Heater Problems

[-SPB-]

Hi,

I think my heaters packed up so i bought a new one, my old one was fluctuating the temperature from 24.3 early this afternoon to 25.8 early evening and it was set at lower than 24 (had to set it so low as it was reaching more than 26 any higher). Has anyone heard of this make, is it any good or will it fry my fish within a month or so, its a visi-therm 300w. Got it from pets at home as it was the only shop that was open that sold aquarium heaters near me.

 

[doresy]

are you sure it is the heater and not the effect of ambient temperature?

 

[-SPB-]

I've put the new one in and the temperature is staying at 24.7-24.9. I'm keeping an eye on it to see if i've been a real dumbass and spending money needlessly. But the old one was fluctuating rather a lot. As i'm a bit new to this i sort of pannicked.

What would be a safe amount of fluctuation in the temperature??? Also would 2 200w heaters be better for a 210 litre tank or is a 300w sufficient. The 300w one i had came with the tank and was old.

 

[Gatorbait]

Hi,

I think my heaters packed up so i bought a new one, my old one was fluctuating the temperature from 24.3 early this afternoon to 25.8 early evening and it was set at lower than 24 (had to set it so low as it was reaching more than 26 any higher). Has anyone heard of this make, is it any good or will it fry my fish within a month or so, its a visi-therm 300w. Got it from pets at home as it was the only shop that was open that sold aquarium heaters near me.

ALL heaters shouldn't EVER be trusted.

I'm the resident Tropical Fish Forums ahole when it comes to heaters because I'm the only poster here that knows that a heating element and thermostat cannot and should not be trusted. One day, I'm sure I'll be banned for going against the grain and 20 some thousand other people but so be it, if peoploe in the meantime listen to me it will save many fish before then.

Others here (not the one who posted in this thread and tried to help) give out advice about heaters and visa-therms like they are the greatest thing since sliced bread.

You CANNOT trust ANY heater. I've never lost a fish to a heater problem but have come close many times, and have heard of at least a thousand people that HAVE lost fish to heaters because the thermostat didn't/stopped working.

I won't post in every heater thread but I will in most and I will be the ONLY one telling people to USE 2 heaters with both rated for HALF of your tanks volume. The best heater you can buy is an Ebo Jager, btw.

That way when one does stick on, it's not big enough of a heater to fry your fish for a couple of days and if one stays off the other is still large enough to most likely keep the temp high enough to keep your fish alive for a few days. Plenty of time for us to notice a problem and fix it.