Heater question

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Itsmemario

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I have the 50 watt marina submersible heater for my 10 gallon and when I have it turned all the way up it only sits at 76 sometimes it will go to 78. Im not sure if it's faulty or if it's normal.
 
76 or 78 is generally a good temperature for most fish and a 50 watt aquarium should be good enough for a 10 gallon aquarium. What are the dimensions of this tank? is it absolutely a 10 gallon?

What is the temperature of the room that the tank is in? Is it near an air conditioner?

It is possible that the heater is faulty. What is it turned up to? If it is blasted to 86 or 90 whatever the max is, the tank should not be at 76 unless the heater isn't powerfull enough. Yours should be powerful enough for a 10 gallon.

You should double check to make sure that your thermometer is correct as well with a 2nd thermometer.
 
Not sure of the dimensions but it said 10 gallons when I bought the tank lol.
The room it's in is probably 78ish and it's not near an ac or anything and I also have two different thermometers that say the same thing.
Also the heater doesn't have numbers, just up or down and I have it all the way up.
 
If the room is constantly 78, the tank water will be 78 even without a heater... Or at least very close to it.

Does the heater have a pilot light to indicate that it is switched on? The heater is either not designed to heat water over 78, or it isn't working. Without a number dial it's hard to tell what the heater should heat the water to.

Monitor the light as well as stick your hand near the heater while it is submerged to feel for heat. While it's switched on, it'll feel warm and maybe even burn if you grasp it.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
 
If the room is constantly 78, the tank water will be 78 even without a heater... Or at least very close to it.

Does the heater have a pilot light to indicate that it is switched on? The heater is either not designed to heat water over 78, or it isn't working. Without a number dial it's hard to tell what the heater should heat the water to.

Monitor the light as well as stick your hand near the heater while it is submerged to feel for heat. While it's switched on, it'll feel warm and maybe even burn if you grasp it.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

The light does go on, I'm probably gonna switch it for new one and see if it works better.
 
You can insulate the back, sides and top of the tank and it might help keep the temperature more stable. Use a piece of 1/2 inch thick polystyrene foam (the stuff that normally goes under a tank) and sticky tape it to the outside of the tank (on the back and sides). Have coverglass on top and see how the temperature goes. If you buy coverglass, get 4 or 5mm thick coverglass because it is less likely to chip than the 3mm thick covers normally sold.
 
If the room is 78F, I wouldn't even have a heater in the tank. There is no need to because the water will be the same temp as the room (as mentioned by Metalhead88).

If the room gets colder in winter, then have the heater on then, but when the room is 78F, the tank will be 78F :)
 
If the room is 78F, I wouldn't even have a heater in the tank. There is no need to because the water will be the same temp as the room (as mentioned by Metalhead88).

If the room gets colder in winter, then have the heater on then, but when the room is 78F, the tank will be 78F :)
The room temperature does fluctuate a pretty lot and being in Alaska it's already almost winter lol
 
ok gotcha, if the room temp fluctuates then keep the heater in there.
 
If you do get a new heater, get a good reliable brand. And, not a 50w but a 100w. I have a 100w in my ten gallon and it has been reliably working with no problems for 20 years. The 50w heaters are known for failures, much more than the higher wattages. The last heater I acquired which was three or four years ago was an Eheim Jager. This is one reliable brand, there are some others.
 
Make sure you have a thermometer that shows you the temperature it's heating too - not the ones already pre-set to 78 degress (why do they even make those?). Mine is so fun - I have to set it in Celcius but it displays in Fahrenheit. Wonder why they thought that would be useful? It's a strange world sometimes.
 
If you do get a new heater, get a good reliable brand. And, not a 50w but a 100w. I have a 100w in my ten gallon and it has been reliably working with no problems for 20 years. The 50w heaters are known for failures, much more than the higher wattages. The last heater I acquired which was three or four years ago was an Eheim Jager. This is one reliable brand, there are some others.
Ok thanks, that's good to know.
 
Make sure you have a thermometer that shows you the temperature it's heating too - not the ones already pre-set to 78 degress (why do they even make those?). Mine is so fun - I have to set it in Celcius but it displays in Fahrenheit. Wonder why they thought that would be useful? It's a strange world sometimes.
LOL, I'm definitely getting one that shows the temp next time.
 
LOL, I'm definitely getting one that shows the temp next time.
Be careful with that, digital is not always best. Someone gave me a cool looking digital heater which was quite compact as it had dual tubes. It showed actual and target temperatures and had a little wired remote that allows you to set the temp without putting your hands in the water. I have now thrown it out because:
  1. The LED display is always on inside the tank, fish need a period of total darkness
  2. The temperature was off by 3C and can't be calibrated. This is not uncommon in analog heaters but it means every time I walk past the tank I have to double check, and I put a thermometer (that I know is good) in anyway to double check.
  3. It claimed a precision of 0.1C. Well when the temp dropped by 0.1C it came on, and when it went back up by 0.1 C it went off again. I am all for stable temps but if its flicking on and off all day its not going to last very long
  4. This was the deal breaker. When the power goes off, even for a second, it reset itself to the default value. Not so cool when the default is 3 degrees warmer than my fish like and the thermometer under reads by 3 degrees. 6C is pretty noticeable and I would not be comfortable going on holiday (or even just to work) knowing that.
Much better to have a dial that you twist until it is at the right temp and know that it will always work correctly even after a power failure. The well known brands may cost a bit more, but as @Byron said these are proven. Obviously no absolute guarantees against failure, but given the consequences of it going wrong I'm happy to pay that bit extra.

I can't match the 20 years but my longest running heater has been working continuously since 2004.
 
Be careful with that, digital is not always best. Someone gave me a cool looking digital heater which was quite compact as it had dual tubes. It showed actual and target temperatures and had a little wired remote that allows you to set the temp without putting your hands in the water. I have now thrown it out because:
  1. The LED display is always on inside the tank, fish need a period of total darkness
  2. The temperature was off by 3C and can't be calibrated. This is not uncommon in analog heaters but it means every time I walk past the tank I have to double check, and I put a thermometer (that I know is good) in anyway to double check.
  3. It claimed a precision of 0.1C. Well when the temp dropped by 0.1C it came on, and when it went back up by 0.1 C it went off again. I am all for stable temps but if its flicking on and off all day its not going to last very long
  4. This was the deal breaker. When the power goes off, even for a second, it reset itself to the default value. Not so cool when the default is 3 degrees warmer than my fish like and the thermometer under reads by 3 degrees. 6C is pretty noticeable and I would not be comfortable going on holiday (or even just to work) knowing that.
Much better to have a dial that you twist until it is at the right temp and know that it will always work correctly even after a power failure. The well known brands may cost a bit more, but as @Byron said these are proven. Obviously no absolute guarantees against failure, but given the consequences of it going wrong I'm happy to pay that bit extra.

I can't match the 20 years but my longest running heater has been working continuously since 2004.
Thanks for the info! That's good to know:)
 

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