help with tank temperature

dacia

dacia

Active Member
My 30 does not have a hood, and the PC light fixture sits on top...during the day, the temp raises and stabilizes at 80, but at night when the lights go out, it will fall as low as 76. What should I do to prevent this, or is it even something to worry about?
There are no fish or corals in it yet, just a few snails and hermits plus one cute lettuce nudi going to town on my algae. ;) I want a sixline wrasse, firefish, some sort of clown other than a percula OR a royal gramma, amd only soft corals with maybe an occasional low-light LPS. (2 x 65W PC with actinic)
 
jimmyn

jimmyn

Member
I wish I had that problem....I had the reverse problem and had to add a chiller. You could add a small heater.
 
jimmyn

jimmyn

Member
I should have completely answered your question. A swing of 4 degrees is borderline a problem. Fish, in general, stress during temp swings. If however, the swing is gradual, as opposed to your lights going out and tank temp dropping the 4 degrees in 3-4 hours, you would probably be okay. That being said, I think most people would agree that the more stable and conmsistent your metrics are the better your tank will be in the long run. I would caution you in one aspect. If you do add a heater, the lights, which are raising your temp might actually raise it higher than the 80 you have now, since the inital water temp would be higher with the heater. You might want to try raising your lights an inch above your top and see how that affects your temp. You may find that your high temp may be more consistent.
HTH
 
I

iluvfish

Guest
I had this same problem - so now at night I just put another heater in at the other end of the tank, to help maintain the temp - it works perfect!!:) Good luck!
 
S

slofish

Guest
A heater sounds like a good fix for this problem. Personally, i like ebo jager. Keeps my tank at an accurate temp.
 
dacia

dacia

Active Member
I have a cheap heater in there now, but I will soon be getting another to replace the one that I have...what wattage do you suggest? It's a 30 gallon high tank that measures 2 feet tall x 2 feet long x 1 foot wide.
 
marine fanatic

marine fanatic

Member
A 100-150 watt heater should be fine in a 30 gallon tank. As stated above...Ebo Jager makes awesome heaters.
I run dual 150 watt Ebo Jager's and my tank has an amazingly small variance in temp (80-81) I've never seen 79 and never seen 82.
 
S

slofish

Guest
My ebo jager is 125 watts. Never had a problem. It heats the 26 gallons in my tank plus the 10 in my sump.
 
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