# Tank Overheating



## Marine1 (Jan 10, 2007)

Can anyone suggest what to do about my tank temp rising. My 55 gal tank has risen to 84 F today. I have had the heater unplugged for a couple of weeks now. Can it be the 9w UV sterilizer with a rio 400, or maybe the Super skimmer w/ the 1100 rio? I am at a loss here and I fear I may lose my fish. The temp doesn't fluctuate at all it has just risen recently. The outside temp has raised in the past few days, but not too high. I dont' understand what can be heating my tank so much (its not in direct sunlight either). Please help!


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## Melissa (Nov 28, 2006)

it ay be from the higher temps outside. we have run fans over our tank to cool it down. you could try that.


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## usmc121581 (Jul 31, 2006)

Also its the equipment like the PH's, and pumps if you have any that heat up the water to.


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## caferacermike (Oct 3, 2006)

Those rio's could be heating the water but probably not that much. If it was OK 2 months back but is now creeping up, you have spring and fall syndrome. Most of us have it. This is the time of year chillers come in handy. Most people think chillers are for the dead of summer, couldn't be more wrong. Chillers come in handy in the winter, spring and fall.

In the winter months people are generally trying to warm their homes, not cool them. This can actually raise the temp of the tank. It also holds a lot of moisture in the air preventing natural evaporation of the tank. Evaporation cools the tank water just like when you sweat. So no evaporation, no cooling. Weird huh?

In the spring and fall many people do not run any sort of environmental controls in their homes, preferring (as do I) to open the doors and windows. Doesn't that cool breeze brining in the smells of spring flowers really make your house feel nice on a lay Saturday? Guess what? Your tank is overheating. Same in the fall.

Dead hot summer. You run your air conditioning to over come the heat. This keeps moisture out of the air (remember that air conditioning does not cool air but instead removes moisture and strips heat from the air) allowing your tank to evap faster. The cooling effects of A/C are constant and generally do not rise and fall unless you program the stat to shut off while you are not at home. Where I live it is actually cheaper to run the A/C all day then to shut it off for long periods of time. Shutting it off would allow the house to get really hot. This would mean my A/C would run non stop for hours when I get home to try and bring the temp down. If I allow it to run it's course, it will only need to run about 10 minutes once an hour to maintain the temperature.

At 84F it's time to figure out how to bring the temp of the tank down. A sump helps lower the temp 1-2F. The falling water helps cool the water as it mixes with fresh air. Warm water does not hold O2. At 84F your O2 saturation levels are extremely low. Fans will help blowing across the top of the water. They will speed evap which helps lower the temp. Unless you run A/C your home will feel muggy from the added humidity. A chiller would also be an idea at this point.


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