Tilted Heater Question

[ColR1948]

I read on another thread where someone said to tilt the heater so as not to get false readings, I never knew this I always put my heaters straight up because I thought they looked better.

Also I have noticed on a lot of pictures where the heater is submerged below the waterline, again I never knew this I am always afraid the water might get in thought the top where the wire goes in and blow.

Please educate me, thanks.

 

[Aquascaper]

All aquarium heaters are submersible (can go completely under water) and have a thermostat on the top to set/detect the temperature. If you have the heater vertically and there is not a lot of water movement the warm water rising off the heater can 'confuse' the heater into thinking the water is warmer then it actually is (warm water always rises vertically). This either means your tank temperature will stay lower than you think or that the heater will be turning on and off more frequently which will wear out the solenoid switch faster.

By tilting the heater you avoid the warm water rising off the heater from giving the thermostat a false reading. Another way to stop this is by having a lot of flow over the heater to dissipate the warm water away from the thermostat.

Always have your thermometer at the opposite end of the tank to the heater to get a better overall temperature reading.

HTH