Why is my tank getting hot?

[Areseebee]

I started a little 10G nano and over the last 3 days I've had really weird heat issues. I have my heater set between 78.5 and 79.5. My lights (a standard 95w) is set to turn off at 81. Over the last three days my temperature has shot up to 81 starting at 1pm my time. I live in the north east and my house isn't getting hotter than mid 70s. My heater isn't coming on (blue line in the apex plot), even when my lights turn off the temp seems to continue to rise (lights are purple line). The other equipment in the tank is a small return pump (forget which, it was an old one) and a newer koralia kps powerhead (or whatever the small one is called).

 

[UMALUM]

Gotta be either the pump or power head. Process of elimination should be fairly easy. I had a small pump years ago that put off so much heat it kept a 40 breeder at 78 by itself.

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

My money is on the pump. Submersible return pumps especially the AC ones can produce quite a but of heat on their own.

 

[Pistondog]

Get a clip on fan to blow across water surface to cool

 

[Areseebee]

So I did actually order one but (1) It's unsightly and (2) I think it might not really address the underlying issue. What's summer going to look like at this rate, for instance.

 

[TX_REEF]

agreed it has to be one of the pumps, try turning one off for a day at a time to see which it is and replace it ASAP

 

[BaliReefBox]

Get a clip on fan to blow across water surface to cool

yep this will work great on a smaller tank but I would recommend an ATO with it...I have a fan on the betta cube and lose arounf 1-2 litres a day. This might pay havoc with your SG

 

[TX_REEF]

Also not sure of your setup, but you could try using a small amount of ice in a watertight ziplock or something to control the heat until you discover the problem

 

[Areseebee]

yep this will work great on a smaller tank but I would recommend an ATO with it...I have a fan on the betta cube and lose arounf 1-2 litres a day. This might pay havoc with your SG

I do also have an ATO (didn't mention it because there's no actual electric equipment in the DT from it).

For now I've unplugged the koralia power head, and despite everything being off and the house being 77, the temp in the tank is still 81.3. I think the return is indeed the culprit but we will see in the morning.

 

[a.t.t.r]

Take the wattage of all your pump… that’s the same as having a heater of that size in the tank

 

[Areseebee]

Here it is.

 

[Areseebee]

I feel like it'll be hard to get much lower in wattage on those pumps.

 

[Birdman Broham]

What size is your heater?

 

[Areseebee]

50W, but it's definitely not on during this period (you can see it's on before the temp spikes at 1pm each day.

 

[Areseebee]

Take the wattage of all your pump… that’s the same as having a heater of that size in the tank

Wait is this true? A 50w heater I assume is converting all of that energy to heat whereas I assume an efficient pump is using most of that energy to do work in moving water against gravity.

 

[KQuillan]

Does your nano have a lid?

 

[Areseebee]

Mesh top atm. It shouldn't be a huge deal and I know that theoretically I could remove it but I feel like something deeper is going on if the tank is drastically overheating with everything off and the house sitting at 75 degrees

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Mesh top atm. It shouldn't be a huge deal and I know that theoretically I could remove it but I feel like something deeper is going on if the tank is drastically overheating with everything off and the house sitting at 75 degrees

Try a DC return pump

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

Wait is this true? A 50w heater I assume is converting all of that energy to heat whereas I assume an efficient pump is using most of that energy to do work in moving water against gravity.

Kindof. Electric motors do produce a lot of waste heat, that's why you see big electric motors with cooling dins built into the housing. In a submersible pump all that excess heat goes strait into the water. The submersible pump on my 34g red sea noticeably heats the water.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Wait is this true? A 50w heater I assume is converting all of that energy to heat whereas I assume an efficient pump is using most of that energy to do work in moving water against gravity.

A watt is a watt…yes some of the energy is converted to noise and water flow, but a relatively small amount and the water flow dissipates most of its emergy into the tank anyway amd too is heat…

So yes, a submerged 50W pump puts roughly the same energy into the water as a heater.