Dodgy Temperature...

[Mowbz]

I have a 16gal (2Foot Flat front) tank, and im a bit worried about my heater, and its capacity. Its an Interpet 100w, and according to the spec, should be fine for my little tank. Ive seen that most people have an extra thermometer to check the temp away from the heater, so i did the same. I bought a fluval stick-on thermometer for a couple of quid from eBay, which has now scared the #105###e out of me. (It claims to be "Digital". Im a senior vehicle tech, and i see nothing digital about it. It looks like a smaller version of the one my mum put on my head as a kid in the 80's!)

I've had the heater set to 30'C as this is what was suggested would be best for the cycle, and until i got the extra thermometer, i assumed this is what the internal temp of the tank was. I stuck the thermometer on and left it a few hours to settle, and its showing a solid 26'C, 4' less than what my heater is set to. I decided as an experiment to raise the tank temp by 2' to 32'C. This resulted in a 1' increase on the thermometer, 27'C.

Now im worried...

Is my heater not powerful enough for the tank? Becuase if its not, i need to get a new/extra one before i can put any fish in. (Dont really want an extra, only a 72 litre as it is!)
or,
Is it where i have placed the heater? Its at a 45' angle on the side of the tank, however i've also got the pump on the same tank wall. I did this to save space until i can afford to buy an external, but now im wondering if being so close to the filter is upsetting my tank? Ive purposely directed the pump pickup and outlet away from the heater so as not to constantly recycle the heated water in the pump area, but no joy.

Ive had my hands in and out of the tank a lot over the past few days, so dont want to keep interferring with it while its covered up for the cycle, hence if someone has an answer, i can just effect it and be done with the issue!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Blubble37]

try putting the heater just before the filter so it is at the end of the current blowing round the tank, might do it

 

[KittyKat]

Most likely, the scale on the heater does not correspond to the setting the heater is at, it happens quite often. It is possible to fix it, but one needs to be careful as one would be pulling the heater apart and re-assembling it.. or you can just keep in mind that the heater temperature scale is 4 degrees off from what it actually is at.

 

[raptorrex]

I have a 16gal (2Foot Flat front) tank, and im a bit worried about my heater, and its capacity. Its an Interpet 100w, and according to the spec, should be fine for my little tank. Ive seen that most people have an extra thermometer to check the temp away from the heater, so i did the same. I bought a fluval stick-on thermometer for a couple of quid from eBay, which has now scared the #105###e out of me. (It claims to be "Digital". Im a senior vehicle tech, and i see nothing digital about it. It looks like a smaller version of the one my mum put on my head as a kid in the 80's!)

I've had the heater set to 30'C as this is what was suggested would be best for the cycle, and until i got the extra thermometer, i assumed this is what the internal temp of the tank was. I stuck the thermometer on and left it a few hours to settle, and its showing a solid 26'C, 4' less than what my heater is set to. I decided as an experiment to raise the tank temp by 2' to 32'C. This resulted in a 1' increase on the thermometer, 27'C.

Now im worried...

Is my heater not powerful enough for the tank? Becuase if its not, i need to get a new/extra one before i can put any fish in. (Dont really want an extra, only a 72 litre as it is!)
or,
Is it where i have placed the heater? Its at a 45' angle on the side of the tank, however i've also got the pump on the same tank wall. I did this to save space until i can afford to buy an external, but now im wondering if being so close to the filter is upsetting my tank? Ive purposely directed the pump pickup and outlet away from the heater so as not to constantly recycle the heated water in the pump area, but no joy.

Ive had my hands in and out of the tank a lot over the past few days, so dont want to keep interferring with it while its covered up for the cycle, hence if someone has an answer, i can just effect it and be done with the issue!


Thanks in advance!

first thing to remember is the temperature set on the heater, is unlikely to be the temp the heater produces. the markings on the heater are "ball park". so, if the tank is not up to the temp you want, turn up the heater stat. and keep doing so, until you get the required heat. a 100w heater should be able to boil your tank, virtually. so you should have no problem making 30.
buy yourself a SPIRIT thermometer and use this for your reading (not the heater setting or the so called digital strip) and dont fall for "accurate" digital thermometers. unless they are vastly expensive, they aren't "accurate".

the argument as to the angle the heater is set goes on. but there is no real evidence, only logical deduction. to this end i, and many others, place out heaters at an angle. as the stats are, more often than not, at the top of the heater, its logical to think it will give a false reading (reading the freshly heated water raising up the heater, not the overall temp)

as for heater placement? again there seem to be no RULES. but heating the outputted water seems the norm. (in-line heaters are all connected to the output pipe of a filter)

 

[Mowbz]

Thanks for the replies guys, sorry i forgot to reply myself!

