Holy warm weather in march in ohio....

[whodeydan76]

Greetings everyone, I kind of had a general question for you... Does anyone else pull their heater once it starts getting nice out (like it has recently)? I noticed my heat was starting to spike between 82-84 so I gradually turned the heat down numerous times and found that the heater wasnt even running so I just unplugged it. I purchased a digital therm to monitor my heat with incase I would need to turn it back on but I am keeping a 76-78 deg f water temp.
The guy that sold me my ati t5 told me he hates heaters and the only time he runs is a heater when he introduces fresh ro water from his system because it is ice cold. I dont want to freeze my fish to death but I also dont want to cook them either... I have had a few $90 heaters (in fw tanks) malfunction and I found all or most of my livestock floating or trying to get out of the water... :angryfire:

Any advice or anyone that just wants to shoot the (poop) would be greatly appreciated:)

[Mussin]

Ive always ran a heater in all of my tanks all year long. Cool to see another Limaite on here...

[jerpa]

Get a ranco temp controller and you can guard against over and under heating. My heaters keep the temp steady in the winter then I turn them down a few degrees in the summer and the tank usually swings daily. They usually don't come on at all during the summer but I like them there in case a window gets left open or something. The weather here can be 75 one day and 45 the next any time of year.

[Sport507]

Once you get the heater set to the desired temperature it’s best to leave it along. If the tank is getting hotter and the heater is not kicking on it’s coming from the lights and other equipment. I don’t trust the thermostats on any of the heater so I run a Finnex temp controller on all my tanks. I learn that the hard way when a tank crashed because the heater stuck on. I losts 100's of $$$ because of a $50 heater.

If you heater is not running and you tank is getting to hot say above 84 the only thing you can do it buy a chiller to cool it down and they’re not cheap. You also might get by with some small fans blowing across the water surface. Typically though, in the Midwest (I live in Indiana) we don’t need them if the house as air conditioning.

Also if you are using a class top on your tank that will hold the heat in.

[billdogg]

If you leave them set at the same temp all year long, how can they possibly cause the tank to overheat? Sure, a controller would help prevent problems, but it is far from essential.

[bnumair]

i keep my heater and chiller hooked up all yr. heater are set to turn on by a controller only if the temp drops below 76 then it will raise it back up to 77 and stop. chiller is set to come on only if the temp goes above 80 to chill it back down to 79. so my tank remains in 78-79 all year long. i never ran into a situation where both chiller and heater were on at same time.

[jerpa]

In my situation I don't have air conditioning. I keep the temp at 80 in the winter and it doesn't swing at all. During the summer, with the heaters still set at 80, they would keep it at 80 all night. During the day, between the lights and my house heating up, it would climb to 85-86. If I turn the heaters down to 76 the maximum is usually 82-83. The morning temp in the summer varies based on how cold it gets at night but it's usually 77-78. In the event it gets real cold the heaters will kick on and keep it at 76. That's how I do it anyway.

[cloak]

The thermostat on my heater is set at 76. (300 watts/20 gallon tank) It could easily reduce my tank down to nothing but I never really go anywhere. ;) The heat from my MH is a different story... Either way though my tank tends to vary between 76-85 throughout the year. One side of the spectrum in the summer, the other in winter. No problem.

[Andrew]

Welcome I'm in Lima as well. I leave mine heated year round but It's hard enough for me to keep it up around 80.

[whodeydan76]

I will most likely check my 200watt heater and see if it works better. My fish seem much happier without a heater on anyway...since I unplugged it I have started to notice some green hair algea starting to grow.. is this because of no heat? How do I get rid of it? Will it hurt or takeover my tank?
I dont have lids on my tank and the ati has a cooling fan but ill try a small fan across the surface of the water. Thanks guys.

[cloak]

The GHA is most likely due to an abundance of nutrients in your water. Your going to have to figure out a way to nip it in the bud. (RO/DI water, efficient skimming, GFO, carbon, chaeto growth, not overstocking, not overfeeding etc) GL.

[whodeydan76]

I bought 15 gallons of ro water (5fw and 10sw) I stopped feeding as much. Will it take over? The blenny goby crabs or snails really don't seem interested in it. Can I dip the rock it is on? If so what do i dip it in?

[Gangrene]

I'm in Fremont, Ohio and I had a similar issue last year. I just ended up putting a A/C unit in the window of the room of my tank. That took care of the problem. I kept that room at a comfortable temperature level and the heater took care of the rest. I also keep my tank at about 80 degrees. I took the A/C unit out in the winter, but I've been keeping an eye on the temp the last few days. If it gets to 83 degrees I'll probably put a A/C unit in that room or the next room.

If I was you and had money to spend I would get a temperature controller or heater with a temperature controller like this: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/miscellaneous/aquarium-heaters/titanium-heater-with-jbj-true-temp-digital-controller.html

[drparker]

Safety first! I don't trust a single device, single point of control.

The heater itself gets set to slightly higher than desired temp. Separate temp controller set to desired temp.

To end up cooking your tank both would have to fail on.

[Sport507]

This is what I use for a temp. controler, have three of them.

http://premiumaquatics.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PA&Product_Code=FI-HC-0810M&Category_Code=

[whodeydan76]

Great thanks again..I am just really nervous about this gha that is starting to really move aggressivly about in my tank. Doing a 20% water change tonight but can I pull it out by hand?

[whodeydan76]

By looking at my dp...do I have enough live rock? I kinda feel like i don't?

[rpjaws74]

I think you have enough LR...but it all depends on the look your shooting for. I like less rock in tanks fish have more room to swimm and you dont create dead zones that dont get enough water flow.

[zigzag1]

I leave my heater plugged in all year as my low set point is 78 and they will kick in a few times at night with the AC running. For cooling, along with my home's AC, I use standard clip-on type fans you can buy for $10 nearly anywhere. They are quiet, have a low and high setting, are easy to replace, and run on 120V so I can plug them right in and control them to only run as needed by my aquacontoller at 82 degrees. Mine clip on to the wall where I've put a couple of curtain rod brackets and blow the air into the canopy between the water's surface and MH bulbs. Works well, is inexpensive, and is easy to setup and maintain

[Palting]

Ambient temp in the house, which includes the fish room, is usually 72. So, at night when the aquarium lights shut down, the tank tends to trend down towards that 72 ambient temp. The heater is there to keep it from getting all the way down to 72. And it's a plain jane 300 watt heater with a knob on top sitting in my sump. That's all my tank needs :).

[Palting]

Great thanks again..I am just really nervous about this gha that is starting to really move aggressivly about in my tank. Doing a 20% water change tonight but can I pull it out by hand?

By looking at my dp...do I have enough live rock? I kinda feel like i don't?

Uh, you should start another thread asking about LR and GHA. I got confused and answered you on the heater thing. Heator off in summer will not cause GHA.

[whodeydan76]

Ok I will sorry about the confusion. Thanks for the advice everyone.