Temperature too high in new tank?

C

Cockroach

Reefing newb
Location
Chicago, IL
Hello everyone,

I'm new to this forum and to saltwater in general and I hope you can help me out. I've kept freshwater since I was a youngin' and just recent;y branched out into salt water at the prodding of my nephew who worked at a local petstore and who insisted that with the advent of new tanks and filtration using live rock even I could handle a marine tank.

I have a 12 gallon Aquapod and have noticed that the temperature has been running at around 85 degrees Fahrenheit (confirmed by 3 different thermometers - one of which is a digital model which is registering 85.4 F). The tank is located in a well-ventilated area in an air conditioned building. Is this normal and is there any way to bring the temperature down? It's a new tank with live sand, 10lbs of live rock and 6 hermit crabs and 6 turbo grazers. Apart from wanting it to cycle for a few months I want to know if this is something that will need to be fixed before I start adding any fish. If I need to swap out tanks I'd rather do it before everything gets settled in and established

Also, the cooling fan for the light makes a bit of noise - is this normal? It doesn't sound inordinately noisy (sounds like a power-head motor out of the water) but not sure if the noise means it's not running efficiently and not effectively cooling the light/tank.

Thanks for your help.

X :o)
 
No salt water on the fan (there is a cover). It has made that noise from the very first minute I set up the tank and turned the light on. I'm wondering if the fan itself is defective. I sent an email to the tank manufacturer and hopefully they will get back to me with a reply. If there is a problem I would like to think that I can simply swap out the hood. I'd hate to have to move everything to a new tank!

Thanks for your reply!
 
My tank stays 78 all the time.

Before my chiller my tank was constantly at 82, but I think ~86 if getting to hot, but thats my opinion.

Do you have a heater on it? Any extra powerheads? etc...

Can you provide a list of anything and everything that plugs in on the tank?

Thanks
Brandon
 
No heater whatsoever. The water is heated solely from the lights in the hood. I'm operating the tank according to their instriction manual. There is one powerhead that is part of the filtration system that is self contained within the back of the tank.

I'd would think that a chiller should not be necessary unless the tank itself was kept in a very warm location. The other tanks I've seen up and running in the stores don't seem to require chillers.

There is no direct sunlight either - it's a good 8-10 feet from a window (which has a blue stained glass pattern on it) so it not getting heated from sun exposure.

The only plugs are from the light and filter power head which came with the tank.





I'm stumped.
 
Try something

Turn the lights off and see if the temp goes down and how long it takes...

That way we can either say its the lights or the pump... turn the lights off for a day and see what the lowest the temp gets... need to know whats causing the problem. Also what is the air temperature next to the tank?

Also do you have a small air pump and air stone that you could use to see if it helps?
 
Its more than likley the lights producing the heat so try to add more air movement in between the light fixture and the water. try a house hold fan with the top open or cracked.I usaully see the nanoz at the fish store with the tops completly open to lower temp.Do you have control of the temp were the aqur is at?if so try lowering a couple of degrees.Also the tank shouldnt be in direct sun light.Do you have a hang on filter or anything the would cause the glass from the outside to warm up?Is the noise from vibration or is it the fan producing the noise or maybe the ballest?
 
OK, I just got into work and the temp is 86.5. I took your suggestion and shut off both of the daytime lights to see if and how that affects the temp. My email is down so I can't check to see if I got a reply from the manufacturer just yet.

The office where the tank is kept between 72-74 degrees F and there is no direct sunlight on the tank.

I'll post again in a hour or so and give a temp update.

Thanks for all of your help!
 
Temp @ 10:30 this morning 86.5. Turned the lights off and temp now 80.5 at 2:30. It must be the lights overheating the water. Still no email so no news from the manufacturer. My guess is that I've got a faulty cooling fan.
 
aquapod recall

after reading your problem i went to consumeraffairs.com after doing search on aquapods on yahoo and found there has been recall because of electrical problems so keep an eye on your tank bud so nothing bad happens at the office.
 
I saw the recall notice for the Aquapods - it was for a risk of electrical shock. I called the number and checked my serial numbers with the person there and luckily my tank is not included in the recall.

If the manufacturer won't work with me I think I'll just buy an identical tank - swap out the hood and return it. Hopefully I won't need to resort to that though.

Thanks for the heads up!

P.S. Temperature with the lights off now at 78.0F
 
Even though the person you called said your unit was not in the recall, does not mean there isnt something wrong with your unit also. I agree with you, from the information posted it seems you have an overheating light system which in itself could pose an electrical failure, electrical hazard, or worse. good luck on your problem. I would correct it asap and if not leave the lights off until you can rectify the problem. good luck.
 
Mystery Solved!

I was able to get in touch with the manufacturer today (Current-USA). They said they would send out a new fan and that I should also check to see if something was knocked loose during shipping. I was afraid to take the hood apart for fear that it would void a warranty or something, but Current said it would be OK. Opened up the hood and found that the the end of some tape which was supposed to be holding down 2 electrical wires was sticking up and interfering with the fan. I got some new tape and fixed the wires securely and reassembled, and the fan is almost perfectly silent. The lights are on - hood is closed - and temp is 76.1 F.

Thanks everyone for all of your help and suggestions!
 

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