Temp. question

[idog]

I have a tempereature question for my 24G cube. With the lights on for about 10 hours, the temp settles at approx 80.5. My heater is set to 77, so it drops gradually to 77 over the next few hours. I know fluctuations are a bad thing, so should I keep my heater set to 80?
I know 80 is a bit high for the optimal range. I only have a small polyp colony, some waving hand and some shrooms in my tank, they don't seem to mind a 3 degree swing so far. Will be getting fish on the weekend, so I want this ironed out before I get them.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[skipm]

If the tank goes no higher than 80.5 then raising the heaters temp would be a good idea, but I would look to see if there is any way to get the temp to drop some with the lights on first. Perhaps a different pump or powerhead would produce less heat.

 

[EDGRAY]

I never have problems with temperature issues but what i did just in case of heating issues is that i leave the window lid open during light time .... that might be helpful so you get some ventilation on your tank well that work for me just in case

 

[idog]

Ive got a very curious cat who likes to sit on the hood when I'm not home. The tight seal is the only thing that keeps his paws out of the tank. It's nice and warm I guess.

I am using the stock pump and have ordered an extra Maxi-jet 1200 which will be arriving in the next few days. I hear this pump runs even hotter though.

I like the fact that the Nano Cubes have essentially no evaporation due to the tight hood. i only top off maybe twice a week, and very small amounts at that.

Anyhow, thanks. Advice is appreciated.

I am very excited!!!!
Will get a pair of percs on the weekend!!! My first marine fish!

Is running at 80+ degrees really harmful? Or is it temp swings that are the tank busters.

 

[skipm]

The swing is the biggest problem in your case. Your cats interest in laying on top of the hood may not be allowing the cooling fans to dissipate heat the way they are supposed to, this may be part of the reason for the rise in temperature.

 

[TimSchmidt]

If you put tape sticky side up on top of your tank for a week or two kitty will learn that he/she is not allow on top of your tank. Down side is you come home to a tape covered cat for a couple of weeks (DON'T USE DUCT TAPE, very cruel...masking tape works fine and doesn't seem to hurt cats)

 

[EDGRAY]

:shock: :lol: ....
:evil:

 

[dragon79]

heat isssues in the cubes is just a common thing though. If you raise the temperature, it may even get hotter, especially come summer. The only way around it, is getting creative and seeing how you can add more fans to the hood. I'm trying to see how about adding two additional small fans to the nanocube 6er, so with your 24g, I think you may be able to do the same since you have more room to play around with.

 

[idog]

Thanks for the advice.

I am getting a bit nervous as My tank reaches 80+ degrees even when the outside temp is <70. Unless I run the AC all summer at 70 or less this might be a problem. I should look into a solution for the temp issue.

Does anyone have experience swapping out the stock pump for the Maxi Jet 1200. I want the better,quieter flow, but will it raise the temp even more?

 

[TimSchmidt]

It will raise the temp, more watts. Instead of small fans see if you can get your hands on a 120mm computer fan. It doesn't make so much noise.

 

[Coralreefdiver]

Temp swings

How come when diving and visiting the reefs, there are temp swings during different parts of the year, weather related swings, and thermocline's, but 2 to 3 degrees difference in a tank matter's so much?

Just wondering about that. I have a 24NC, and to be honest, I run no heater in the tank. My tanks temp is between 77 to 79 degrees. At night it drops to 77, and at its peak is 79, normally running at 78. (My house temp is a constant 69) Does this not happen on a reef? When the sun goes down, doesn't it cool the water (night dives always seem cooler to me!) therefore having a temp change over shallower reefs?

Just wondering....

K

 

[Jennie]

That's a good question K.

I've always thought of it as in the Ocean there is more of a water colum so that the temperature changes are more gradual to where in a tank that is a confined and limited space the temperature swings are more drastic. I know Im not explaining it right but that's always been my take on it.

 

[idog]

Ok, I nearly had a temperature crisis today. I've had a couple of false percs now for a day or two. I am not too clear on their behavior patterns yet, but they seemed fine and were eating...

