Has Anyone Tried The Rio 6hf?

[JaynToni]

I am having a hard time keeping the temperature in my 2006 24G Nano Cube DX in a desirable range. It has been unseasonably hot here in Texas and although the house temperature has remained around 76, my aquarium has run as hot as 84. I have had to leave the "feeder" lid open to dissipate the heat. It helps but not enough to get down to 80 to 81 degrees.

I am currently running two pumps for circulation; the stock 290 gph that runs at 25 watts and an Aquaclear 402 that I had laying around. I have read that the Aquaclear 402 is the same as the Aquaclear 50 and if that is correct, the Aquaclear 50 runs at 12 watts. However, with technology advances, it doesn't mean that my Aquaclear 402 isn't substandard and putting out tons of heat.

I know that many people replace their stock pumps with the Maxijet 1200 which runs at 20 Watts and the RIO 6HF that I am looking at only runs at 15 Watts. However, I have not seen the RIO mentioned in the many mods that I have read.

The RIO is rated at 350 gph which is higher than the Maxijet 1200 but I am not certain of the heat output.

It seems that the higher wattage and higher energy use would mean more heat from the unit thus higher water temps but I am not certain of this.

Does anyone have an opinion on the RIO 6HF? Or should I just go with 2 Maxijet 1200's?

Thanks,
JNT

 

[crazyelece]

Personally I would use the MJ900s as opposed to the MJ1200 due to the increase in wattage vs output. As far as RIOs go I wouldn't recomend them to anyone as I have heard too many horror stories of explosions. Just recently one of the sponsors of our local reef forum had one explode in his display tank. Lucky for him he was able to save most of the livestock in his other stock tanks. It would be hard to imagine the result of an explosion in a nano tank where it wouldn't get diluted.

 

[steelhealr]

Hi JaynToni...heating is an issue in NC's. I wouldn't be too concerned about a NC running at 81-82 degrees (that's where I run mine). However, 84 is a bit high for my liking. Stability in temp is always more important than the actual setpoint if that point is within acceptable range.

My tank runs both the stock pump and the MJ1200 and my temps run at 81.5-82.7 by Coralife digital temp probe. I'm not trying to spend your money, but, some people have reported lower temps when ditching the stock and replacing it with another MJ1200. Interesting..when I skim with an AquaC Remora, that puts a 3rd MJ pump in there and my temps don't climb.

Both the stock and the MJ1200 combine to give (reportedly) 590GPH turnover which is over 20X. I don't see why you couldn't step down to an MJ900. If you still end up with temp problems, you could either:

• upgrade the fans, which is a PITA DIY if you ask me
• purchase a chiller, very expensive
• easiest, crack the lid and use a fan in summer time.

SH

 

[JaynToni]

Thanks Crazy and SH for the input. I went ahead and ordered both a 1200 and 900. I figured between the two that I would get sufficient water flow while cutting my total wattage usage from 37W to 28.5W. Hopefully that will drop my tank temp to an acceptable level. If not, I'll put some of SH's additional suggestions into place. Thanks again.

JNT