Protein Skimmer Cooks My Tank!

[agate]

For the last six weeks I have had a REMORA HANG-0N SKIMMER with a MAXI JET 1200 WATER PUMP for my 100 gallon tank. The pump makes enough heat that I've had to unplug the heater. It keeps the temp at 78+ steady. This is my Lionfish tank, and I would like to maintain a 76 temp. Also, I'm concerned about the summer months. Any suggestions?

Agate

 

[SkiFletch]

what kind of lighting do you run? how is the surface agitation of the water? high or low?

 

[crazyelece]

Take the maxi jet from a 1200 to a 900. Only slightly less flow with half the power. Half the power consumption means less heat. I really didn't think this was an issue until my nano was running at 85-86 degrees F with a Maxijet 1200. I changed to a Maxijet 900 and now it needs a heater to keep it at 79-80 deggrees F.

 

[agate]

what kind of lighting do you run? how is the surface agitation of the water? high or low?

I have low lighting fluorescent with two Rena XP3 filters providing high surface agitation.

Agate

Take the maxi jet from a 1200 to a 900. Only slightly less flow with half the power. Half the power consumption means less heat. I really didn't think this was an issue until my nano was running at 85-86 degrees F with a Maxijet 1200. I changed to a Maxijet 900 and now it needs a heater to keep it at 79-80 deggrees F.

I wonder if I would get the same results with a 100 gallon tank?

Agate

 

[SkiFletch]

Ok well, this is a little disturbing if you ask me... A single Maxi-Jet 1200 should not put out the amount of heat required to keep a tank that warm. What's your ambient room temp at? Is it a really warm room like mid 70's? Cause if that's the case, then MAYBE they put out enough watts of heat to raise your tank to that temp, but even still, something seems not right to me.

A normal 1200 running with no restructions only puts out 20 watts of heat... That should be a drop in the bucket for a 100g tank with good surface agitation. Is there anything restricting the pump inlet? Because if there are restrictions on it, it will create much more heat than if its allowed to flow freely. Also, can you check the tank with a voltmeter? One probe in the water and the other in the ground pin of a wall socket (make SURE its the grounding pin ) just to see if you have any stray voltage floating around in there. That could be a sign that the pump is failing. How old is the pump btw?

 

[agate]

Ok well, this is a little disturbing if you ask me... A single Maxi-Jet 1200 should not put out the amount of heat required to keep a tank that warm. What's your ambient room temp at? Is it a really warm room like mid 70's? Cause if that's the case, then MAYBE they put out enough watts of heat to raise your tank to that temp, but even still, something seems not right to me.

A normal 1200 running with no restructions only puts out 20 watts of heat... That should be a drop in the bucket for a 100g tank with good surface agitation. Is there anything restricting the pump inlet? Because if there are restrictions on it, it will create much more heat than if its allowed to flow freely. Also, can you check the tank with a voltmeter? One probe in the water and the other in the ground pin of a wall socket (make SURE its the grounding pin ) just to see if you have any stray voltage floating around in there. That could be a sign that the pump is failing. How old is the pump btw?

One thing I omitted was the fact that the unit was employed on my 55 gallon tank first. It raised the temp 2 degrees. Once I removed it, the temp then matched the heater temp 76 degrees. I've only had it 6 weeks. My room temp averages 71.5. The pump sits near the top with no restrictions. A voltmeter is not available. I realize this input doesn't help much, but it is all I have.

Agate

 

[crazyelece]

You have to realize its not in a 100 gal tank, its in a sump (at least if I am imagining this right). The water volume is much less and therefore easier to heat. Depending on the flow rate through the sump it could very easily be the heat source. An easy way to determine it though is unplug it. If the tank temp drops and you have done nothing else - Bingo problem found. Also Any added backpressure and the power consumption goes up as well as the heat generated.

 

[agate]

You have to realize its not in a 100 gal tank, its in a sump (at least if I am imagining this right). The water volume is much less and therefore easier to heat. Depending on the flow rate through the sump it could very easily be the heat source. An easy way to determine it though is unplug it. If the tank temp drops and you have done nothing else - Bingo problem found. Also Any added backpressure and the power consumption goes up as well as the heat generated.

I wished it was that easy, but it is a hang on unit. No sump involved.

Agate

 

[SkiFletch]

You have to realize its not in a 100 gal tank, its in a sump (at least if I am imagining this right). The water volume is much less and therefore easier to heat. Depending on the flow rate through the sump it could very easily be the heat source. An easy way to determine it though is unplug it. If the tank temp drops and you have done nothing else - Bingo problem found. Also Any added backpressure and the power consumption goes up as well as the heat generated.

