakers are you working with?

 

[RaisingKane]

Eheim Jagers are my heaters of choice.

Thank you! Yes doing a lot of reading and I think I just need to up the quality and get an Inkbird as well.

 

[Dom]

Hi Everyone!

I CANNOT seem to keep the temperature on my Waterbox 130.4 consistent. Now that it's colder at night, I have 3 heaters (3!) in the sump and cannot seem to keep it over 73 overnight. The temp raises back to 78 during the day, but then drops again overnight. This cannot be good.

There is no lid - open top. Any suggestions on a heater that can actually do the job? Currently in sump:

Aquatop 400 Watt Titanium
Aquatop 400 Watt Glass
Aquatop 50 Watt Glass (in the smaller chamber of the sump where the return pump sits)

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Do you use a temperature controller or are your heaters plugged directly in to the AC outlet?