Temp fluctuation

[awodzenski]

I put a new heater in my sump about 6 months ago and set the tank to 74° and it has not moved... Until I put my gfo reactor in it and now my temp went up to 80°

I I'm in the process of turning it down and am going slowly but I wanted to ask if you guys every saw anything like this. I can't imagine a reason the gfo would affect the heater but I wanted to come check and see what you guys think.

70 gal tank with a 20 gal sump

 

[jcook54]

If I had to hazard a guess, the GFO is circulating the water more, causing the heater to run more. I'm thinking the heater was doing it's thing in the section of the sump, heating up the surrounding water and cycling on and off. It reached an equilibrium when the tank water reached 74° so that was the temp. With the additional circulation, the sump flow changed causing the heater to cycle on more often or for a longer duration bringing the water temp up to 80°
-OR-
The additional pump to run the GFO is putting off heat AND the air temperature is rising thanks to spring. The heater may be running the exact same amount but the heat loss in the tank itself is less thanks to a higher air temp. Things in the sump have stayed pretty much the same.

I kinda like option #1 but in reality it's probably something closer to option #2. Temp does funny things when the air temp changes. One thing is certain, it's not the GFO adding the heat (other than it's powerhead).

 

[awodzenski]

Cool, I could not think of a way it could. I'm going to keep an eye on it and see what happens. Thank you!

 

[ichthyoid]

What brand/model heater are you using?

Are you using a back-up/redundant temp controller? (have your heater plugged into it?)

FWIW, I've been in this hobby a very long time and trust 1 brand heater & that's Eheim. They have never failed me.

 

[awodzenski]

Aquatop and no back up or redundancy in place

 

[ichthyoid]

A 6 degree rise in temperature without other tangible reasons/explanation would drive me to replace the heater.

In this hobby, heaters are low cost/high liability items. Because of that, redundant control is a good idea, as mentioned above.

I would recommend replacing the heater, unless you think the inside temperature of your home has risen 6-8 degrees...?

FWIW, I am not familiar with the brand heater you have. That does not mean it is inferior, I just have no experience with them.

Many of us also use 2 or more heaters of correspondingly smaller wattage, to reduce the risks with heater failures.

My new build will use 2 at slightly less than 1/2 the recommended wattage each. I will also have an Apex controller as backup.

There are other controllers, of which I have used the Ranco brand successfully. Others may chime in with their experiences...

Please update us with your results. We all learn from sharing experiences, and btw- welcome to the ARC!

 

[awodzenski]

Thank you! I'm about to order two more now. I want a controller not I don't have enough spending money right now... So I'm just checking it every few days.

I turned it down 2° last night and it went down I turned it down another 4° and we will see what it looks like later tonight.

I have been lurking a whole but wanted to jump in and start interacting