temperature issue...ugh

[vsecret]

I've got a 55g and i have my heater in the back left corner, but then on the front right i have the temperature strip that it comes with (you know the cheap stick-on ones) and for some reason since yesterday is says that my tank is 84 degrees! now my fish have been fine...I'm just not sure if its a true reading, or that stick on reader is junk.
But i turned down my heater wayyyy down, but the readings haven't changed. Now i live in Maine and the weather has gotten a little warmer, but its been raining for 16 days straight (no joke) so i dont think that it'd be because of the outside temperature? I really dont know!

any thoughts, advice, 2cents would be great!

 

[cajonez]

I'm new so take this with a grain of salt, but...since glass is such a poor conductor of heat wouldn't something stuck on the outside of the tank skew the reading of the water inside? Could it possibly be getting warmed up by your lighting?

 

[florida joe]

Do you have a instant read thermometer if so use it if not go to your supermarket and buy one check your tank with it.

 

[vsecret]

no i wish i had one - I'm going out tonight to get a digital reader. I just don't know why it would all of a sudden get hotter.
Do you think there is a need for a chiller during the summer months?

 

[florida joe]

first thing i would do is disconect your heater What is the ambit temp of your room, make sure all your pumps are submerged and not overheating

 

[vsecret]

i just disconnected my heater - and i grabbed the digital reader we have for outside, and i washed the wire off and stuck it in my tank and its reading 83.3. What should i do? just let it cool off its self then turn the heater back on to keep it from getting too low?

 

[teresaq]

do you have glass tops? if so remove them and add a clip on fan.
T

 

[vsecret]

i have the plastic flip up lids that came with the tank - cheap i know

 

[florida joe]

IMO replace the glass with eggcrate. Your temp is not critically high right now you can float a ziplock back with some ice to drop it down one degree an hour. What is the ambient temp of your house

 

[vsecret]

oh thats a good idea with the ice
if i get eggcrate - cant the fish jump out? my fish really like, when the lid is open, so pop out of the water a tad.
the temp in my house is, with the heat off, 76

 

[florida joe]

You fish will have to be really lucky to jump out of the eggcrate. You tank temp should never fall below your ambient tank temp if anything it will always be higher due to the lights and heat generated by your pumps

 

[vsecret]

im going to go grab some ice in a bag, but what is the highest it can get to before killing the fish?

 

[florida joe]

Depending on your fish you will want to keep your tank between 72 and 80 but fish can live in temps as high as 85 remember it is the rapid fluctuations, which are most dangerous

 

[vsecret]

thank you - i'm only 6 months into this hobby, so i'm still learning a lot

 

[snaredrum]

Buy a regular thermo. of some sort. I have one of the little floating one for spot checking. Works great and easy to more over when mixing new water to check temp.

 

[jackri]

At 83-84 it's not critical -- just a bit warmer than it should be. My tanks runs 80-82 in the summer but it's constant. I had a heater short out on me and the tank ran up to 90 before it was caught and it didn't fry any coral or fish -- but took one of the corals awhile to recover.
I would try and keep it under 82 -- but the main thing here is keeping it constant and I would use egg crate to help it breathe a bit more. I also have a couple of cpu fan's that blow under my halides and across the top of the water which are in a timer with my halides -- and that keeps the water about 2 degrees cooler than without.
Good luck!

 

[vsecret]

ive been keeping the lids up and a fan trained on my tank, and its gone down to 80.2 so i think im going to invest in a canopy, then put the eggcrate on
thanks everyone for your thoughts and replies!