Temp help needed!

[E]

I started having temp problems with my tank yesterday. In the am (lights off) my temp is usually 76 and in the pm (lights on) my temp is usually 77-78. Yesterday morning I was 79, and by the time I came home from work, I was 82. I had added an in-sump skimmer a couple of days ago and thought that might be the source, but it was off all yesterday with no noticable change. I yanked the the heater all night, and I am now sitting at 80 and holding. When the heater is placed back in the sump, it lights up like is is turning on, however, with it out for roughly 12 hours I am wondering if there might be another problem causing the spike. I have started unplugging one power head, light, etc at a time for 2 hours with no luck in isolating the problem so far. How long should it take for the temp to drop after removing any one piece of equipment and any ideas on possible culprits? Also any reliable brands of heaters that anyone wants to recommend?
Thanks
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Oh, before I forget, this tank is a 75g with fish, inverts, soft, and lps corals. 30g sump with new protein skimmer and newly started refugium. 300W marineland heater. Tank and inhabitants were purchased and moved a month ago, but tank had been established for the last couple of years by previous owner.

 

[shavo]

I don't know heater brands to recommend but usually the more money the better.

Where is the tank located? is it in direct sunlight? where is the tank located in your house? what is the ambient temperature? how big is the sump also?

seems like a large enough tank to need a heater and not just pumps and powerheads to heat it.

 

[E]

Thanks for the reply. Tank is located in a corner in my back room...no direct sunlight and very little ambient light. No heating registers or other source of outside influence from the home. Ambient temp is around 70 in the room. Sump is 30 gallons making a total of 105g of circulating water. The tank has been functioning fine for around a month and looking at my logs, the temp has been very stable.
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[ChrisRD]

Sounds like your heater may be getting flaky. I've had the best luck with VisiTherms and EboJagers over the years. That said, I prefer to use a temp controller (I use a Ranco) because I don't like trusting the wellfare of my whole system to a $25 heater... :wink:

It's hard to say how fast your tank will cool as you unplug stuff because it will vary depending on ambient (room) temps, what sort of top/cover you have on the tank, ambient humidity/evaporation rates, how much heat the other pumps and lights are adding, etc. I would give it overnight to see the effect of each component.

 

[mr_X]

i like those visitherm heaters. i have a visitherm stealth, and a regular glass model in my tank, along with a "Tronic" heater.

IF that is the problem-
you might purchase 2 or 3 smaller heaters to replace the single larger one. the reason i say this is incase one goes bad, the others will try to make up the difference, until you find the problem. i have them placed at different parts of the sump, and one in the display.

what other equiptment are you running?

 

[E]

Equipment running in the tank is: Quiet One 5000 main pump, CPR SR 4 skimmer with a Rio 1700 pump, one JBJ 2500 powerhead, one unkown (smaller) powerhead, coralife light (9W, 10K) 3.5 inches over the sump-based refugium on 24/7, and a 400W, 10K metal halide and two 40W flo actinics in a hood raised a little over a foot off of the water.
Main lighting seems to make 0-1 degree change in the water temp. Main pump was just taken out this morning to clean and check for operation. Skimmer was a new addition but it was unplugged during the original temp spike. JBJ powerhead was initially suspected because of an increase in operating noise over the last few days - clear inside and not hot to the touch. Refugium light was purchased with the tank but has just been placed in operation - warm to the touch but not exceedingly hot. Temp is finally starting to drop and is now 79.
E

 

[Anonymous]

Until you can isolate the problem, are you able to get some air movement across the water surface to help generate some evaporative cooling? I would give things at least 12 hours to see any change in temp, given the water volume and ambient temperatures. I can't quantify this statement in any way, it's just my gut and how I would approach it. 24 hours would be, in my mind, a more "for sure" thing. Does that make sense?

I've heard some real horror stories about EboJager heaters. Visitherm tends to be more reliable, and Eheim can't be beat with a stick.

But, based on what you're saying, I can't say unequivocally that it is the heater malfunctioning. What I can say is that my best recommendation is that you divide the job of heating between at least two heaters as Mr. X suggests. That way if one malfunctions (either sticking on or off) you've got another as back-up.