Lighting And Heating Issue

[adam_g2000]

Hi Guys,

I'm the (rather dissillusioned) owner of an Aqua One 126 22L tank. Click here http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=168981 for the backstory.

I have installed the heater (an Aqua One 25w heater) correctly, I belileve, and with it on at night, I can acheive a stable temperature and have been of about 24deg C.

However, during the day, when I turn the light on in the tank, the temperature soars to just under 30deg C.

I have tried, as a counter measure, turning the heater off in the day, and just letting the light warm the water, using this technique I get a variation of around 2 degrees over a 24 hour period, not ideal - should it be this hard?

I've not yet got fish in the tank, and would really like to get some help or ideas with this as the tank is very nearly cycled and I'm getting quite distressed over the whole thing.

I have asked in shops for advice, one guy told me the heater is not a good model, and to go for a Jager (which I would do if I could be assured it will solve the problem), others have said leave the top hatch open (risky, there are cats around). One guy even told me to turn the filter tube upside down so the water moved through cold air. I knew what would happen with this before I did it and I wish I hadn't tried. Let's say things got a little wet in the room.

With gratitude in advance of assistance,

Adam.

 

[nukeonekitty]

I would think your heater must be turned up too high because lighting really doesn't affect my water temps much. Try turning it down and tell me how that works.

 

[Tolak]

The heater should have a built in thermostat, much like the heat in your house. You shouldn't have to turn it off if the thermostat is working properly & the heater is set properly. The problem with cheap heater is usually a cheap thermostat. The Jager heaters were purchased by Eheim from Ebo-Jager, some of the earlier Jager heaters had some problems, but that was a year ago. As long as you get it from a shop that has got them in recently you should be fine.

Depending on the lights, some throw off little heat, some throw off a lot. The thermostat, if operating properly, should compensate for that.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

little tanks are notoriously unstable, this is why i would generally advise beginners to go for something larger. however this doesn't mean you can't keep it stable!

i've had the same with little tanks, sometimes the lighting is so strong it heats up the water dead easily.

your heater should have a thermostat so don't worry about turning it on and off, check the temp it's set to, and the temp of the tank, if it's heating up to higher than you want it and the heaters still on then replace the heater, if not don't worry about it.

whats your photoperiod for lighting, i've found breaking it up helps to stop it overheating, so put it on a timer, on for 2 hrs, off for an hr, on for 2 hrs etc etc.

also look at what fish you want to stock, some tropicals like lower/higher temps..... if they don't mind it a bit warm then stop worrying!

what is the temp of the room the tanks in? and is the tank in direct sunlight? this could also be contributing if the temp in the room rises over the day. if it's in sunlight shut the curtains through the day. if the room gets warm turn the heating down. put a fan near the tank so it cools down the outside of the tank.

the key factor to remember when the tank gets too warm is aeration, you need to get as much oxygen into the water as possible. so move the filter output so it breaks the surface of the water and makes it a bit choppy. add an airstone if you like.

the last and most expensive way of stopping it, is to get a chiller, they are pricey but just hook up to the aquarium and working in conjunction with the heater (set the thermostats to the same temp on each) will maintain a constant temp.

 

[ers81239]

I have to agree with the aeration tip. I'm a new aquarium owner as well. I have a 40g tank and put a heater in set to 78. Well, the tank was always 80-82. I kept turning the heater down one and two degrees at a time, but it never helped.

I didn't have an airstone as I thought they were unnecessary. Looking at some pics online, I decided I liked the look and wanted to try it. Well, by then my heater had been turned down to 72, but then tank was still 80. I put the airstone in, and the next morning the tank was 72. Now I can set my heater and the tank stays at that temp.

 

[adam_g2000]

Thanks guys for so much repsonse, I'm going to do a bit of a scientific test now, with the heater set at a single temp, monitoring all heat affecting factors. Today I'm doing it without the light, tomorrow I'll repeat the exact same factors only with the light on.

I'll let you know the response and hopefully we'll be able to localise which of the factors you have suggested is the key factor.

FWIW, the Tank is out of direct sunlight, in Auckland, our weather borderlines tropical, so houses don't have central heating, I can't really make it warmer (thank heavens) but I could try the fan next.

Thanks once again, I'll publish my results over the next two days.

 

[adam_g2000]

I didn't turn the light on today.

This morning, at about 8.00 am I set it to 24 degrees Celsius.

At 10.00 am I started to check the temperature of the tank and the room.

10:00 Room 19C Tank 25.6C
11.00 Room 19.5C Tank 26.2C
12.00 Room 20.5C Tank 26.8C
13:00 Room 21C Tank 27.4C
14:00 Room 21.5C Tank 28.4C
15:00 Room 22.5C Tank 28.8C

During this period, the on lamp on the heater didn't go out until 14:00.

It looks like the heater is broken, doesn't it?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah the temp will go up slightly in the day as the room gets warmer.

but the thermostat on the heater should have turned off when the tank temp got above 24.

think your heaters dodgy, I'd get a new one.

 

[adam_g2000]

Well, I bought a new heater (jager) and stabilised the temp with ease! A few days later, the tank had cycled and I added three little Blue Rams.

All is going well - except my suspiscions that one of the girls is not a particularly good specimen, but I'll go into that in the right part of the forum.

Thanks to everyone above who helped to track down my problem. You are all stars!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

glad to hear it