5 Gallon Elite Heater Malfunction... Looking For A Replacement

[Channti]

Well, last night when I went to bed, I noticed that my betta tank's water was evaporating way to quickly. I topped up the tank and put a little too much in, so I scooped out a cupful.... the water in the cup was WAY warmer than I'm used to taking out of my tanks.. even for the betta tank, which has always been a couple degrees warmer than my other tanks.

Grabbed the thermometer... the tank was registering 96F.... I screamed a little inside, unplugged the heater, and allowed the temperature in the tank to come down gradually overnight. I avoided a major catastrophe... I would have cried if my bettas were boiled. While the tank will be fine without a heater until about August (fairly stable at home), once the fall weather rolls around, I'll need a new heater.

As I understand it, the elite heaters are prone to this malfunction. Can anyone else suggest a small, efficient and reliable heater for my 5 gallon?

 

[SlyPolak]

THEO Heaters by Hydor are good, it's just that they're ALWAYS off by a degree or two so make sure you have a thrmometer

 

[Channti]

A degree or two is not a big deal. now.. 20 degrees like the Elite heater.. THAT's a problem At school, even with a heater, my tank temperature varied up to 4 degrees over and 3 degrees lower than the set temp.

 

[SlyPolak]

I came to realize ALL heaters are off by a few degrees higher or lower .. ALL! But the little glass Theos will last you a long while

 

[Katty]

I use a 50w Hydor Theo heater in my 5.5 gallon. It's ok, except you have to start low on the knob, and turn it up very slowly and ignore the number markings until you get the right temp. Or else you will boil your fish. For instance, mine's idea of 75 F was 83 F. I don't know why the temperature knob on it doesn't correspond to the actual temperature, maybe because the wattage is so high for such a small tank. Other than that, it keeps the temperature pretty constant, albeit higher than the knob says.

There are hydor mini heaters in a 7.5 and 15 watt option. But they aren't settable and don't have an auto off function so you have to keep an eye on the heat and it can fluctuate based on the room temperature. I've never used this kind but it's an option.

I also have this in a 2 gallon, it's ten watts and auto-set to 78 F. It keeps my 2 gallon around 80ish. It's only rated for 3 gallons though. Idk what would happen if you put it in a 5 gallon, it might burn itself out trying to heat the whole thing to 78 F.

As far as I know, an overrated 50w heater, an unsettable 15 watt heater, or a 3 gallon heater are your options. I haven't been able to find any sort of compromise between too much heater and not enough heater for a 5 gallon.

 

[SlyPolak]

Well, here several weeks ago I had this cheapo no name brand... it broke OBVIOUSLY so I went out and bought a THEO... The 1st one I set to 80 and it heat the water to 85..... 5 degrees off so I went and replaced it with another , this one I set to 80 the water went to 76... 4 under so AGAIN I went and replaced it with another ( I know some patient people at PetSupermarket .) This one I ended uo keeping because when I set it to 80 It heats the water to 82 I can deal/adjust with 2 degrees... I have come up with the same thing with thermometers.... I went thfough 3 before I got something I like..

 

[MermaidMel]

Well, last night when I went to bed, I noticed that my betta tank's water was evaporating way to quickly. I topped up the tank and put a little too much in, so I scooped out a cupful.... the water in the cup was WAY warmer than I'm used to taking out of my tanks.. even for the betta tank, which has always been a couple degrees warmer than my other tanks.

Grabbed the thermometer... the tank was registering 96F.... I screamed a little inside, unplugged the heater, and allowed the temperature in the tank to come down gradually overnight. I avoided a major catastrophe... I would have cried if my bettas were boiled. While the tank will be fine without a heater until about August (fairly stable at home), once the fall weather rolls around, I'll need a new heater.

As I understand it, the elite heaters are prone to this malfunction. Can anyone else suggest a small, efficient and reliable heater for my 5 gallon?

I got a really excellent compensation box of items because the malfunction killed my L260 juvi. I would recommend Visitherm 25w any day.