Temperature Fluctuation

[Lufbramatt]

I have recently set up a little 10.5 gallon tank and begun a fishless cycle. The tank was given to me by my dad, along with an ehiem internal filter, lights and heater, so I am using it to get me used to looking after a tank before setting up a bigger tank in my lounge. All the equipment is about 15 years old.

The tank has been set up nearly a week now and I am 2 days into the cycle. All the equipment seems to be working fine, but I am uncertain about the heater. I set the temperature on the heater to 27 degrees, but the thermometer in the tank shows that the temperature in the tank varies between 25-29 degrees. Is it worth replacing the heater for a more modern unit with a more responsive thermostat before I add fish?

 

[Davo86]

Last thing you want is for a heater to fail, and at 15 years old, you are sure to find a much better more reliable alternative,

 

[Lufbramatt]

Last thing you want is for a heater to fail, and at 15 years old, you are sure to find a much better more reliable alternative,

pretty much what i thought, I'll pop over to an aquatics shop tomoro after work, just thought I'd get a second opinion before splashing the cash! Guess thats another benifit of a fishless cycle, it gives you a good couple of weeks to get the tank+equipment sorted before risking any fish.

 

[waterdrop]

Very true, the fishless cycle provides time to get the bugs out of your system before fish are in there. Rev up your patience, it can be more than a couple of weeks, but it's worth it. WD

 

[chrisodapz]

Last thing you want is for a heater to fail, and at 15 years old, you are sure to find a much better more reliable alternative,

pretty much what i thought, I'll pop over to an aquatics shop tomoro after work, just thought I'd get a second opinion before splashing the cash! Guess thats another benifit of a fishless cycle, it gives you a good couple of weeks to get the tank+equipment sorted before risking any fish.

maybe alittle too late now but watch those prices as LFS are bit pricey look online for better deal if you can and get the right one for how much litres the tank holds

chriso

 

[Geoff-]

The heater might just have poor thermal regulation. I bought an aqua one recently that seemed to have quite a wide range between turning on and turning off, but in water it seemed to settle down. I haven't really seen it on yet, as i set it to 26C which my water was already.. and it's moved between 26C and 28C which is more a bearing of the outside weather than the heater.

the jager eheim ones would have great regulation, for the price you would hope so!

i had a failed aqua one heater with the tank when i bought it, thing was stuck on it just wanted to boil the tank (I hadn't put fish in, luckily). failed heaters are not pretty!