I came home today from work at around 11pm. I have the lights set to turn off at 9pm. It was a real scorcher today and I don't have the AC set up yet. When I checked the tank it was at 82 degrees. I opened the hood and cranked on the AC in the house.

The percs were acting real weird. They are typically inseperable, but one was in my rockwork, pressed up into a rock not moving. The other was doing rather quick laps around the tank. When I shone a flashlight on perc #1, he startled, kicked up a crap load of sand and began doing laps as well. I know these fish sleep, but it was unnerving. they are vigorously swimming, but are bumping into the glass, snails, rocks, whatever. They keep doing the same laps in the tank over and over in the same direction, and get blown like crazy when they get in front of my powerhead. It's almost like they can't fight the current. I'm still just using my stock pump.

Is this stress? The temp is now 80 degrees. I don't want to lower it too rapidly. My corals loved the high temp and all were really full and extended. The percs seem better now, but aren't spooked by me anymore. They were really timid when I first got them. I dropped a small pinch of flake into the tank, and they weren't interested.

Has this happened to anyone else, and what should I expect?

 

[idog]

OMG

I just went to check on my percs and one was missing!!!

I searched high and low and was about ot start removing rocks, when I checked the chambers in the back of my cube. Sure enough he was in there, chamber 1! What the hell! I'm gonna have to babysit these guys all night! If he gets into chamber three with the powerhead its probably the end of him.

this is really weird, why can't these guys seem to regulate the current?

 

[idog]

The last pic is where I found him when I thought he was dead. Why would he let a Nassarius snail get that close?

 

[TimSchmidt]

Dunno about your fish. I don't own a cube but maybe some acrylic set up to keep the fish out of the chambers? Cute fish though.

 

[EDGRAY]

Welll you can always put a piece of sponge in the top wall just to make a perfect line corner to corner of thin sponge so when they try to jump in the back they bounze back :mrgreen: (DRAGON suggestion)

and well it might be visiting the chambers cause of stress of new tank or his tank mate might be teasing him when you are not around.... :sad:

but he will be ok.... nice clowns you have there.

P.S: Lets wait to dragon to chime in and see what kind of sponge did he use on top the wall for fish protection!

 

[reefman23]

Looks like there is some aggression going on between the two fish possibly? Stress will cause a fish to hide like that, so he may have been stressed by his visit to "Wild Rivers" or he may be stressed out by his buddy.

 

[Coralreefdiver]

Temps and fish

I have had power outages and had to use icecubes in a ziplock baggie floating in the tank to regulate my temp a bit, as the temp was getting to high as the house was sitting at over 85F.

When I first got my cube, I had the heater in it, and all the other gadgets, and my temp was running between 83-85, and my fish did not act that way. Perhaps they were digging the "hottub" effect though!

I think with temp perhaps it is best to keep temps stable, meaning no big fluctuations? Like with water changes, when I do mine I have to put my water out on my lanai to warm up, else I would be pouring 68F water into my tank, therefore risking quite a shock.

I don't know though...just thinking.

Perhaps your fish are not a mated pair? They look to be fairly equal size, and perhaps they are squaring off and trying to establish dominance over one or the other. I have seen fish fight, and one gets so freaked out he tries to jump outta the tank....is one of your Perc's a little less jumpy?

I am having the same issue with my Firefish. I have a purple and a regular one, and they have been great for months, but now the purple one keeps the regular one hiding in a rock at all times. I did not know you should keep a mated pair of these. When its feeding time though, they both come out, but all it take is a very minute subtle flare of the anal fins of the purple one, and it sends the regular firefish running for cover, bouncing as he goes.

Hope it works out though for your Percs...perhaps they are just not settled in yet.

 

[dragon79]

That N. snail is no threat to him, as long as he's alive and kicking, there's no problem, if he's sick and weak, the snails will pick up on that and attempt to eat him as he's dying.

As for the fish ending up in chamber 1, that used to happen to me a lot. I ended up adding some left over sponge/filter material to glue it on the plastic to extend that wall to be taller, so when the hood goes down, it will compress against the sponge, and have it impossible for him to jump over.

w/o it like yours is now, even when you close the lid, there is still a gap where he can jump over