So I came in this morning and my tank was at 84 degrees. The light had been off all night. The only thing running is the filter pump...it's kind of warm to the touch. It's been running about 6 months and I haven't touched it at all...is there some kind of maintenence I need to do on it?
Filter generating too much heat?
- Thread starter ozziegt
- Start date
What kind of filter is it?
Filters do require regular maintenance, including cleaning out the impeller area--if it's blocked up, and not spinning, this will produce a lot of heat, but it will have limited impact on the tank because not much water is going through it. Have you check you heater? They can fail, too.
Filters do require regular maintenance, including cleaning out the impeller area--if it's blocked up, and not spinning, this will produce a lot of heat, but it will have limited impact on the tank because not much water is going through it. Have you check you heater? They can fail, too.
I think I'm going to go with occam's razor on thi sone and say, check the heater first. The heater is going to be the culprit heating a tank up that much before an over worked filter will.
I haven't done the math but I'm guessing that a filter would have to get pretty darn hot to raise the temp of your tank up to 84 degrees. However, like OG said, filters do require regular service to keep working well. If the filter is just slightly warm to the touch then its probably normal. If its significantly warm or even too warm too keep your hand on comfortably, then something is making it work too hard. That could be an obstruction of water flow or something binding up the impeller.
I haven't done the math but I'm guessing that a filter would have to get pretty darn hot to raise the temp of your tank up to 84 degrees. However, like OG said, filters do require regular service to keep working well. If the filter is just slightly warm to the touch then its probably normal. If its significantly warm or even too warm too keep your hand on comfortably, then something is making it work too hard. That could be an obstruction of water flow or something binding up the impeller.
First, room temp?
Let's start at the top... what was room temp overnight?
Then, check the flow of the filter, filter will overheat if blocked. Eheim has a high temp shutoff but most just burn up.
Check all valves, look for kinks in tubing, bubbles in looped lines can ack like partly closed valves and block water flow, snails or dead fish can block input lines.
Open the filter. Fiber from floss or pads can wind around impeller, as can cat hair or your girlfriends hair!
Let's start at the top... what was room temp overnight?
Then, check the flow of the filter, filter will overheat if blocked. Eheim has a high temp shutoff but most just burn up.
Check all valves, look for kinks in tubing, bubbles in looped lines can ack like partly closed valves and block water flow, snails or dead fish can block input lines.
Open the filter. Fiber from floss or pads can wind around impeller, as can cat hair or your girlfriends hair!
So to answer your questions:
The room temp overnight was probably around the mid 70s.
The heater is a brand new Visi-Therm Stealth, set to around 80-81 degrees. I really doubt the heater is a problem. Although I can unplug it and see what happens.
This is a bowfront eclipse style tank so the filter is in the hood, with the motor housing sitting in the water. So if the motor is heating up it could be transferring that to the water, and it would never get very warm. Water is flowing through it just fine...I might take it apart and clean it today.
The room temp overnight was probably around the mid 70s.
The heater is a brand new Visi-Therm Stealth, set to around 80-81 degrees. I really doubt the heater is a problem. Although I can unplug it and see what happens.
This is a bowfront eclipse style tank so the filter is in the hood, with the motor housing sitting in the water. So if the motor is heating up it could be transferring that to the water, and it would never get very warm. Water is flowing through it just fine...I might take it apart and clean it today.
2-3 degrees difference is not that much. Especially if the heater is larger than necissary, which can be the case with a bowfront(odd sizes and all). I had to use an extra heater from my 55 on a 10 gallon when the 10s heater broke, and had to set it at about 74 to get the 10 gallon to 80*F. Also, if the filter motor housing is sitting in the water, generating heat, you should be able to adjust the heater down a few degrees to compensate, rather than a complete shut off.