Heater Problems

[alwyzchanging]

I just got into the whole fish-keeping hobby and went all out (a move I now regret) I have 3 tanks set up right now with fish in them. The descriptions are as follows:

1. 5 gal fluval chi tank w/a heater for a 5 gal (i threw the box away so idk what brand it is)- this heater is set to 93 degrees & the thermometer reads 69 degrees. My aim is to get it to 75 degrees.

2. 10 gal regular tank w/a heater for a 20 gal. Aqeon 50 watt set at 88 degrees & the thermometer reads 72.7 degrees. My aim is to get this to 75-80 degrees.

3. 8 gal biorb w/heater for a 10 gal. Marineland 25 watt set at 90 degrees & thermometer reads 84.1 degrees. My goal is to get it to 85 degrees, but the temp. its currently at is adequate. Brung this up mainly for an example.

My issue is, these are all diff. brand heaters, and it seems that they all have the problem of not heating properly. Is this common? I mean- I even have a 50 watt heater for my 10 gal & its still not heating it up properly (I want it to get to the 75-80 degree range). Am I doing something wrong? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[raptorrex]

I just got into the whole fish-keeping hobby and went all out (a move I now regret) I have 3 tanks set up right now with fish in them. The descriptions are as follows:

1. 5 gal fluval chi tank w/a heater for a 5 gal (i threw the box away so idk what brand it is)- this heater is set to 93 degrees & the thermometer reads 69 degrees. My aim is to get it to 75 degrees.

2. 10 gal regular tank w/a heater for a 20 gal. Aqeon 50 watt set at 88 degrees & the thermometer reads 72.7 degrees. My aim is to get this to 75-80 degrees.

3. 8 gal biorb w/heater for a 10 gal. Marineland 25 watt set at 90 degrees & thermometer reads 84.1 degrees. My goal is to get it to 85 degrees, but the temp. its currently at is adequate. Brung this up mainly for an example.

My issue is, these are all diff. brand heaters, and it seems that they all have the problem of not heating properly. Is this common? I mean- I even have a 50 watt heater for my 10 gal & its still not heating it up properly (I want it to get to the 75-80 degree range). Am I doing something wrong? Any help would be appreciated.

the thermostats on these heaters are not calibrated, but set "roughly" (to put it mildly). you need to use a spirit thermometer, and adjust the setting to that. for consistency use the same one. then you check the reading on you "control" thermometer. against the tanks own unit.

 

[Vidster]

Are your thermostats in the flow of water?. If not they won't distribute heat that well. Also do what Raptorrex said.

 

[Timmy_Bee]

and angle your heaters at 45 degrees.

 

[raptorrex]

and angle your heaters at 45 degrees.

I don't think thats a rule, (anything off vertical will do) just a preference. but placing it in the flow of the filter outlet, now that make perfect sense.

 

[the biffster]

can i ask why you need
the temps so high
when most fish like
it between 74 to 79

 

[hillmar77]

Are there lids in all your tanks? Alotof heat is lost if there isn't !
Second is to make sure your heater is as close to the filter output as possible!
And I gotta ask the question on why so hot too? Unless you got a few baby discus?

 

[raptorrex]

I gotta ask the question on why so hot too? Unless you got a few baby discus?

this occurred to me too.

 

[Aqua Tom]

And I gotta ask the question on why so hot too? Unless you got a few baby discus?

Maybe a fishless cyle

 

[alwyzchanging]

Are there lids in all your tanks? Alotof heat is lost if there isn't !
Second is to make sure your heater is as close to the filter output as possible!
And I gotta ask the question on why so hot too? Unless you got a few baby discus?

1. 5 gal fluval chi tank has 1 Kenyi (Pseudotropheus Lombardoi). Would you suggest me move her to a tank w/a lid? (the chi is designed to where I cant have a lid on it. My spirit thermometer reads 80F, but when i put my hand in the water, it feels luke warm.

