Help! heat going up in tank - Question

K

Kitty

[The heat in my tank has jumped from a steady 78 (80 at hottest) to 82! The chiller stopped working, and I shut it off. (After the heat jump.) (Granted, it is too small for the tank size, but it HAS been working.) Tank is still an 82, even over night. I've just this morning shut off all the pumps, to see if that is the problem, but my tank sits with only a Maxijet 1200 to keep flow going. I have several Mags for chiller, skimmer, and return.
Another question would be, the Mags are connected to plastic tubing with metal hose clamps. How do I clean the pumps? THey are sitting in a refugium, and hard to reach, but I can't get them off the tubing, either. Is there an easier way?]
 
[As far as the in the tank. Do you have any fans in the cabinet where the sump is? You will get a lot from having air circulated in the sump area. I have 1 that blows air into the cabinet and another that blows across the water surface of the sump. Even at night if I turn these off, the tank temp. goes up immediately.]
 
[Hey kitty32,

Like rick said, are you using any fans? I do not have a sump but have a small clip on fan blowing across the surface of the tank. It helps keep the temp down and increase evaporation so I can use kalkwasser for top off and keep my pH/Alk/calc up.

As far as the temp being 82, from what I have read that should not be a problem. It seems many people keep their tanks between 82 and 84. This is based on the average temps of reefs around the world. You just want to keep the temp swings to a minimum.

So unless you have a specific tank inhabitant that needs the colder temps I would not worry.

Again this is what I have read in my recent research because I was worried about my tank temp being that high. Let's see what the other members have to say.]
 
[Cathy, if you have metal hose clamps on hoses that are submerged, you need to replace them with plastic clamps. You don't want the metal to rust (even if it is stainless steel). I use metal hose clamps only when they are out of the water, plastic in the water.

Fans in various locations can cool your tank. Opening your canopy a little to vent out heat from the lights is a good way too. And be sure your heater isn't doing a number on you, heating your tank when you least want it to!

If you'll read that thread I started a few hours ago, when my Mag 9.5 overheated, you'll see I'm down to one Mag at the moment, and running skimmerless (oh no! LOL). My tank dropped from 81.5 to 76.8 in about five hours. So yes, our Mag drives do add some heat.

What kind of chiller were you using? Is it under warranty?

82F is my comfortable high, btw. If it gets higher, I start worrying a lot. My old school teachings make me lean toward 78F as the optimum temp for a reef tank.

To clean your pumps, you need to make it easy to disconnect them. I use "unions" that screw my plumbing to the pump. I can reach into the sump, twist the threaded collar, and remove the pump as needed. You need to come over again so I can show you the plumbing a little better.]
 
@Marc wrote:
[82F is my comfortable high said:
[I would agree. It's not so bad for it to rise beyond this, they are often at warmer temps on the reef, but sudden changes will decimate your tank. You need to at least slow down the temp change. Check your heater's thermostats. Check the freon in the chiller. You may have equipment going bad (don't like submersible equipment for this reason), or it may just be that yesterday was about the hottest day so far this summer. Don't put ice directly in the tank obviously. Use fans to lower the temp instead like everyone has mentioned. You can also pack ice AROUND external equipment, like one wall of your sump, a skimmer tube, etc to cool the water inside the device. Control the temp change first, then find out what's going on.

Kevin.]
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[Well, I don't have a canopy - there is no glass on the top, just two boxes with lights, that do NOT cover the top. There is a fan along the "open" canopy that blows across the water. I've opened the cupboard doors so that the refugium gets more air. The AC is cranked on. The chiller still isn't doing well - the air coming out of it isn't as hot as it normally is. Does this mean I should check the freeon? I even spelled it wrong, sheesh.
I know - those metal clamps - I've TRIED to tell the hubby we can't use them. He says "they are stainless steel, no problem". Ugh, I just checked - rusted. Will have to SHOW the man when he gets home! :p
Marc, you said there is a "union" screw? These are at HD or Lowe's, yes? Is there a part name or number? Maybe if I go GET them, he will actually USE them.
Oh, and my heater has been unplugged and removed for over a month, now. It's just too hot to even have it in there :;):
I know 82 isn't terrible, just that the tank jumped so quickly. And my fish are okay, it's the colt coral has shrunk, the Xenia is shrunk, and even the 'rooms are down. I may not have a lot in there, but what is, is too hot!]
 
@kitty32 wrote:
[Well said:
[Your chiller might be busted. If you're not getting hot air runoff, it might actually be the freon pump. You can usually tell cause the clicks you hear as it turns off and on go away if its not working right. It could be the freon too, but usually you have some warning and you still get pretty hot air coming out even if the freon is low.

