Water Heater

[Kairi]

Aren't they supposed to regulate the temperature? I have it set around 75/77- and the thermometer says 82. The fish won't mind 82- but I'd rather it be a little lower.

 

[Bloo]

What brand heater do you have ?
What type of thermometer are you using to read the temperature ?

 

[rdd1952]

Is your tank near a heat vent or other heat source? What type lights do you have? Do you use an internal filter that may be producing heat. It could be that the water is staying that warm because of reasons other than the heater. I keep the thermostat for my heater set on about 72 in the summer but when I had unheated betta tanks, they still stayed at about 76 with the higher heat coming from the lights and the filter (Whisper 10 that hangs inside the tank).

 

[Kairi]

The heater is, ya know, I can't tell. It came w/ the tank, which I got at Petco. The filter is a Whisper 10 (I think) and the light looks like a halogen light. Should I set the heater lower b/c of the light and filter? how does the filter heat the water?

The thermometer also came w/ the tank... it's a little one you stick on the outside of the tank.

 

[rdd1952]

The stick-on kind aren't real accurate so you might want to get a digital. They are relatively cheap (about $4) and fairly accurate. I use them on my tanks. I don't think lowering the temp on your heater will matter much unless it's just inaccurate. If you have it set for 75-77 and the tank is running 82 then it probably isn't even coming on. Do you ever see the light come on that shows it is heating? You could turn it down just to check it out and see if the temp goes down. I think before I did that though, I would try another thermometer just to make sure that the stick-on one isn't off and that the tank temp isn't in the 75-77 range already.

 

[Kairi]

I was told to take it back to the store and get a new one- I emailed the company. I haven't seen a light at all lately, but the temps gone down to where I'd like it now that I've turned the temperature down.

 

[anvil63]

I've had a couple of heaters whose calibrations on their thermostats was pretty crappy. In my experience though they've always held the temp constant it just didn't hold it at the temp it said on the dial. After playing with it a bit you can figure out how much its off by and compensate.

One of my 300W on my 150 gal is set at 84F but clicks on at a tank temp of 79F

 

[Kairi]

hm. i have it set below 75, and the water temp is 78. i'm not complaining, at least it's not above 84!