Lowering Tank Temperature

[ac4570]

Hi All,

I’ve recently noticed some temperature fluctuations in my reef tank and was hoping y’all could give me some advice. I have my heater controlled by my apex to go on and off between 78 and 78.1. Over the past few months my tank has been consistently between 78 and 78.3 but lately it’s been jumping to and staying at 79.4 every day after 6am then cooling down at night. My room is temp controlled at 72. I’ve read some posts that say 1-2 degree fluctuations are acceptable but I wanted to check if there’s anything I should do about this or just leave it be. Thanks!

 

[laverda]

I would not worry about it. I don’t don’t give swings of up to 3 degrees a day a though. At 5 degrees I take steps to cool my tank additionally. I rely on fans over my sump to cool my tank when the temp goes up about 2.5 degrees. They are not very big fans so the temp will climb higher on real hot afternoon. On really hot afternoons I put another fan blowing on the side of the tank. The ambient air temp in the room is 78-80 in late afternoons.
In your case where you keep your room temp 6 degrees lower than mine I would look at what is generating so much heat in your tank. Replacing a pump or power head with a more efecient one may be all you need to do to keep your tank cooler.

 

[fishguy242]

hi,agree 1 or 2 degrees not a problem,4-5 ,take action ;)

 

[vetteguy53081]

79.4 acceptable. Range is 77-79 +/- 1

 

[ac4570]

Thanks everyone for the replies! I’ll just let it be for now since it seems to be in agreement that these aren’t big enough fluctuations to worry about. I’m thinking maybe my lights are causing this due to it happening during the day when they are at the highest intensity I’ll just keep an eye out if it ever increases by 4+

 

[laverda]

If you think it is your lights have your apex turn them off if you temp gets to be +4 degrees or whatever temp your comfortable with.

What lights are you running?

 

[ThePickeledReef]

Get ready to buy a new EB 8 tho

 

[Texas Rick]

Turn up your A/C. I keep my house at 70*

 

[laverda]

Turn up your A/C. I keep my house at 70*

That gets very pricey here in Ca. My AC would run constantly to keep my house that cool. Besides I am comfortable at 78. Much more efficient to find the heat sourse and fix that. It will save even more money in the electric bill. My 300 gallon uses less electricity than many smaller tanks do, via the careful selection of equipment.

 

[Pistondog]

Hi All,

I’ve recently noticed some temperature fluctuations in my reef tank and was hoping y’all could give me some advice. I have my heater controlled by my apex to go on and off between 78 and 78.1. Over the past few months my tank has been consistently between 78 and 78.3 but lately it’s been jumping to and staying at 79.4 every day after 6am then cooling down at night. My room is temp controlled at 72. I’ve read some posts that say 1-2 degree fluctuations are acceptable but I wanted to check if there’s anything I should do about this or just leave it be. Thanks!

So the aquarium room has its own zone of temperature?

 

[ac4570]

If you think it is your lights have your apex turn them off if you temp gets to be +4 degrees or whatever temp your comfortable with.

What lights are you running?

I’m running 2 AI Prime 16s. I may do that in the future, but as ThePickeledReef said I’d have get another EB 8 though lol. My energy bar is filled but if I ever see a good deal I may try and pick a second up

 

[ac4570]

So the aquarium room has its own zone of temperature?

Yepp it’s in a bed room with a window unit and ceiling fan always running. My house is already set at 72, but this unit keeps the room nice and chilly if the house AC can’t keep up.

 

[ThePickeledReef]

I said that because that outlet will go out pretty quick with only .1 swing allowance. BRS did a whole correction on this. Said over a million on / off Cycle a year

 

[ac4570]

I said that because that outlet will go out pretty quick with only .1 swing allowance. BRS did a whole correction on this. Said over a million on / off Cycle a year

Ohh lol I suppose that makes more sense! I actually did the .1 swing because I saw a BRS video do that on one of their apex setups but I’ll spread it out a bit. Thanks!

 

[Pistondog]

Yepp it’s in a bed room with a window unit and ceiling fan always running. My house is already set at 72, but this unit keeps the room nice and chilly if the house AC can’t keep up.

As long as you're sure it is 72 or below.
Could get a min max thermometer to verify, $15.

 

[ThePickeledReef]

Yeah I believe the 160 had a mini crash, so they don’t use the apex as primary temp controller anymore. Apex backs up the heater controller, that is cheaper to replace

 

[hobbyreefer]

If I keep my sump door cracked open my temp stays pretty constant around 78. If my sump door stays closed my temp goes up to 81 during the day and back to 78 at night. I now just keep the sump door cracked a bit during the summer and it solved the problem. Just an idea to try.

 

[ac4570]

If I keep my sump door cracked open my temp stays pretty constant around 78. If my sump door stays closed my temp goes up to 81 during the day and back to 78 at night. I now just keep the sump door cracked a bit during the summer and it solved the problem. Just an idea to try.

I’ve really been thinking more airflow in my sump area would help with this. I’m gonna leave mine open tomorrow and if it helps I’ll probably cut a vent hole in my stand and connect a fan to it. That area does always seem to hold a lot of heat. Thanks!

 

[laverda]

I’m running 2 AI Prime 16s. I may do that in the future, but as ThePickeledReef said I’d have get another EB 8 though lol. My energy bar is filled but if I ever see a good deal I may try and pick a second up

They should not be adding much heat to your tank unless you have them very close to the water or an unvented canopy.