Where is the heat coming from/do I need a chiller?

[maury]

I am in the process of setting up a new 210 for reef. It has been running only 2-3 weeks now with no lights on, and a 4 in DSB. The pumps are Dolphin AquaSea 3000's, 2 of them, one on skimmer in 75-gallon sump, and the other as return. I had read that these were supposed to be low heat output pumps, yet without any lights whatsoever, the water temp is staying at 80. I turned the lights on and left them on for 48 hours straight, and the tank has settled out at 84 degrees, a little higher than I would like to run the tank at. Should these pumps be giving off this much heat? BTW, I have no heaters in the tank yet, so it's not a heater malfunction, and the room temperature is 71 degrees. The lights running now are 6 VHO's (3 superactinics, 3 whites) on 3 separate Icecap 440's. I have a feeling I am going to need a chiller, as I am going to add a metal halide setup to this soon. Any advice on whether this is the pumps heating the tank, and what I can do to cool it? I also have no fans running right now, and if I am headed for a chiller, I will not get them due to noise level, and let the chiller do the cooling. Thanks in advance!

 

[chainsaw5vent]

virtually all mechanical devices will add heat because of 1)the energy required to run them creates heat 2) friction inside the device. so, yes it is the pumps causing the heat rise. if you wanted to, why not shut down one pump at a time to see how much heat each is producing. out here in socal, i run a 10-13 y.o. inline chiller to keep the temp bet 79-82 degrees. i also run a 4" fan in the hood to help cool the tank down. not much noise here. the fan is the quietest mechanical item in the system. 2 "quiet one" pumps, 2 rio submersible pumps, 4x40 watt powered by icecap 660, 2x40 watt actinics and one chiller. although with my next house, ALL pumps and chillers will be in a seperate room to keep things quiet.

 

[beth]

How far are the lights from the water? Are you using fans to cool the lights? I am running 4 VHO's on Icecap, but the lights are 14" from the water surface and I have 2 fans cooling them off as soon as they turn on. One fan brings cool air from outside the canopy in, the other fan takes the hot air out of the canopy blowing out.

 

[rockster]

From your description it looks like the pumps are the source of heat. If you are intending to keep corals, you are right that you will need a chiller to keep your temp optimum for corals (around 78 F). However, I would still get fans to drive some heat off the hood. This will help your chiller not work as hard.

 

[david s]

i am fairly new to salt water but i am good with electric motors and mech stuff and if i were u i would borow a amp meter u just clip it over wire and it will tell u amps or motors i found a sight that says those pumps run cool and it has a amp chart if 1 pump is drawing more amps than chart thats the one givin u the heat before u get a chiller and pay more elec and everything
<a href="http://www.dolphinpumps.com/new_!!_amp_mater_3000_aqua_sea_pump.htm" target="_blank">http://www.dolphinpumps.com/new_!!_amp_mater_3000_aqua_sea_pump.htm</a>

 

[rockster]

David, I was talking about the heat that will be contributed by the lighting required to keep corals. I believe that the chiller will pay for itself because the corals that will die from overheating will be more expensive.

 

[david s]

yup but ??? 80 without lights seemed a bit high is why i said it

 

[maury]

Yes, Beth, I'm running 80 without ANY lights, just circulation from the pumps, sitting in a 74-71 degree room. I appreciate the advice, and figure I am getting the heat from the pumps, or one of the pumps. Think I'll check the amps as suggested. As far as pump restriction, one is driving the skimmer, and is wide open (however the valve on the outlet of the skimmer back into the sump IS turned down, hell, I have to adjust the skimmer!) and the return pump is wide open, so no restriction there. I AM planning on placing 3 icecap fans in the canopy, and one over the sump and see what happens. I left the lights on for 48 hours straight, and it only heated to 83-84 degrees and held there, so cooling with just fans might be all I need to do. However, I'm not sure if that will be the case if I pull two of the 160 W VHO's and add 3-250W metal halides running at 8 hours a day. Also, Beth, you have your VHO tubes that far from the water surface?! I'm sure it works great for you, as I know you are an expert (lurk here for over a year), but everything I have read and been told is that VHO lighting should be as close to the water surface as possible. Maybe I have heard this is only the case if they are the only light source and you are growing/keeping clams and SPS corals.

 

[uncle fester]

Maury, what kind of thermometer are you using? I ask because a friend had what looked to be a hi-dollar mercury thermometer he was using and it kept giving him a reading of 89 degrees with lights off. We talked it over and he bought a chiller. Chiller thermostat reads 82 degrees when his thermometer reads 89. He brought it to my house where my chiller reads 78 degrees and thermometer read 84 degrees. Just something else to check.

 

[maury]

I have tested teh water temp with a stick on, Hagen thermometer strip, and a drop in thermometer, both read the same. A buddy of mine is bringing over his pinpoint temp monitor later to confim this.