Heater Time?

[finsandscales1234]

Hey guys, I have a simple question. I turned on my heater for my new tank about 5 hours ago. It the water seems to not be heating up, and when I put a hand near the heater I feel no heat. Is it the filter running? Its a 20 gallon tank. Please give advice! Thanks!

 

[sawickib]

The filter doesn't affect the heater at all, did you try getting a thermometer to measure the heat before you got worried about it, I know this one is a silly question but is it plugged in? What's it set to heat?

 

[finsandscales1234]

The filter doesn't affect the heater at all, did you try getting a thermometer to measure the heat before you got worried about it, I know this one is a silly question but is it plugged in? What's it set to heat?

Yea it is plugged in and its set to heat. Should I let it go overnight? I'm not sure how long it takes. The red light is on to show its heating.

 

[sawickib]

What temp is it set to? And if it's not very hot but it's light is on, then it may be working. If you have tropical fish you only want the temp at like 76-82 degrees Fahrenheit, what fish do you have if any?

 

[finsandscales1234]

What temp is it set to? And if it's not very hot but it's light is on, then it may be working. If you have tropical fish you only want the temp at like 76-82 degrees Fahrenheit, what fish do you have if any?

Its set to about 70 because I plan on getting some tiger barbs. I think its working so I was thinking about letting it sit overnight. Also gratz on your eggs!

 

[Fishmanic]

If you don't have a thermometer how would you know if it's heating correctly.  A thermometer will help you calibrate the heater setting.  What brand and wattage is the heater?

 

[sawickib]

Thanks lol I hope they hatch some rainbows, and that's probably why you can't real the heat lol, room temp is usually 74 degrees and actually tiger barbs prefer about 74-79 degrees and actually you need about a 30 gallon I believe to have the amount of tiger barbs to not have over aggressive and their level of activity.

 

[finsandscales1234]

If you don't have a thermometer how would you know if it's heating correctly.  A thermometer will help you calibrate the heater setting.  What brand and wattage is the heater?

There is a thermometer on the side, its below 60 because that's the lowest it will go.

 

[sawickib]

What type of thermometer is it? Brand wise?

 

[Fishmanic]

the least the temp should read is the temperature  of the room the tank is in unless you just added the water recently.  If you added water recently, the tank should be at whatever the temperature of the tap water was when you filled the tank.  Then the heater setting will bring it to temp you set but once the tank has stabilized temperature wise, you should rely on a good thermometer, not the setting on the heater.

 

[sawickib]

Yea it's unlikely that your tank is 60 degrees ATM

 

[Fishmanic]

it could be at 60 if you used cool tap water to fill your tank

 

[finsandscales1234]

Thanks guys. I've decided to let it go overnight, so it should be warm in the morning. Thanks again!