Heater...

[Spanerman]

hi i have a 50w fish r fun heater in my newly set up 64l tank.. it doesnt seem to be getting anything over 14 degrees im only just starting the tank so it is only 2/3 full so a maximum of 40l and the heater is rated to 55l... does a heater take a long time to heat water? it does feel warm to the touch in the water though...



sam

 

[dcarmor927]

maybe you have a bad thermometer? for a tank that size it might only take a couple hrs to heat the water ...do you have the temp on the heater set higher?

 

[Spanerman]

at the moment it is set to around 30

 

[dcarmor927]

how long has it been set for? do you have another thermometer? if no i would go get a new one, they are only like $2 at most,
if the problem wasnt that then i would return the heater

 

[Spanerman]

well the tank feels cold, very cold. and its been set for around 2-3 hours now....

 

[hollanda88]

I'd get another thermometer and try that. Don't bother about putting the tempreature up high as you'll get uneven temperatures. You didn;t turn it on out of the water or anything did you?
Andrew

 

[Spanerman]

^nope not out of the water... but it seems to be up to temp now thanks for the advice, it probably takes alot of energy to raise 65l of water 10-15 degrees

 

[smegforbrains]

The heater is too small for that size of tank.


Your best bet would be to either add another 50w heater or get youreelf ideally a 100w heater, 75w bare minimum.


In reality, a 50w heater won't be sufficient for anything over about 40 litres.

 

[Spanerman]

its peaked at 24 degrees now but i think i will add another 50w or maybe add another 100w heater just to have slight overkill(they seem to be the same price) is 24 degrees about right for tropcal fish such as danios?

 

[dcarmor927]

Thats good its starting to work...I have a 100 w heater in my 10 Gal (40 l)

 

[Spanerman]

will a larger heater take less time to heat it up? because it has stabilized at 25 overnight now and the tank is cycling

 

[Fisses]

in my Elite 60l kit it provided me with a 100w heater which does the job perfect, and i think to buy the heater on its only is only about a fiver

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes a bigger heater will just heat the water quicker.

it's good to have some redunadancy built into the system so having 2 50w heaters is a good idea. i wouldn't add a second 100w heater though, the danger with heaters is they sometimes fail and will stick in the 'on' position. if you have a 100w heater and that sticks in the 'on' position then the water is gonna get too hot very quickly, if a 50 watt heater does the same it'll take much longer. so you have time to spot it and rectify the situation if needs be.

 

[Spanerman]

thats good news then....

i have a small light here, its a filament type rated at 20w would this be ok as a temp solution for my aquarium?

 

[OldMan47]

When I first got into the hobby, don't ask when, we used our lights to regulate tank temperatures. We would often change the lamp size if a tank was running hotter or colder than we wanted in order to get the temperature right. Believe me when I say a modern heater is a much better solution. The light will add some heat but it should be a very temporary solution.