Heating issue out of nowhere Help me narrow it down

whisk

whisk

Active Member
So, for about the last month my tank has remained relatively stable at 77 degrees. Indoor room temp has varied 65-70. I have kept my heater at about 76 degrees and my thermometer is one of the standard glass mercury ones.
As some of you know, i have recently replaced my cooling fans in my hood with two Silenx 18cfm fans with the fans blowing out. Temperature was fine at 77 until about 3 days after the install I notice the temperature start to rise.
The first day i notice it was up to 82 during the day then would fall back to 77 at night. I was like oh great, the fans arent cooling down the lights enough when they are on, its been working fine for the last few days so why is it starting now?
Yesterday the temp got up to 84, the room temp of the house was 55. I opened the feeder lid to let some air out. I was sure it was the cooling fans until I checked the temp this morning 10 hours after the lights had been turned off and the temp was still 82.
Now I am confused. Our house is freezing yet the tank is frying. I'm going to try to narrow down if its the heater, thermometer, cooling fans, or powerheads. I'm still thinking its the cooling fans but since the temp barely dropped last night in a freezing house maybe its something else. Any ideas or suggestions?
 
t316

t316

Active Member
The most obvious would be the fans, since this was the most recent thing changed, but I would look at the heater, especially if it's a cheap one. Some of them are known to malfunction and just get stuck in the "ON" position.
 
kromix

kromix

Member
Well if your temp in your house is that cold I bet blowing air IN would probably be better for you (I reversed my fans dropped 2 deg).. In miami....
What else could be causing heat? Hmm if you have a submersed pump trying cleaning it, maybe its stuck on something and causing lots of friction heat...
I dunno what else it would be.........
 
whisk

whisk

Active Member
It's a visi-therm stealth 75w. I tried lowering it down today to see if that help.
I had thought about reversing the fans. Maybe i'll that. thanks for your input guys.
 
gmann1139

gmann1139

Active Member
Sounds like the problems I had fought for a couple of months.
It was the heater.
Try unplugging yours for a day, and see if you still get that heat spike.
 
star27624

star27624

Member
I had to replace my heater about a month ago because of a similar problem. My tank was at 82 and rising. Thankfully I caught it before it could boil everything.
 
alexknight

alexknight

Member
I would check the thermometer I had a standard glass mercury one and it somehow got stuck on 75, when my tank was at 90. lol long story short I now have two thermometers in my tank both are digital
 
whisk

whisk

Active Member
First of all, I really appreciate your feedback. Thanks all who replied.
First the good news, it looks like its the heater. I lowered it before I went to work today and when I got home it had dropped down to 75 degrees. It must have been "stuck" or something like some of you suggested. I might end up getting a new one. I'm just relieved it wasnt the cooling fans as that saves me a lot of money and work. I had a hard time believing it was the cooling fans because everyone else who uses them says they work better than stock and see lower temps.
The bad news is my diamond goby isn't doing well. The rest of the livestock seem okay but he's leaning on his side. It must have been the temp flucuations (or something else). I'm bummed, he was actually a pretty cool fish. I hope he makes it but somehow I doubt it.
I feel terrible, stupid heater.
 
whisk

whisk

Active Member
Originally Posted by Alexknight
http:///forum/post/2868505
I would check the thermometer I had a standard glass mercury one and it somehow got stuck on 75, when my tank was at 90. lol long story short I now have two thermometers in my tank both are digital
can you recommend a certain digital thermometer brand?
 
star27624

star27624

Member
Originally Posted by Whisk
http:///forum/post/2868738
The bad news is my diamond goby isn't doing well. The rest of the livestock seem okay but he's leaning on his side. It must have been the temp flucuations (or something else). I'm bummed, he was actually a pretty cool fish. I hope he makes it but somehow I doubt it.
I feel terrible, stupid heater.
Man, I hope that by getting the temperature leveled out, he'll stabilize and pull through.
 
whisk

whisk

Active Member
Originally Posted by fcatch76
http:///forum/post/2868532
I would reverse one fan, have one pulling in and the other pull out..

i had thought about it but there may not be much cross-ventilation over the lights since the fans are so close next to each other. It would make sense if both fans were on opposite sides of the light. I did open a couple of slates above the lights to let more air to be sucked in, that might help.
 
alexknight

alexknight

Member
Originally Posted by Whisk
http:///forum/post/2868740
can you recommend a certain digital thermometer brand?
Corallife, every fish store I have been to has them. They are about 10 bucks, they are black and small, I like it a lot. I will all ways have two in my tank from now on just " if " ones goes bad.
 
whisk

whisk

Active Member
Originally Posted by Alexknight
http:///forum/post/2868844
Corallife, every fish store I have been to has them. They are about 10 bucks, they are black and small, I like it a lot. I will all ways have two in my tank from now on just " if " ones goes bad.
thats a good idea to have two thermometers. I think i'll pick one up and see how it compares to my glass one. Thanks
 
kromix

kromix

Member
I need to pickup a glass thermometer, those Coralife digitals suck, time to get back to the basics...


There is one more pic I have seen of three thermometers in someones tank and all 3 were off by 3-4 degrees in different ways... They are craptastic
 
whisk

whisk

Active Member
Thats funny with all the different readings on the thermometers. I did pick one up the other day and it matches my glass thermometer so far so good.
Unfortunately my Diamond Goby did pass away.
My replacement heater should be here any day. Its definitely the heater and not the lights/fans. It's just one of those bummer things that has happened to me.
 
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