Heat for a 180

[Necsones]

heater for a 180 with about 80 gallon sump, should it be a chiller/heater or can i get away with 2 500watt heaters? 2 of these -

http://www.aquacave.com/500w-titaniu...oller-359.html

[YE||0W TA|\|G]

on my 155 with a 30 gallon sump i have (2) 250watts..

How long you have your lights on? Ive been seeing a lot of people cutting back on how long they keep their lights on throughout the day not only to cut back on energy but to also not run a chiller because the water temp wont get to the point of it needing to cool down from the lights running for long periods of time.

[YE||0W TA|\|G]

I would say 2 500watts

[Necsones]

im still in the planing stage

[YE||0W TA|\|G]

ahh.. the fun part of

[MLindsay]

My tank will jump from 78 degrees in the morning to about 84 after the lights have been on all day. Do you think I need to run a chiller?

[Curve]

I run 1 300 watt on my 150 and it works great. As far as the temp jump I would put a few fasns on it fist before I forked out the money for a chiller. 4 fans on my 225 keep my temp in check just fine and it used to run a swing like you are talking about.

[YE||0W TA|\|G]

Originally posted by MLindsay
My tank will jump from 78 degrees in the morning to about 84 after the lights have been on all day. Do you think I need to run a chiller?

How many ours a day do you run your lights for? you running MH?

[Larry Waughon]

Originally posted by MLindsay
My tank will jump from 78 degrees in the morning to about 84 after the lights have been on all day. Do you think I need to run a chiller?

To Reef Central

I would give a couple of fans a try while your lights are on.

[MLindsay]

Thanks for the welcome and the advice! Well, I've only been running the lights for a couple hours, because it's making it so hot. I don't have any fish yet, just live rock. Today, I unplugged my heater to see if maybe the heater was just getting crazy hot. I'll be able to provide another update when I get home. I'm not sure what you mean by "MH". I have 3 96-watt bulbs that are at leat 6 inches above the water and there are spaces cut out in the back of my hood.

Those three lights shouldn't cause that much variation, should they?

These three lights shouldnt

[MLindsay]

Sorry, I don't know why there's an additional line of text there....

Anyway, I just got back from the fish store and they suggested hooking some computer fans up through the sides of the hood.

[fireman676]

I would definately add a couple of fans. A 6 degree temp swing is way too much. You want your temp to stay as close to the same as you can. Also heaters are notorious for failing (usually in the on position) so it is better to have several small heaters instead of one big one. That way when one fails it wont have as much of an impact on your water temp. You will also want to use some type of controller on them like a ranco.

[Larry Waughon]

Originally posted by MLindsay
Sorry, I don't know why there's an additional line of text there....

Anyway, I just got back from the fish store and they suggested hooking some computer fans up through the sides of the hood.

You could get a 6" clip on at target or walmart. They work great. Good Luck!

[emtguy]

Originally posted by MLindsay
My tank will jump from 78 degrees in the morning to about 84 after the lights have been on all day. Do you think I need to run a chiller?

yeeeeessssss....that way to much temp flucuating in my opinion..may try a fan across water to save money but i doubt that will even bring it down...temp should always stay within 1 degree either way

[emtguy]

necsones...sorry for hi-jacking your thread.