Temp Problem

[Christo]

Hi, thank you for reading this - hope you can help me.

a couple of months ago i started with this great hobby. after a rocky start things have been going well for the past month. no deaths and any major hick-ups. i have a 10g tank. during the summer i dont even put on the heater because its really nice and warm here. my thermometer then shows a constant temp of 24-26 degrees Celsius (about 76 degrees F). but now, with winter on its way, the temp in my room drops to under the green/safe area on the thermometer. it drops to between 12-15 degrees Celsius. I am afraid that for a tropical tank that might be too cold. the problem is, when i turn my heater on the water seems to get too hot.(eventhough its only set on 20 degrees Celsius/65 degrees F) - I cant set it lower because 20 is the lowest. It rises but doesnt stay constant in the green area. it gets to temp up to 30 degrees Celsius (84 F) which may be too hot. im afraid of boiling my fish... What i do then is turn the heater of for the temp to cool down again. then the next day is the same story.

im afraid that the temp see-saw might effect my fish negatively. what can I do?

we are not even in the middle of our winter here in south africa. so i guess things can get much worse if i dont do something now.

thanx

o, the heater is a aqua heater from lifetech, 50 W

2010

AC220-240V
50-60 Hz

whatever that means

 

[Underwurlde]

Dude, honestly, GET A NEW HEATER!

Sounds like yours is shagged. Also, do not trust the dials on these things, rely on a thermometer.

Andy

 

[rdd1952]

I would agree that the heater you have is bad. You should be able to get a 50 watt heater pretty cheaply. Most heaes I've had have been pretty accurate as far as the thermostat is concerned. Some are a little easier to adjust than others but I've never had a problem with them being way off. As you mentioned though, 84 degrees is too hot, especially, if the temp is going up and down.

You may want to test the thermometer in a bucket of water where you can leave it on for a couple days. It may be that it needs time to adjust and calibrate and isn't having enough time because you are having to unplug it.

 

[Underwurlde]

Thermostatic control on heaters are placed above the heaters themselfs and is therefore the worst possible place for them. It is akin to placing your house heating thermostat above a radiator. For this reason it is best to position heaters at an angle in an area of tank that has good movement. This is why I say to rely on a thermometer that you can place anywhere in the tank to get a better overall picture of tank temperature rather than the thermostatic control.

Thermostatic control is simplicity itself and usually relys on a bimetallic strip such as those used in kettles but with some hysteresis. There is no settling period or calibration. If there is any calibration to be done (which I doubt) this will have occured once at the factory. This is besides the point, the temperature swing he mentions is nothing to do with this, it is simply that the thermostaic control on his heater is stuck on so that it just sits there and heats the water too much at which point he has to manually turn it off.

Andy

 

[piratedninja]

i say go invest in a new 50watt heater (i got mine for about $13 at petco)
also pick up a digital thermometer if you dont already have one
you can place those anywhere inside your tank position it to give you a pretty accurate reading

i have my heater placed right beside the filter intake
and the digi-thermometer right below the airstone which is towards the middle of the tank (this way it gets the average temperature of the entire tank because water is constantly moving over it)