Keeping Stable Temp. In A Small Tank

[trianglekitty]

I have a 5.5 gallon tank with a heater. The tank is located on the upper level of the home, which tends to get hotter during the day than the lower levels. The room has an air conditioning unit in the window, but when I'm at work during the day I can't leave it running.

During the day, the tank's temp. goes up to 82 degrees.

At night, when the air conditioning unit is on, it goes down to 76.

It would seem sensible to assume such a drastic rise and fall can't be good for the tank residents. Would adding a second heater or a more powerful one and setting it to 82 help, so that it wouldn't fall so much at night?

Any other suggestions, short of moving the tank? I will if I have to for the health of the fish, but I'd rather not- I really wanted a tank in the bedroom.

The tank has a betta and some ghost shrimp, if that makes a difference.

 

[soybean]

How powerful is your current heater and what temp is it set to? If it is already set to 82 and isn't coming on at night, it may have a fault.

Bettas do prefer warmer water and are particularly sensitive to fluctuations, so it may be worth changing your heater. Two heaters maybe be a bit overkill in a 5.5 gallon.

 

[trianglekitty]

How powerful is your current heater and what temp is it set to? If it is already set to 82 and isn't coming on at night, it may have a fault.

Bettas do prefer warmer water and are particularly sensitive to fluctuations, so it may be worth changing your heater. Two heaters maybe be a bit overkill in a 5.5 gallon.

It's a 50w heater set at 82. It does "appear" to come on in that the light comes on. I was thinking two heaters because a smaller tank will lose heat more quickly, so the heater will have to work harder to maintain the right temp. in an air conditioned room. So two heaters or a more powerful heater might do a better job keeping the water temp stable.

On the other hand...I sure don't want to roast the poor fish!

But maybe my heater is just busted...I'll try getting a new one today.

 

[soybean]

Personally I would try a new heater rather than adding another. A 50w heater should be able to keep a tank that size heated - some fluctuations of a degree or two are normal though and shouldn't be a problem for your betta, but 76 - 82 is probably less than ideal. Heaters break ALL the time in my experience

 

[Geoff-]

Set the original heater 2C higher then monitor the temperature. If your 76 degree minimum moves up to 78 then the heater's calibration is just a bit off.

It really doesn't matter what the heater's dial says if it is cycling on and off and keeping the temp you want. I set my heater to 30C and my tank maintains about 27C. If I set the heater to 28C then I get 25C. Clearly the dial on the heater is 3 degrees off, so just adjust it accordingly.

Note that if the heater never turns off you can't tell what its true setpoint is because heat is being lost from the tank faster than it can be added by the heater.

 

[lilfishie]

Set the original heater 2C higher then monitor the temperature. If your 76 degree minimum moves up to 78 then the heater's calibration is just a bit off.

It really doesn't matter what the heater's dial says if it is cycling on and off and keeping the temp you want. I set my heater to 30C and my tank maintains about 27C. If I set the heater to 28C then I get 25C. Clearly the dial on the heater is 3 degrees off, so just adjust it accordingly.

Note that if the heater never turns off you can't tell what its true setpoint is because heat is being lost from the tank faster than it can be added by the heater.

I have found this too on one of my older heaters, i set it to 26C and the water temp was 32C now the heater is set at 22C and sits nicely at 26C, so definatley worth trying