Heater Question

[Mark Z.]

Last Thursday I had a bad outbreak of ick in my tank. Most fish are infected very bad.

The temperature of the tank was 80 degrees. I turned the knob up higher and treated the tank with Coppersafe.

Saturday, the tank temperature was still at 80. I bought a new heater; a Fluval M200 that heats up to 65 gallons. Turned it up to 86 and the water temperature would not rise above 80. I added the original heater back in the tank; an Aqueon 200 and turned that knob up to 88. Water temp is still 80!! Both heaters have been set to the highest setting for over 24 hours and I can't get the temperature to rise above 80. My tank is 48 gallons.

Any suggestions It is in a heated basement. I need to get the temperature higher to kill the ick on the infected fish, correct? This is driving me crazy.

I have two angels, pearl gouramis, Congo tetras, black phantom tetras, skunk cories, a zebra loach, a pleco and a couple mollies.

 

[magpie]

I had a similar problem during a recent ich bout. No fun. I had to buy a new heater with higher wattage.

How many watts on the heaters?

What is the room temperature usually?

 

[Erik]

Is your thermometer working correctly?

 

[Mark Z.]

Both my old heater and the brand-new one are 200 watts. Room temp is around 68 or so. I imagine the thermometer is working correctly. The water doesn't feel very warm. I'll try a new thermometer, but with two 200-watt heaters set to the max, I would think the water would be too hot.

My next step is to buy ANOTHER new heater with more wattage, but again, I have two going at once so it seems to me that should do it.