A question about lighting and temps.

[jojopotato25]

I have a 65 watt coralife over my ten gallon tank. Would that be considered low or moderate lighting? I want to get some cool torch or frogspawn but I wasnt sure if my lighting was enough. And also my reef tank is at 68 degrees farenheight give or take a couple of degrees. I havent noticed any negative affects but are my corals and fish slowly going to die at these temps?

 

[twilliard]

I would say the temp is too low.
I run my tank right at 78
I think the light is just right for what you list.

 

[Krish]

As mentioned, I think 78F-83F is the range in temp you want to shoot for. 68F is kinda cold IMO as well

 

[jojopotato25]

yea damn, thats what i thought. I cant seem to get the temps up.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

???

Turn the heater thermostat up? If that doesn't work, you've got a bum heater.

 

[jojopotato25]

looks like i need to buy a new heater then. I set mine at 82 and the top temp it ever reaches is 70.

 

[yellowwatchmen]

Wow, what kind of heater is it? That is pretty pathetic if it cant keep a 10gal at 78F.

 

[tdgates10]

I also think that temp is low! I run more heaters in my system so that if one burns out the others will still keep the temp up. The lighting should be fine for most lps, but I think that 6w/gal is a little low for clams and sps.

 

[jojopotato25]

I think it was a marineland? it was the most expensive one petco had, not a cheapy no name brand or anything. Would frequent plug pulling kill a heater. every day when i feed or do some kind of maintenance i turn the power supply off. Would that shorten the life of a heater?

 

[Scooterman]

No, these types of heaters are known to cause problems, order you an Ebo heater. one of the better ones but still not much better.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

looks like i need to buy a new heater then. I set mine at 82 and the top temp it ever reaches is 70.

Hmm. How about going back to square one... what specifically are you using to measure your temperature?

You said a Marineland heater... is that a VisiTherm Deluxe? If so, those seem to be one of the more reliable ones. If it's fairly new (under a year?) you should be able to take it back to Petco.

 

[jojopotato25]

im using a coral life electronic thermometer with probe.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Hmmph. Those are pretty darn good, but you might want to verify that 70 degrees with another thermometer just to be sure.

 

[Scooterman]

Can get one of those cheapy thermometer & check it to be sure but still these heaters can cause problems.Why when you see guys with loaded tanks full of corals they spend money on a controller like the Ranco. I know it is too expensive for a small nano but you get the idea. I'd just get another & hope for the best, some will go a long time with no issues.

 

[lizardarm]

Also, are you sure that the probe for the heater is fully in the water?
Sounds silly I know, but I was momentarily freaked out one day when I came home and saw my tank temp at only 65 degrees. I'd repositioned the thermometers display the night before and pulled the probe out of the water.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Can get one of those cheapy thermometer & check it to be sure but still these heaters can cause problems.

Agree... but seems like they normally fail either on all the time, or off all the time. This case doesn't seem like that. Seems like it's putting out some heat, just not enough - or the thermostat is totally out of whack. Both of which are not normal failure modes. That's the only reason I'm questioning what the tank temp really is.

With how much $$ you can put into a nano, I don't think a controller is a bad investment. I just put the Johnson Controls controller on my 46g, and sleep much better at night.

 

[jojopotato25]

So i checked with another thermometer and the temp came up the same. I switched heaters from another tank and there is no difference in temps. I'm thinking the ambient room tempreture is the culprit. Its pretty cold in the room that has the fish tank. About 50-55 degrees F. Also the tank is by a window. Im going to move it to another side of the room and see if that helps.

 

[Scooterman]

Yea that would be a big problem, yo may need a larger heater also.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

What wattage heater are you using? If you go to a 150W if it's really 50 deg, you'll do better.

I have my 10g quarantine in my basement. Gets down to 60 deg down there at night and the 50W I originally had in there just didn't cut it. I now use a 100W and it's OK. If I know it's going to be a cold night I drape a towel around/over the back of the tank since the back is near an outside wall.

 

[jojopotato25]

yo update! I bought a new heater. 100 watts I believe and moved the tank to a spot away from the window. The temps now range from 77-78.6 degrees F.

thanks all.