Temperature keeps climbing and i have no idea why

brent23

brent23

Member
Hey guys, i have my 36 gallon bow front in my basement (my basement is done with carpet and everything so its not cold down there) and the temperature down there is usually in the mid to upper 70s. Well as of late my tank has been lingering around 81-82 degrees F. The temperature has been steady within that range, but I'm a little bit worried because I don't know why its lingering so high, i have my heater set for 78 degrees but my water refuses to drop, so i bought one of those digital thermometers with the alarm to warn me if it gets higher than 82, but my question is any ideas as to how i can lower the temperature without hurting my fish? I thought it might be my aquarium light but i only have a basic fluorescent light and hood and i don't think it gives off too much heat. Thanks for ur help guys.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
How old is the heater? I had one that was heating warmer than what I had it set for...TOSSED IT...ALSO, What type of pumps do you have in there?
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
That happened to me!! Put your hand in the water and see if the heater is still on. Mine broke and got stuck on!
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
Faulty heaters are always a concern. Also, every pump, PH, power filter, etc adds heat to your water; often much more than you think.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by srfisher17
http:///forum/post/3188834
Faulty heaters are always a concern. Also, every pump, PH, power filter, etc adds heat to your water; often much more than you think.

+1
So, if your heater is unplugged and the temp doesn't fall it could just be the amount of waterflow in the tank. Usually a small fan blowing air across the water surface will evaporate enough water to cool it 4 or 5 degrees. This depends a lot on the relative humidity in your basement though.
Just for a general guideline, a powerhead pulling 25 watts will heat the water about the same amount as a 25 watt heater.
That said, I don't see anything wrong with keeping the tank at 81F.
 
brent23

brent23

Member
hey guys thanks for the responses, i set my heater a notch lower and the water has gone down to 79.6 degrees which is right around where i would like it to be, so apparently it was my heater or the fact my koralia just died so maybe that was omitting heat. Either way i'm hoping it stays around that temperature now, but now i'm concerned it will drop to low, but it looks like my heater is set around 79 degrees now at least i hope so. I'm going to look into getting a better heater or two smaller heaters because the one i have now came with the tank i bought, its made by all glass aquariums. Thanks again guys
 
S

saxman

Guest
if your ambient temp is consistently in the mid to upper 70's, i'm not so sure you even NEED a heater...JMHO
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
Originally Posted by saxman
http:///forum/post/3189478
if your ambient temp is consistently in the mid to upper 70's, i'm not so sure you even NEED a heater...JMHO
A good, and often overlooked point. Tank temp can easily climb above ambient temp, because of all the stuff we use that produces heat; But I see no way it can go below that same temp. BTW, I don't think I've ever had a tank that stayed under about 80.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by srfisher17
http:///forum/post/3189528
A good, and often overlooked point. Tank temp can easily climb above ambient temp, because of all the stuff we use that produces heat; But I see no way it can go below that same temp. BTW, I don't think I've ever had a tank that stayed under about 80.
Evaporation removes a lot of heat so, if the relative humidity is low and you have a lot of evaporation then the tank water could fall below ambient room temperature. My lagoon has a huge surface area and if I take the cover off for a few days my heaters cannot keep up with the cooling effect of evaporation and the water will get fairly cold.
 
srfisher17

srfisher17

Active Member
Originally Posted by Bang Guy
http:///forum/post/3189587
Evaporation removes a lot of heat so, if the relative humidity is low and you have a lot of evaporation then the tank water could fall below ambient room temperature. My lagoon has a huge surface area and if I take the cover off for a few days my heaters cannot keep up with the cooling effect of evaporation and the water will get fairly cold.
That's why I hang around here; I learn something every day!
 
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