Heating!

[ashy123]

hi every1! ive just got a new heater for my tank and i was just wonderin how i tell how many watz ive got it set to as it dosnt show the numbers its just a green twisty thing?
thanks!!!

 

[three-fingers]

Heaters should have a temperature gauge to tell you, what brand of heater is it? Can you post a picture?

You don't set the wattage, you set the temperature and the heater automatically turns on when it drops below that temperature - but at a set wattage (the box should tell you the wattage).

It's fairly important to know what wattage your heater is. If you have one that is not powerful enough, it wont heat the tank to the right temperature. If you have one that is way too powerful, then it will be turning on and off far too often as it heats the water faster, and is more likely to break (boiled or frozen fish).

 

[VictorMeldrew]

what does your thermometer say?

 

[ashy123]

what does your thermometer say?

well should i just play around with it until the temps in the green zone on m thermomiter?

 

[tenohfive]

We'll start again.

Whats your tank capacity (or dimension), and what make heater is it?
What wattage is it? It should say this on the heater, and say either 50W, 100W, 150W etc.
Have you bought a seperate thermometer? If not, do.

Where the knob is on top of the heater it should have some numbers. Thats the temperature knob, you set it to a suitable temp (24 degrees is usually a fair bet) and the tank will try and maintain itself at that level. You still need a thermometer though - the temp you set on the heater isn't always the same as what it produces, so you need to be able to check what temperature your tank is running at.