I took the above advice however.

I thought seriously about taking the heater apart. Im a diagnostic tech on cars, but its electrics. Different parts, same theory. Get power in and back out, and do the job on the way.

I guessed its just a simple potentiometer under the dial varying the current as you twist to a heater element, using a thermistor or bi-metallic switch to flick it on and off?

I also considered that i have hands the size of spades and to be honest, i bet everything in there is going to be way to small for my oaf hands to work with. If someone wants to volunteer an afternoon to come and do this, be my guest. Ill supply all required sustenance and well wishes .... lol

Unfortunately i didnt read how pants my "Fluval Digital Thermometer" is on here before it was stuck to the side of my tank already. As soon as i took it out of the packet i started looking for what was "Digital" about it? Turns out, not alot.

Im goin to buy a spirit one. Ive seen a few in peoples tanks. Are they "suckered" to the side or just free floating? If they are free floating, does anyones fish play with them at all? (Just wondering..... lol)

And in response to cost, i fitted an external thermometer unit to a 5 Series BMW not so long ago. It was £270, before fitting. All it displays, litteraly, is the temperature, on a simple 3 digit screen.

Now im REALLY wondering how "Digital" my £1.99 Fluval "plastic strip" is........

 

[KittyKat]

Yes, spirit thermometers are quite accurate, they do beat the strips which are just not and the true digital thermometers which need calibrating. "Aquarium" spirit thermometers usually have a range of 0 to 50 C and come with a suction cup attached to them, and a weight at the bottom. Most will float, but the banging against the sides of the tank is annoying, so you may as well attach them to the side.

That's kinda how the heaters work, on top of that, they have the thermostat, which is normally located in the top half of the heater (with all the rest of the wiring).

 

[Mowbz]

That's kinda how the heaters work, on top of that, they have the thermostat, which is normally located in the top half of the heater (with all the rest of the wiring).

Cheers Kat.

I guessed they couldn't be too complicated, but tbh, it really is all just to small for my hands. I have enough trouble getting a good enough grip on the dial to change the temp!

Definately getting myself a spirit one Although, ive also in my ponderings thought of a better way, that seems so obvious, im sure someone must have done it already?

You could build a "team" of sensors. They could be tiny, 5 pence piece size or smaller. You also have as many as you like, dependant on tank size and your paranoia level...

These would all need to be wired to a central unit, with a simple programmable chip. The sensors can be strategically placed to pick up readings from different parts of the tank, for instance top, middle and bottom, both sides. 6 sensors. (I dont know much about the movement of water in a tank, so this could be useless, even counter productive)

The chip, programmed to take all the readings and work out an average, the mean temperature of the tank. Based on this, it could be used as the switch mechanism for the heater.

Bye bye "im going to fail and boil your fish" bi-metallic switch", hello digital reliability.

As long as there is multiple out puts for power to the heaters, a power input (to run the heaters, obviously negating the temp sensors on them), and multiple extra "sockets" for more sensors, its universal.

Prototype if it doesnt exist already?

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Bye bye "im going to fail and boil your fish" bi-metallic switch", hello digital reliability.

And now the tank looks pig ugly with all the wires?

 

[KittyKat]

Bye bye "im going to fail and boil your fish" bi-metallic switch", hello digital reliability.

I have never had one of my heaters boil my fish alive, and I make sure that if it possibly could, it would take at least a whole day for it to do so..

Prototype if it doesnt exist already?

Probably, but I'd pass on it as I have enough trouble with two heater cables and a pump cable in the tank! Don't even want to go close to 7

 

[Mowbz]

Bye bye "im going to fail and boil your fish" bi-metallic switch", hello digital reliability.

And now the tank looks pig ugly with all the wires?

Agreed, i thought about this. The wires would be tiny, but on the side of the tank, its not going to look great.

Ill keep thinking.... lol