Heater Issues

[thegundog]

Dealing with a case of Ick so I went to increase my water temperature, but found my old heater (150W) would not get the water warmer than 79 F.

So I replaced it with an Aqueon (150W) turned it on to 85 F and waited for 24 hours. It too would not get the water to the desired 85 F even after turing it to the max of 88 F.

So I returned it and exchanged it for the Aqeuon PRO (150W), installed it last night and after performing a 30% water change set the temperature at 85 F and this morning my water is 81 F.

My water was 79 F after completing the water change and I expected to see mid 80's this morning.

The RED light on the heater is on which seems to indicate the heater is still in the heat mode and the temperature setting has not yet been reached.

I have TWO thermometers showing the same readings.

Is it possible I have another defective heater?

Are the heater dial's this far off from actuality?

How long should it take my 29 gallon FW planted tank to reach the desired temperature?

Am I not being patient enough?

I would prefer to try and iradicate the Ick through heat, but I'm getting concerned that I need to go with med's as I can't seem to get my water to the correct temperature.

Thanks for your feedback and suggestions.

 

[OasisKeeper]

The other factor in this is the air temperature surrounding the tank. What is it?

Is it possible I have another defective heater?

It seems unlikely, but sure.

Are the heater dial's this far off from actuality?

Yep, many are

How long should it take my 29 gallon FW planted tank to reach the desired temperature?

Depends on surrounding air temp, but probably not as long as described

 

[thegundog]

My air temp is 76 F

That's unfortunate if the heater's internal thermometer is this far off. If this is indeed the case you could set the dial switch to the max of 88 F and only ever achieve 84 F

To me this is totally unacceptable, I didn't try and purchase the lowest cost heater I could find..... I purchased one that came with good reviews and was the most expensive in the store. That's because I wanted to hopefully help my fish without med's.....

Other's with experience in heater accuracy, specifically with the Aqueon PRO 150?

 

[OasisKeeper]

I design control systems for a living and have done so most of my adult life. I have issues with the way almost all of these heaters a designed and you could get me to start a pretty good rant here.

But that won't help you much so we will skip it.

If you can keep a close eye on it, go ahead and turn it up and see what you can get out of it. Just don't leave it that way if you can't watch it. It is not going to fly up out of range in 30 minute or less.

After that you can decide to try and replace it or not again.

 

[thegundog]

The GREEN light just activated on the heater.

The heater is set at 86 F and BOTH thermometers (which are inside the tank) read 82 F.

The internal heater thermometer is 4 degrees different?

Sorry to rant, but if it's a $17.00 heater I might have to expect it... but this is a $40.00 heater!!....

 

[mfdrookie516]

Every heater I've owned was that way. $40 is a cheap heater anyways. Unless you buy a controller, that's to be expected.

 

[thegundog]

Every heater I've owned was that way.

Thanks for the reply, I suppose my expectations were too great - since it was described as being able to reach 88 F I thought it actually would and I thought a 150W was certainly large enough for my tank.....

 

[jetajockey]

I don't think a $40 heater is cheap at all, it's probably about mid to upper price range for 100-200w heaters.

You can get a 100-200w heater for $15-$25 online or even in some pet stores.

But yeah, every heater I've had is always off a few degrees either way, the important thing is that it keeps a stable temp, just use a glass thermometer to gauge what that temp is.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Well, when I said cheap, I meant compared to something like this - JBJ TRUE TEMP 150W Digital Titanium Heater System - AquaCave

 

[OasisKeeper]

Yeah, on stuff I really want to keep a tight leash on, like my former reef, I use commercial temperature controllers. So maybe $100 or so for the controller, the just crank the connected heater up all the way.

 

[Ducky14523]

My house is cold! So i can never expect a heater to function true but i have found on my 45 gal that by putting an insulateing layer on the three non veiwing sides i get truer temps. Perhaps you could try the same, at least until the ich passes