Heater/temperature question

[Elisabeth83]

Even though I keep my heaters on 24 or so my thermometers always say it's about 27-28 in the tanks during the day. I know it's due to the light being on in the tank. When I turn the lights off at night and then turn them back on in the morning the temp has dropped 2 or so degrees. It is ok for the temperatures of the tanks to be going up and down plus/minus 2-3 degrees?

This is how everyones tank temperatures work right?

I hope I don't sound too silly I am just wondering if this is how it's supposed to be.

 

[CFC]

Your tank lights obviously heat your tank to a higher temperature than you have set your heaters to so at night when you turn the lights off the temperature can drop down to the temperature that the heater is set to before the heaters will kick in and prevent the water from cooling further.
This is actually a good thing as it mimicks the natural temperature cycle of waters cooling off in the evenings once the sun has gone down.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Yeah I was talking with my boyfriend and I said to him....well in the wild when the sun goes down the waters get cool...so isn't it the same thing and he said yeah not to worry about it.

I thought though when temps fluctuate the chances of disease is greater?

CFC - What kind of thermometers do you use for your tanks? In all 4 of my tanks I have analog thermometers and in 2 of the 4 tanks I also have the bar type thermometers.

I aslo have a digital thermometer which I just went around all of the tanks and checked and the digital thermometer and the analog thermometer were off from .5 degrees to 1.5 degrees. Kinda scared me because now I am not exactly sure what the temperature really is

 

[CFC]

To be honest I dont have thermometers in my tanks ) I can "feel" if the temperature is wrong just by touching the glass and the fish let me know if they are too cold or warm by their actions. I have a digital thermometer which I use if the temperature doesnt feel right.

 

[Elisabeth83]

If I can get to the point where I can feel what the temp is just by touching the glass..I'll be really happy

Also my tanks have hoods with lids...shouldn't the lids be kept open to let fresh air in?

Gosh I feel like there is a BIG L written on my forehead

 

[Def]

Your tank probably has some cutouts for the cables, right? That's all you need. Air is really.. er... thin

As for temp, you'll only ever know what the approx temp is in your tank. I have 2 thermometers, one at the back near the heater and one at the front in the diagonal opposite corner. That way I can at least see if there's a major temp difference between the 2. Even more interesting, when I put the 2 thermometers side by side they (analog) are about 1 or 2 degrees away from each other. Don't worry about it

 

[Elisabeth83]

Def - Yeah your right there is a spot on the back of the hood where all the cables go so I guess I shouldn't worry about the air since it is as you put it thin

Yeah this temperature thing has really got me wondering. I have like 3 different types of thermometers and all say different temps...even my heaters temps arn't correct. I'm having my boyfriend deal with the temps and figuring out what the heaters should be on etc...cause it's too confusing for me I never was any good at maths

 

[G_Sharky]

Are you using a incandescent bulb or flouriscent bulb?? cause incandescent will affect your water's temp if you have it on for a long time, I would switch to flourescent if i were you if your still worried, but if your fish is showing no ill effects then don't worry about it....

 

[Elisabeth83]

Hmm...how can you tell if it's a incandescent bulb or flouriscent bulb??

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Elisabeth83

Incandescent lights screw in like ordinary light bulbs, and depending on your hook, there could be either one or two of them. Fluorescent bulbs are long tubes that have prongs on the ends that fit into slots.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Thanks Inchworm

Yeah then I have flourscent bulbs in all of my tanks