Itsmemario
Fish Fanatic
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.
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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.
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The room temperature does fluctuate a pretty lot and being in Alaska it's already almost winter lolIf 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
Ok thanks, that's good to know.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.
LOL, I'm definitely getting one that shows the temp next time.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.
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:LOL, I'm definitely getting one that shows the temp next time.
Thanks for the info! That's good to knowBe 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:
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.
- The LED display is always on inside the tank, fish need a period of total darkness
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
I can't match the 20 years but my longest running heater has been working continuously since 2004.