High Tide Aquatics

Temp drops

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My 40B was running with a single 100w Titanium heater in my sump all summer. Towards winter, I expected temp drops in the night and added a second 100w std heater to my DT.

In the day, my DT temp is always between 78-80. Yesterday morning I noticed temp was 74! Is this normal under the current weather conditions? Is it ok for the livestock?

Was a bit concerned and added a 3rd 50w Titanium heater to my DT and today morning temp is 76. With 250w of heating on a 40 gal, i dunno what more I can do...
 
I have 2 300W heaters for my 55g. They're not always on, and 1 is mainly a backup just in case the other were to die. You might want to just get one of the more powerful ones instead of the little ones. Or turn up the heater in your home.
 
You should be able to heat 40 gallons 10 degrees with 150 watts (68 degree room, 78 degree tank). I'm able to heat my 25 gallon system with a single 25 watt heater and my apartment has been 65-68 the last few days. My tank has been 78 degrees every time that I've checked. Are you sure that both heaters are actually turning on? When I was running two heaters on a quaratine tank I spent about three days getting them adjusted so that they both kicked on at the right temp.

What is the temperature in your room? Turning your room heater up should also solve it.
 
74 can be fine. However if you keep your tank too stable, then drops in temperature might be bad for it. I have run my tank a bit on the cold side for a while now, temperature might fluctuate between 74 to 78 degrees, never will it get to 80 though. Although I did this when I ran metal halide bulbs and they definitely warmed the tank up... so maybe I'll need to rethink this thought :D

But I wouldn't worry with a morning temp of 76 degrees, presumably you keep your house cooler over night, so naturally the tank is going to get colder then and when your house warms up your tank will too.
 
My Apt doesn't have centralized heating, have a portable heather next to my bed ;) Tank is in living room and temp in Santa Clara in the nights get around 40.

Keep in mind my DT is open top + I have an ATS where water trickles down so water can easily get cold.

The powerful ones (300w) is like 15" and my sump's max depth or width is only 12-14".

A 200w is 12.5" that I can fit in. So do I keep a 200w + 100w in my sump (& additional 100w in my DT just for the season)?
 
Nav, arnt you running an apex controller? If you are and your heater is being controlled then maybe the heater is not strong enough to keep the temp up. Might be a settings thing also? Not sure how much swing you have it set to.


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Nav said:
My Apt doesn't have centralized heating, have a portable heather next to my bed ;) Tank is in living room and temp in Santa Clara in the nights get around 40.
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How cold does it get inside the living room though? If it drops too cold, it could explain why 250 watts is not enough heat.
 
Nav, you should be able to fit a 300w in there. I have mine sitting in my sump diagonally. (longest distance in a rectangular solid is the diagonal!) also as mentioned earlier, you have to make sure your heaters are all active at the same time, otherwise our 3 heaters act independently and you dont get a true 250W heating. or you can just get 2x200w heaters. that will for sure be enough for you.
 
I like to control heaters w a reef keeper lite or a ranco. Reef keeper kites have treated me well and have some other limited functionality for around $100 when BRS has sales. Not a bad deal IMO. Heaters that are not controlled by an exterior device are not to be trusted. Saw a 100 gal tank today at 85 degrees as a cheap crappy (basically all of then are) 300 watt heater was stuck on. They like to break, and you gotta hope they stick off when they don, not on!
 
Do you guys all have standard glass heaters or the titanium? I see the titaniums are relatively shorter but expensive...
 
Today morning checked temp and its 77-78. Looks like I got the 3 heaters to work together ;) but I'll look into buying a bigger single one...
 
I've started wrapping / covering my tank in insulating blankets at night during the winter which saves energy as well as keeping the water warmer than without it. Makes a big difference as my house gets really cold at night! BBBRRRR!!!
 
I actually prefer 3 smaller heaters - if one stops working, your temp won't drop as much, and if one goes nutty your tank won't cook as much. :D
 
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