Temperature Troubleshooting: Help!

Hi Guys,

My tank has been peaking at around 30 degrees for the past few weeks, occasionally going down to 28. I dont keep the tank in direct sunlight (its actually quite far away from any window). I know our ambient temps have been quite high recently and I don't have an aircon installed at home (just moved in 6 months now). Is anyone else experiencing consistent high tank temps?

I even removed the heater to see if it was a fault unit causing the high temps but the temp prevailed. I also thought that maybe it was the T8 light and balast causing the problem but even with the lights off from 9pm, the morning temp is still 28 and above...surely this should be lower??

I have a 60l Juwel Rekord with a Dophin 1200 internal filter and a second smaller ViaAqua F100 internal - do you think having two filters running are generating excess heat? Anyone else experienced this? Prefer to ask first before removing the small filter a the tank is relatively well stocked and afraid of an Ammonia spike if I take this out. The F100 is purely biological and serves as back up should the Dophin's flow decrease (as it normally does when the mechanical portion gets dirty). Also prefer to have two running just in case one bombs out and I miss it.

 

Try and move the lids of the tanks back a bit, allowing some of the heat to escape.
About 4" should be enough to allow a lot of heat out.

Try and cool the ambient temperature in the room down, with a desk or oscillating fan.
If you can get the fan to blow over the top of the tanks, even better, as that will aid evaporation, with resultant heat loss.
Just be sure to check the level of the tanks daily, and top up when necessary.

 

The hood I sits around the tank so I cant really slide it back. It does have a central feeding hatch which I can keep open and will try that. What Im concerned about is the overnight temps of 28+ degrees with the lights off. What sort of average temps do you see in the morning assuming your lights are switched off overnight?

 

My tanks stay at a constant 27°C-28°C.
All the tanks except one have no lids, and the one with a lid is kept open about 4-5".
I have an oscillating box fan blowing over the tops of the tanks from about 6am to 11pm, and it does wonders for the water temperature.

 

Thanks for the info. What temperature is your heater set on?

 

I have one smaller (250l) tank that picks up temp every now and then (from ambient effect) - when I get home in the afternoon I pop a 2l bottle with frozen water in it into tank and by morning the temp is down by approximately one degree. Something to try?
Regards.

 

150W heater in the 40L is set to 28°, while the 200W in the 120 L is also set to 28°.
The 4' tank has 2 heaters, a 300W and 200W, and both are set at 26°C. That tank stays at 26°C day or night.

 

If you can, fit a small fan to the feeding hatch, a pc fan should work but you will have some water loss due to evaporation, just remember to remove a little water before doing a top up to prevent the build up of minerals (this will happen if you keep doing top-ups without regular water changes)
What fish are you keeping? ...google what are the ideal temps for them, maybe 28 - 30 deg is ok?
Also make sure there is adequate aeration...the higher the temps, the lower the oxygen.
As for heaters...I remove mine completely during the summer months, only run them during the winter, and only at about 23 deg C (once again depending on the fish you keep)

 

@ Pezulu, so your temps make sense because of your heaters. Now imagine, with my heater out of the tank, Im at 28+degrees in the morning (lowest =27.7, without a heater)? Really starting to think its the two internal filters generating extra heat. During the night ambient temps should be in the low to mid 20s and the only items running are the two filters. Was hoping that there was someone else with a similar tank size running two internals that could perhaps put me at ease. Going to pull the small filter out tonight and monitor the temps tomorrow

@ CFT, think I'll try that if pulling the smaller filter out doesn't change the temp

 

@Vis_finger just make sure that the filter stays cycled maaby just move to a other tank

 

Finally resolved this. Put the light on a timer, 6:30am to 10:30am then off till 15:00. On from 15:00pm to 21:00pm. The lights off during daytime peak temperatures did the trick. It's now consistently between 27 -28 degrees

 

With these heat waves that we have been experiencing lately , my 6 Ft tank is peaking at about 28 - 30 degrees , nothing much that I can do , I have 2 fans blowing over the tank to try and get some air movement over the tank. I haven't had my heaters on in the tank since mid August :huh:

 

Where does one fit a 6 foot tank?
We are struggling with a 4 foot and cabinet in the lounge.

I have a single 40W Extra Day-Hi Glow T5 globe lighting up the 4 foot tank, and temperatures stay at a constant 26°-27°C.
Heaters (1x300W + 1x200W) still come on occasionally.

Then again, it is a VERY low-tech tank, with plastic/silk plants only.
Would plants have anything to do with the temperature?

 

I think the T5s are much more energy efficient compared to T8s which I have. It also runs off an inbuilt sealed electronic balast that was probably manufactured 5-6 years ago. The heat generation off this thing is mad. The hood is also a closed so doesn't really allow for circulation. Don't know if plants affect tank temps. After adding a timer, everything seems good now...haven't seen any temps going above 28 now. Previously i never saw temps lower than 28 (no exaggeration) with temps peaking at 31 degrees!

 

If your tanks are open top then the easiest way to bring down the temp is by adding a 8cm 12v pc fan on the side of the tank.
A lot of people on the other forum is doing it with there planted or shrimp tanks and it brought down my tanks temp with about 8 degrees.