Heater Malfunction?

[NewbReefer]

I have a new All-Glass Aquarium 300w heater I have the temp set for 78 degrees but during the day my tank was reaching 83-84 so to fix this problem i put my heater on a timer because even though it was set for 78 it was still kicking on regularly even though my tank temp was 80+, now my tank is sitting at around 80-81 constantly. has anyone used one of these heaters before or experienced something similiar? is 81 to high? keeping in mind i wanna keep lps and sps once my tank matures a bit. i have my heater in my sump and it gets plenty of water current.

[yote]

81's not bad.What you dont want however is big swings in temp.
If you tank is hitting 80 degrees during the day and the heater is kicking on,just turn it down a click or 2.Just dont make big adjustments all at once.
Both my tanks stay between 80 and 81 with no problems what so ever.
As a side note,depending on your lights,they'll transfer some heat to your water also.

[NewbReefer]

right now my tank is staying at about 80-82 24 hours a day my lights are about 5" from my tank, maybe i could raise them a little more to help bring it down just a bit, i would really like to get into the 78-80 zone but that prolly wont happen without a chiller.

[Bifferwine]

What kind of lights are you running?

[yote]

You can also get a small fan and plug it into a timer to come on when your lights do.That way the fan blows the heat away from the surface of the water.

[NewbReefer]

im running 2x250w mh and then my actinics. Right now im only running the halides about 3 hrs so im a little worried when i start runnin em for 10hrs after the cycle.

I might just do that Yote thanks for the tip.

[Bifferwine]

I would raise your lights up higher than 5" off the water.

[NewbReefer]

yeah i think your right, those halides give off alot of heat i just put em at 7" if that still seems a little close i can bring it up more. thanks Biff

[yote]

I think that if it was me,I would keep halides up closer to 12 to16 inches ( probably closer to 16 inches) above the water.Those thing put out alot of heat,and one splash could shatter a lens or bulb,and the last thing you want is glass inside the tank.

[NewbReefer]

Luckily it has a splash guard or would most deffinetly keep them around 15" above the tank, last night my tank dropped to 79.5 so im slowly getting there, maybe i'll raise em to 10 inchs today.