help on water temp control

[Didisan]

I'm trying to restart my 180 mixed reef. Unfortunately, the water temp runs around 82 without even putting the lights on. Goes up to 85 with them on.

I guess my cirulating pumps, return pump and protein skimmer pump must be adding a lot of heat. Didn't used to that 2 years ago when i last had it set up.

I'm using 4 Seio M820 for circulation and a Mag-Drive 2400 for circulation.

I leave off the lights and it's a steady 82 degrees. Water in my top-off tank is around 74 in the same room.

Should i switch pumps? These are at least 7 years old. Is my only choice to get a chiller?

I've seen these AquaTop CP13 and CP24. They seem lower wattage. Are they any good?

Also, my return is rated at almost 300watts. Does that need to be replaced and if so, please suggest something.

Any advice is appreciated.

[moondoggy4]

Put a fan blowing across the water. Buy a controller so you can set the fan at 78 degrees. Buy a Kill-A-Watt at HD or lowes Hook up each piece of equipment to the watt setting. Run your pumps through vinegar.

[Didisan]

Does running the pumps in vinegar clean them and make them more efficient?

I will get the Kill-A-Watt meter and check the pumps.

Thanks for feedback.

[James77]

I would look at more efficeint pumps. That 300 watt return could be swapped for a Water Blaster or the like. The Seios are not all that bad, although there are Hydors that use less and pump more. What skimmer do you use? Is this a canopy or open top?

Clean pumps probably use less watts....not fully sure...but I dobt it significant enough to lower your temp.

[aleonn]

A vinegar soak and a good cleaning of the pumps and impellers would be a good idea, especially if it's the first cleaning in 7 years.

The easiest thing to do is to run fans in the sump and/or canopy.

The mag drives run hot compared to other more efficient pumps. I have a Water Blaster HY-7000 (if I had to do it again, I'd get the HY-5000 because the 7000 provides too much flow for my needs) on my 180 gallon which runs on a lot less wattage.

If you have extra cash, Ecotech Vortech pumps work great and do not add heat to the water.

[das75]

you'll be amazed what even couple little 4" muffin fans over the sump can do. Only negative is with evaporation cooling is increase the rooms humidity and the amount of top-up water you go through. Can have the fan on the same timer as the lights.

[Didisan]

Adding a couple fans over the sump sounds like an easy fix. Gonna give that a try as soon as i can.

thanks for the tip.

I'm hoping all these actions will work ... just not sure i can swing a $500 chiller.

[soverjas]

I wouldn't be surprised if its your heater. Before you do anything with the pumps turn the heater off during the day and see if that's the culprit first. If you are using the apex or reef keeper have it control your heater. often heaters are the culprit of not reading the correct temp themselves and overheating the tank.

[Didisan]

Thanks for the help everyone. I'm definitely narrowing the problem down. I unplugged both heaters, the skimmer pump (sedra 500), and 3 of the seio powerheads. Two days later, temp down to 80.2F during the day with lights on :).

Going to grab that Kill-A-Watt meter this weekend and see which of these beasties is the problem.