Kevin]
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[Okay, the temp in the tank is currently 80. But I can't leave the ac on like this - set at 70! That's going to cost.
Where do I get freon? How do I know where to check? I have an Aquanetics 1/6 HP, and it's backwards under the sink, hard to get to - of course! Hubby will have to check, maybe he will know...clicking when it starts? Guess I'll have to turn it off, and see if it does that.]
 
[Cathy, you can see a picture of a union on this page:

http://www.melevsreef.com/how_to_build.html

I screw one piece on to the outlet of the pump, and another piece on to my return line. Then a threaded part joins the two together. The union will come as one unit, btw, at Home Depot or Lowes. It should be under $5 each. Figure out the size of the output of your pump first. Mag 5's have 1/2" outlets, Mag 9.5 and 12's have 3/4" outlets.

Is your chiller well-vented ? Under a sink doesn't sound promising.

Plastic clamps are available at Marine Depot in the plumbing section. They aren't cheap, but not incredibly pricey either. I tried finding them locally, but it was almost impossible to get any anywhere. They come in a variety of sizes, so pick and choose as you like.]
 
[Thanks, Marc! Found the plastic clamps, not bad price, but s/h is awful :;):
Right now, the chiller is ventilated, because there are no doors on the cabinet. It sits on a shelf, with pieces of wood under it to raise it off the shelf. The fan is always running, to keep the hot air going out. It DOES still get hot in that little room, and I'm trying to find a cost-effective way to get the chiller to, well, chill out!
Someday you have got to come see the set up, and tell me what you think, and if there is anything better I can do. I don't want to add anything (besides some frags) before I get this tank set up at optimum :p]
 
[Well, the temp is back down to a cool 78 this morning. The cabinet doors are still open, and the AC is running full blast. I can't do that forever, though - the kids keep hitting / running into the doors, and the AC is expensive.

Does anyone know where I can get instructions for an old Aquanetics chiller? I can't find any, and I want to know where / how to check the freon. Dumb thing still isn't putting out any hot air.]
 
@kitty32 wrote:
[Duh. Found Aquanetics web site said:
[Yeah, the manufacturer is probably the only one that can help you. Hopefully its under waranty. By clicking when they start, I mean that some of them click periodically when the freon pump starts & stops like an air conditioner.]
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[:)
Hey Kitty32,
I am the chap you sold the small wet/dry unit to, on ebay?
It is nice to see you out here at this site. We just hopped on board and thought we would look around here.
It is not a good thing you have here, but I do not think it will hurt, if you get the heat in check to some degree,(no pun intended) it is not a big deal to pull up to 82-83-84, unless it is very fast and a fast drop.
I think it is worse going down hill fast, from 80-82 to 74-76 kind of drop. That is where things get a bit freeked, at least the hard corals will jump ship.
I have just had a quick fall with our chiller and everybody closed, but I think they just feel the sting and then re-introduce themselves to the water and shake off the feeling, over a day or so.
Let us know if you have the chiller out going into the system? or where do you have the return?
Some people start to freeze RO ice cubes and slowly introduce them into the systems refuge, at the hot hours, while turning up the fans on top of the water.
I would by 1 or two cheep $9.00 buck fans at Wal-Mart and tip them a bit on the waters surface and that should bring you down pretty fast, but also the Evaporation will shoot up and WATCH THAT! temp gauge, do not leave the fans on all night, you might wake up to the temp being 70 and all will be doomed.
Please let us know where your Chiller return water into.
How old is the unit?
On the Compress unit does it say USE R-134a ONLY?
What size is the hose inside+outside?
I have a test kit and 4 cans of r-134.
To recall:
I met you on the road, I had a Dullie Crew cab, I met you a few days later at Fish Paridice? rings a bell?
Let me know if I can help. :eek:h:]
 
[Hello Mike! Of course, I remember you! (I've only sold one wet / dry :laugh: )

The chiller is in a separate room from the tank / refugium. The chiller empties into the ref., smack in the middle of it, along with the water from the skimmer - different hose, though.

The unit is from 1997. Old, but it was working. The temp is back down, as I mentioned, and it has stayed that way. But I need to put my ac to a higher temp, and I'm not sure what will happen to the tank.
R134A is what Aquanetics said I need, about 2 oz. I haven't looked into this yet, as it's the 4th.

I'm going to write to Aquanetics again, and hopefully get the specs. But they also suggested that the controller is old, too, and may need replacing - it may be sending the wrong signal to the chiller. I'll post again as soon as I hear from them!]
 
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