I have a covered Rubbermaid trough with a lot of Liferock and 30 lbs of Tampa Bay Saltwater sand. In it, a Cor-20 and Sicce pump at either end, and a Helios heater system. The Helios was throwing off warnings about temperature over my upper limit of 80, so I checked with temp with what I have on hand, a meat thermometer and my Hannah Salinity checker which also takes temp readings. And sure enough they were reading the temps at 81-82.
So I turned off the heater and waited a day. Still same readings. The trough is in a basement with an ambient temp of 74-ish, and receives no sunlight. The trough is on a dolly, so air flows all around it. The pumps are fine, I checked. What could cause the temp to be so high? I removed the cover hoping that would help.
Moreover, I did a Hannah HR Nitrate test on Sunday and it was 32. I tossed in more Dr Tims One and Only hoping they would gobble up some nitrates. Two days later it's reading 42. What the heck?
Now, when I added the TBS sand a week ago (before I took my measurements) there were hitchikers: I saw a small brittle star and a snail, not sure if the star was alive and have not seen it since. Could a decaying brittle star cause the readings to be so high?
So I turned off the heater and waited a day. Still same readings. The trough is in a basement with an ambient temp of 74-ish, and receives no sunlight. The trough is on a dolly, so air flows all around it. The pumps are fine, I checked. What could cause the temp to be so high? I removed the cover hoping that would help.
Moreover, I did a Hannah HR Nitrate test on Sunday and it was 32. I tossed in more Dr Tims One and Only hoping they would gobble up some nitrates. Two days later it's reading 42. What the heck?
Now, when I added the TBS sand a week ago (before I took my measurements) there were hitchikers: I saw a small brittle star and a snail, not sure if the star was alive and have not seen it since. Could a decaying brittle star cause the readings to be so high?