At the risk of sounding confrontational, I have to disagree. If you have a sump system which is connected via flowing water to the display tank, then its all one unit. That means that anything done to the sump or the main tank travels through out the whole system and into the other components. Because the water is pumping and moving, if there is a heat source in the sump, it will transfer the heat to the display tank (water has fantastic thermal conductivity and thermal mass). Thats how people are able to put heaters in the sump and still keep the display tank warm. There will be a slight difference in temperature between the sump and display tank, but its only going to be on the order of a couple degrees provided there is enough flowrate between tank and sump. But of course, either way that doesnt help our poster here.

Have you tried turning the skimmer off for a few hours and seeing if the temp comes down?

 

[agate]

You have to realize its not in a 100 gal tank, its in a sump (at least if I am imagining this right). The water volume is much less and therefore easier to heat. Depending on the flow rate through the sump it could very easily be the heat source. An easy way to determine it though is unplug it. If the tank temp drops and you have done nothing else - Bingo problem found. Also Any added backpressure and the power consumption goes up as well as the heat generated.

At the risk of sounding confrontational, I have to disagree. If you have a sump system which is connected via flowing water to the display tank, then its all one unit. That means that anything done to the sump or the main tank travels through out the whole system and into the other components. Because the water is pumping and moving, if there is a heat source in the sump, it will transfer the heat to the display tank (water has fantastic thermal conductivity and thermal mass). Thats how people are able to put heaters in the sump and still keep the display tank warm. There will be a slight difference in temperature between the sump and display tank, but its only going to be on the order of a couple degrees provided there is enough flowrate between tank and sump. But of course, either way that doesnt help our poster here.

Have you tried turning the skimmer off for a few hours and seeing if the temp comes down?

No, I haven't tried turning it off as you suggest because it did it to my 55. I like the idea though, so I'm going to try it now, and I'll let you know the results.

Agate

 

[superman]

Gotta put my two cents in here..there is NO WAY a properly working maxijet 1200 will raise the temperature of a 100 gallon tank by any measureable amount. Is your heater working correctly? Are you using the same heater that you used on your 55 gallon that had the same overheating issues? You may have a bad thermostat on the heater which could be keeping the water temp very high. Are you using two different digital thermometers to determine the correct temperature of the tank? Is it possible that the thermometer that you're using is wrong? Get back to us with the information on what you figure out.

 

[crazyelece]

I think the key everyone may be missing is that it may not be properly working. Just because it is pumping water doesn't mean it is working correctly. Easy solution to determine the problem - unplug it and see if the temp comes down.

 

[agate]

First of all, let me thank each one of you for your help. Using each of your suggestions here is the results.

Temp is correct matching a digital/regular thermometers.

After 5 1/2 hours of NO LIGHTS, NO HEATER, NO PROTEIN SKIMMER the temp went up from 78 to 78.7.

The only thing left was the two FILSTAR XP3 filters. On top, each was warm to the touch, but that is normal for the filstars.

On my 55 with the FILSTAR running, plus heater set at 73, and lights (12 hours per day) I maintain a 75.6 temp. Keep in mind that it generates the same amount warmth.

On my discus tank I use the same Filstar, but maintain a 82 temp, so you would never know the difference.

I'm not sure where I'm going next, but tomorrow I will check the temp within each filstar. Why would it work with the 55 and not the 100? Two units versus one? Certainly everyone is right about the skimmer, it is not a factor.

Thanks again,

Agate

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, its not the skimmer . Turning the skimmer off probably lowered your surface agitation and that decraesed evaporation which increased the temp (evaporation cools the tank so more agitation is usually good for you). That being said you have to look at heat sources. Its obviously not lights, heater, or skimmer, so search the rest of the electrics in your tank. Any powered filters could be culprits if their pumps are heading south. Do you have any automatic dosing systems for topoff? I cant really think of what else it could be though.

Is the tank exposed to direct sunlight, or is it set up right next to one of the heating elements for your house? Perhaps its picking up extra heat from your furnace/boiler or whatever you use to heat your home?

 

[agate]

Good and bad news, Gang! I finally found the culpert. You remember I have 2 FILSTAR XP3s working on the 100 gallon. I unpluged one for three hours, and there wasn't any change in the temp. I pluged it back in and unpluged the other and the temp went from 77.4 to 76.2. So, I replaced this "hot" filter head with a new one and the temp using both filters is steady at 76.9. Not really as good as I would like, but close enough.

Before saltwater and Lionfish, the 100 housed fish that required temps in the 80s. Therefore, I never was confronted with the problem above. What I would like to do is run 1 Filstar and the Skimmer. Could this be done with just 2 Lionfish?

Agate