Heater

[Tempestuousfury]

I have my heater set at 78 degrees F. I place a thermometer on the other side of the tank, and it is reading 80 degrees. When I put my arm in (up to the elbow) I notice drastic changes in temp. The top is hot and it gets colder as you go down. 1) Is the thermostat for the heater at the bottom or top?
2) Will the temp. ever be uniform (I have it next to the filter for circulation)?
3) Could it be causing my black skit\rt tetras to lose their color?

 

[Sinuhe]

Heaters often don't have an exact temperature reading, you may have to adjust the heater according to what a thermometer says and not accroding to what the heaters says.

If you have a filter that provides efficient circulation I don't think there should be too much of a temperature change between top and bottom. Have you tried moving the thermometer up and down the tank? Does it give different readings?

 

[Tempestuousfury]

The thermometer's at the top right now, though the mercury is a few inches below the water line. It says 80 or so. I'll move it done about half a foot and will post my findings tomoroow.