Most efficent way to heat large tank systems

[999SCUBA]

I have a tank system that after you figure out rock,sand etc.. displacment I have 600 gallons of water. I am using 3 300watt Eheim heaters that keep the water around 75 degrees when my lights are off. Lights on 6 hours a day. Which makes my heaters on almost 17 hours a day, most days 365 days a year. That is alot of power. If I switch to LEDs 3/4ths of the energy saved gets used up again on heating the water to keep it at 75-77 degrees. A lot of cost to upgrade to LED's that does not save me as much as I initially thought switching would. So I am now thinking of staying with my 3 400watt Hylides and trying to save in other places. I switched to more efficent return pumps this past week, I bought a new skimmer that has a higher efficiency and am switching from a bunch of powerheads to 2 MP60's. The heating is the issue that is costing me the most. What do other large system tank people do to heat their water?

[reefereef]

When I had a larger system, 300+ g, I bought the hottest running external pumps I could, less money too, for my return pump and closed loops.I then offset my frag tank halides from my display halides to use some of that heat at night. My single 200w heater rarely ran and I kept the temp at 78 year round. Sin e you have already bought more efficient pumps your kinda stuck with your setup. Can you lessen the exposed surface area of your tank and sump, that will hold in heat some.the system I run now 220g is sealed where the stand meets the wall. I regulate temp during the day with one 6" duct fan in the attic that pulls air out from the stand area. Best of luck though.

[jerrym21]

It's funny that you brought this topic up. I am having the same problem. . .can't keep my water temp up. My total system is around 220-230 gal of water. I switched to LED's around 7 months ago. (12 seven led PAR 38). They run so cool and I love the color and control. Coral growth is also amazing. Before with 250w halides I had to program a shutdown into my controller to prevent getting over 84 deg. Now I run a 300w and 500w heater. The 300w is on most of the time and the 500w cycles on/off a couple times every night. I probably spend more on elect to run my heaters than I saved by switching to LED's for the lighting. I do have to say that by doing it this way, my temp has not fluctuated more than .3 deg in over 7 months. Even when I graph the temp, the chart looks like a flatline.

[reefereef]

try sealing in more of your heat. before i sealed the stand to the wall my heaters would run all the time. now that the stand is sealed i can use all of the heat the the leds put into the heat sink to create a nice and warm inside stand temp, this temp is controlled via my apex, this really helps keep the tank temp up.

[moondoggy4]

There is a thread here about a guy who ran poly pipe type from his water heater into his rubbermade sump he hooked up a recirulating pump to it.

[James77]

You are better off trying to keep the heat in once you have it at the temp you want it. Insulate the stand, pipes, cover the sump if it is in a cool area. I insulated my sump, stand and back of the tank with melamine foam.

Run internal or water cooled pumps.... Migh as well use their added heat as opposed to keeping it out and warming the room.

[64Ivy]

I have a 650g+ system, use 3 Hammerhead pumps, and have never needed a heater. In fact, if I didn't run a 1/2 hp chiller, my water temperature would climb into the high 80's.

[OodleyBoodely]

I'm just curious here, but, I didn't see anyone list thier room temps here. With less heat from your leds and pumps, your ambient room temperatures will play a bigger part in the temps of your tank. Your tank would run only a couple degrees differant from your room temps if not for the influence of your pumps and lights. If you have to keep heaters running, your room temps must be very cool. ( must be nice...I'm melting here!) It might help in determining what you need to do if everyone were to list this temp. Personnally, here in N. texas the outdoor temps have been over 100 (111 yesterday) forever it seems, and, just keeping the house under 85 is difficult. LEDs are a must have here! On my little system I don't use a chiller and I don't keep a heater on my tank from mid Spring to mid Autumn, but, I usually can keep the tank temps down to 80-82 using fans anyway. Interesting thread! Hope you get it figured out!

[GoIllini]

Use multiple heaters and have water cooler pumps as mentioned above. Get class covers for the tops of the tanks as well. Your room temperature does play a factor as mentioned.

[999SCUBA]

If I dont run a heater the tank gets down to 72 degrees. With 3 300 watt heaters it gets up to 76 degrees. My 2 new pumps are internal run HY10,000W by Coral Vue.
Are heaters the same brand to brand? Is their a heater that runs at 500watts and heats the same as my 3 300 watts?
If I chose to just unplug all the heaters and let the tank drop to 72 degrees at night and the lights heat the water to 80 degrees, does that spead hurt coral/fish? If not how far can I spread it? In the winter the spread could get wider.

[James77]

Watts are watts with heaters....if they are running at the advertised wattage, that is what it will put into the water. The more efficient return pumps did the same thing as the LEDs would have . Less heat added by the pumps means more the heaters will run.

Thats just the cost of running a tank that large. The more stable the temperature the better for all inhabitants....however, they can easily handle a spread if they are used to it. If you had rock stable temps and suddenly jumped them up and down, that would stress everthing. If your temp has consistently flucuated 5-8 degress....they are used to it.

I think you would be better off insulating and covering what you can.

[reefkeeper2]

Insulate! I ran into the same problem when I switched from MH to LEDs. I insulated all the piping and the sump. The sump has insulation wrapped around the sides and I cover the top in the winter with foam insulation. Use the same insulation on your piping that they use in your house for hot water lines. It's cheap, comes in many sizes and can be found at any of the big hardware outlets. You will be amazed at how much you save and how steady your temp will stay.

[jerrym21]

My room temp is kept at 75-76 deg. The system is kept at 79.2 with a ReefKeeper controller. Everything is sealed pretty good against the wall and the hood is sealed against the ceiling. I guess I'll start insulating the sumps and lines to help out a bit.
Here is a photo of when it was first up and running.
[/IMG]

[jerrym21]