Heating

[wickedxyx]

Hey there folks!

An annoying problem I've been having is trying to get the temperature to stabilize in my ten gallon tank. Does anyone have any tips for getting the temp to settle down?

There are no fish in the tank yet and I need it to settle somewhere between 74 and 78 (24-28 C). I think I get the temperature right and then turn on the hood lamp and the temp rises over the course of the day.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Alien Anna]

Provided you have hardy fish, a slight temperature fluctuation between night and day won't matter. Actually, even some of my sensitive fish (False Rummynosed tetras and pencilfish) seem to cope fine with it. Provided it's in a regular pattern and provided the temperature increases and decreases are gradual.

I make sure I get the temperature right without the lights, and that with the lights it doesn't go too high (which for my tetras is 86F and for my guppies, about 82F). I personally feel that 74F is too cold for most tropical species. I like to keep my tanks at about 78-80F.

 

[Waterloo Kid]

You could try getting a light of a lower wattage. I'm a bit surprised that a bulb sized for a 10g tank actually kicks off enough heat to alter the temp significantly. I assume it's a flourescent tube type bulb.
What AA says is valid though so don't loose too much sleep over it!

WK

 

[kev]

I had the same problem - especially over the last few HOT weeks. My hood lamp was getting really hot. it even warped the top slightly. Its not the tube that gets hot its the tranformer.

I solved the problem by taking the hood apart and drilled a simetrical pattern of holes above the hottest point and on the back. It looks like it should always have been there as long as you line each row up and the temperature hasn't gone out side of 26-28.