2. 10 gal tank does have a lid on it, but the heater is on the opposite side of my filter. I will be moving it underneath the filter right now, also wanted to mention i have 2 thermometers in there- an electronic one & a spirit thermometer but they are both reading diff readings. electronic: 71.1, spirit: 82. But the water does feel like 70ish. I'm trying to have it reach about 75degrees because I have baby guppies in there and I read somewhere that they need to be in temps of 75-80? Please correct me if Im wrong, Im not trying to have boiled fishies! xD

3. 8 gal biOrb does have top, and this was mainly for example purposes- its up to 84.1 degrees because my fish just got over an outbreak of ich. plan to lower it within the next couple days.

 

[alwyzchanging]

can i ask why you need
the temps so high
when most fish like
it between 74 to 79

My aim is to get my tanks 75-80degrees. Why do you say this is too high?

 

[hillmar77]

Are there lids in all your tanks? Alotof heat is lost if there isn't !
Second is to make sure your heater is as close to the filter output as possible!
And I gotta ask the question on why so hot too? Unless you got a few baby discus?

1. 5 gal fluval chi tank has 1 Kenyi (Pseudotropheus Lombardoi). Would you suggest me move her to a tank w/a lid? (the chi is designed to where I cant have a lid on it. My spirit thermometer reads 80F, but when i put my hand in the water, it feels luke warm.

2. 10 gal tank does have a lid on it, but the heater is on the opposite side of my filter. I will be moving it underneath the filter right now, also wanted to mention i have 2 thermometers in there- an electronic one & a spirit thermometer but they are both reading diff readings. electronic: 71.1, spirit: 82. But the water does feel like 70ish. I'm trying to have it reach about 75degrees because I have baby guppies in there and I read somewhere that they need to be in temps of 75-80? Please correct me if Im wrong, Im not trying to have boiled fishies! xD

3. 8 gal biOrb does have top, and this was mainly for example purposes- its up to 84.1 degrees because my fish just got over an outbreak of ich. plan to lower it within the next couple days.

Yeah if you want to get good temp a lid is a great idea. A massive amount of heat is lost without a lid.. maybe look into getting a lid for your fluval chi tank. As for your 10 gallon try putting both thermometer close to each other and check out the readings. You might be getting different readings because the heater is heating up only one part of the tank because the water flow is on the other side. So long story short. Place the heater under your filter output, place your two thermometers at the opposite side of the heater.
Yeah add a little salt to your 8 gal too while you got the heat up. Helps in the process of the healing of ich.

 

[the biffster]

i don't trust stick on or digi thermometers
but i do spirit thermometer i would work of
that what size are these heaters in wattage

 

[Aqua Tom]

Digital thermometers can be a bit out on their readings, same as those stick on "lcd" jobbies. Go buy a normal spirit thermometer (was once called a mercury thermometer but doesnt use mercury anymore). They are very accurate & easy to read when you get used to them.

 

[raptorrex]

can i ask why you need
the temps so high
when most fish like
it between 74 to 79

My aim is to get my tanks 75-80degrees. Why do you say this is too high?

my temperature has been at f74-6. only exception being, high summer, raising to 80+. but opening the lid and adding a small fan rapidly reduses that. though it does increase evaporation, well it would wouldn't it?

two reasons, I think, for keeping your fish at the lowest area of its temperature range.

first and perhaps the most important, in these straightened times, is cost. reducing you temperature by 5 degrees will save a reasonable amount, over a year. also reducing your heaters "on" time will extend its life.

second is safety. if your heater fails, normally, one of two things happens. the heater dies. in this case, for most of us, the temperature drop will be reduced. most of us will be able to keep an unheated tank at f70 (assuming the tank is in the living area). if the heater sticks on. it will take far longer for the tank to reach a "critical" temperature. giving you, significantly, more time to act.

if you think of f75( i personally think you could shave at least 3 degrees of this, for most fish) as the lowest "extreme", and f80 as the highest "extreme". in environmental terms, in between two "extremes" there is an "ideal". this, i think, is where we should aim.