Good Reliable Accurate Heater?

[schmee]

My heater is completely inaccurate. i keep my tank at 26 degrees C and to do so, I have to set the thermostat to 20. The tank is only small (34l) and the thermometer is over the other side of the tank.
i think it's time to accept defeat and try a different heater. The q is would 75w be too much for my 34l tank? It's 37.5 cm across and 46cm deep. i currently have a 50w but not sure which way to go. Which makes do you suggest?

 

[fluffycabbage]

My heater is completely inaccurate. i keep my tank at 26 degrees C and to do so, I have to set the thermostat to 20. The tank is only small (34l) and the thermometer is over the other side of the tank.
i think it's time to accept defeat and try a different heater. The q is would 75w be too much for my 34l tank? It's 37.5 cm across and 46cm deep. i currently have a 50w but not sure which way to go. Which makes do you suggest?

50w is fine. 75w should be if you keep it set very low. Rena smart heaters are fantastic, hydor theo and tetratec were recommended to me too. I got the rena smart for my big tank coz it is encased, thus protecting the fish from being burned

 

[waterdrop]

Before abandoning your current heater we should check some more things I think. A 50w heater should be more than enough for a 34L/9G tank. In fact a 25w heater should be quite enough if the heater is working properly.

The rheostat or knob on the typical aquarium heater is -not- attached to a device that is designed to heat the tank to -numerical- temperatures. In other words, it does not understand "26C" even though it may have a marking like "26" on it. It is just a "setpoint" for the point at which the thermostat will trigger the heat to come on. Often the little cap that your fingers touch is actually changeable relative to the actual amount that the real rheostat underneath it is turned. For example, some instructions will tell you to pull the cap slightly upward and rotate it so that it is "calibrated" based on the thermometer reading. (Gee, this is hard to explain in words but you probably already get what I mean!)

The rheostat knob must be used in conjuction with a separate thermometer in your tank. The heater has no thermometer function internally, only an adjustable "setpoint" to come on and off and you want the numerical cap on the knob to be adjusted to match the setpoint line that's usually a little line or arrow that's -not- on the cap so that the heater light comes on exactly when the number matches the temp on your separate thermometer.

It may be that you didn't have access to the heater instructions or that they were not written well. Let us know.

~~waterdrop~~