Heater Problems Still

[Seal36]

For those of you that have been following thIs saga it's still not over and for those of you who haven't this is what's happened.

1 week ago I set up a bigger tank and used the heater provided with the new tank.
5 days ago posted saying that I had not seen the light on the heater go on but when I turned it up the light would switch on.
4 days ago got some advice about what thermometer to buy and ordered some
2 days ago put the thermometers in and I set the heater to 25c and thermometer recorded 22c. Asked if I could turn the heater up 3c to 28 to try and achieve 25c
Today the thermometer is now recording 22.7c after the heater was turned up two days ago. I have now turned the heater up to 32c to see if I can get the temperature to 25c

What do you guys think should I just get a new heater. If so what brand is a good brand in my other tank I have an interpet 150w heater set at 24c and it is between 24 - 24.2c. Also for a 90 litre I would need a 100w heater wouldn't I from Tom

 

[KirkyArcher]

Calibrations on heaters vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, I had an aqua one heater that like yours had to be set at least 6 degrees higher to get 24 C readings on my thermometer, but most importantly is that it remained stable at that setting give your thermometer 2 hourly checks if possible and check for any temp spikes/drops.

 

[Seal36]

Ok well hopefully now that it's set 6 degrees higher than it should be maybe it will reach 25c.

I have
2 kribensis
7 rummy nose tetra

What is the lowest and highest temperature it should be for both of them to be comfortable from Tom

 

[KirkyArcher]

temp range 24-26 degrees C for your fishes

 

[Blubble37]

if it just wont work, these are the brands i've had the most accurate calibration with

Elite - hagen (i think it's just branded as elite submersible)
Tetra (HT range)
Interpet (DeltaTherm)
 
the deltatherm was the most accurate, within .3 of a degree, the rest were within 1 degree

 

[Seal36]

The temperature was getting close to 25c and the heater was still on so I lowered the heater to 29c and the heater switched off. The thermometer is reading between 24.3 and 24.7 so I'm not sure wether to leave it as it is or to try and increase it a little bit from Tom

 

[KittyKat]

What temperature is the room at according to the thermometer that you're using in the aquarium?
 
The other thing is, 22°C would actually most likely be quite good for your fish. While I have always found this to be a good temperature for most aquarium fish, I actually found quite a good article about it recently that you might want to read: http/www.seriouslyfish.com/whaddaya-mean-too-hot/
 
If your heater stat is "off" by a certain amount, it's possible to fix this by disassembling the heater, but this isn't fun and if you don't reassemble it properly, it's probably going to leak. I find that Visitherm heaters are by far the most accurate and reliable (some of mine are about 10 years old now and some of those are second hand or third hand purchases).

 

[Seal36]

The temperature in the room is 18.5c

I turned the heater up slightly and the temperature in the tank is between 24.1 and 24.9 and the heater has just switched itself off but it cannot seem to heat the water to 25c it gets to 24.9 then goes down again to 24.1c again then goes up and then down again from Tom

 

[KittyKat]

It's normal for the temperature to need to drop a bit before the heater switches on again, but I've never had a thermometer that was accurate enough to get the readings to a tenth of a degree so can't tell you by how much other heaters drop.
 
If it gives you an average of 24.5°C when set to 29°C, then setting it to 29.5°C should give you an average of 25°C.
 
Of course, if you're using a digital thermometer, it's always possible that it's miscalibrated.

 

[Seal36]

Yeah the heater I have got is not great it's scale only goes up in 2 degrees. There is a chance it is miscalirbated but the water did feel cold when is said it was 22c. The temperature is pretty stable between 24 and 24.9 Celsius so I think I will leave it as it's a good temperature for the fish to be at and also the thermometer could be out by 0.2 or something like that from Tom

 

[dave840f1]

Most heaters have a 2 deg.c. rise and fall. Some say less but its been my experience not to trust what the manufacturer prints on the box. As said previously the digital thermometers are temperamental at best, if I were you I would get an internal one I have always found them to be more reliable. As to the wattage you require sorry but I don't know the tank size so I can't advise you.

 

[Seal36]

Yeah both my heaters fluxuate by about 0.3 and it's a 90 litre tank. The digital thermometer has a piece that goes in the water and what do internal thermometers look like from Tom

 

[eaglesaquarium]

the red alcohol thermometers are far more reliable, imho.

 

[dougie]

What temperature is the room at according to the thermometer that you're using in the aquarium?
 
The other thing is, 22°C would actually most likely be quite good for your fish. While I have always found this to be a good temperature for most aquarium fish, I actually found quite a good article about it recently that you might want to read: http/www.seriouslyfish.com/whaddaya-mean-too-hot/
 
If your heater stat is "off" by a certain amount, it's possible to fix this by disassembling the heater, but this isn't fun and if you don't reassemble it properly, it's probably going to leak. I find that Visitherm heaters are by far the most accurate and reliable (some of mine are about 10 years old now and some of those are second hand or third hand purchases).

That is a really interesting link KittyKat. Makes perfect sense too. Not that I'm about to turn off my heater just yet. It's got me thinking though

 

[Seal36]

Think the heater is finally working I woke up this morning and the temperature had dropped to 23.5c and I thought oh no it's still not working and then I looked up into the tank and the heater had switched itself on. So I now know that it can switch itself on and off when it needs to and will keep the temperature between 24 and 24.9c. Really hope this is it not that it's all sorted and will have no more problems from Tom