Heater Setting?

[HondaKid]

Hi there - I have a quick heater settings question. I recently added a heater to the tank; didn't realize I needed one initially. I have my heater set to 76 but the temp in the tank is showing close to 90 degrees. Is there a trick to the "right" heater temp setting that I'm just missing?

I've since dropped the heater setting to 74 and have seen the temp of the tank start to come down a little bit.

If nothing else, the fish are a lot more active now with the heater. To the touch (of my finger), the water doesn't seem to be "too warm" or what I would say is 90 degrees.

I tried a different thermometer as well, and same result.

Thoughts or help appreciated.

This is in my 29g tank.

Thanks!

 

[mgamer20o0]

lower the temp down. what kind of heater is it?

 

[InfernoST]

I agree with mgamer20o0 lower the heater. You cannot rely on the value of the numbering on the thermostat dial they are notoriously inaccurate. What is the temperature in the room your tank is in?

 

[FishEggs]

with the temp that high i would put an airbubbler in the tank or lower the water level an inch to get more oxygen in the water

 

[neurotik]

A few different things that could be throwing off the temperature. Is your tank in front of a window where it could be catching quite a bit of direct sunlight during the day that might be heating up the water? Is the room that the tank is set up in typically very warm? I know that a lot of people who have tanks set up in upstairs rooms in the summer experience elevated water temperatures due to the heat rising up in their house and making it twice as hot in the upper levels of their home. How many watts is the heater you are using? If you bought a heater that was designed for a much larger tank than what you're using it in, even if you set it to say, 78F degrees, it may actually end up heating the water to the low to mid 80's just because the wattage in the heater is much higher to compensate a much larger body of water than what you have. I've seen this happen in someone's 55 gallon tank -- they got a 300 watt heater and if they set it to 78F degrees it will heat their tank to almost 81F degrees, and if their room gets hot on certain summer days, the temperature can climb even a few degrees higher.

 

[HondaKid]

lower the temp down. what kind of heater is it?

It's a Second Nature - Acura 150 Watt heater.

What is the temperature in the room your tank is in?

Room temperature sits right about 78 degrees.

with the temp that high i would put an airbubbler in the tank or lower the water level an inch to get more oxygen in the water

Yeah, I'm running a couple of air stones in there. I'll try your suggestion of lowering the water level.

A few different things that could be throwing off the temperature. Is your tank in front of a window where it could be catching quite a bit of direct sunlight during the day that might be heating up the water? Is the room that the tank is set up in typically very warm? I know that a lot of people who have tanks set up in upstairs rooms in the summer experience elevated water temperatures due to the heat rising up in their house and making it twice as hot in the upper levels of their home. How many watts is the heater you are using? If you bought a heater that was designed for a much larger tank than what you're using it in, even if you set it to say, 78F degrees, it may actually end up heating the water to the low to mid 80's just because the wattage in the heater is much higher to compensate a much larger body of water than what you have. I've seen this happen in someone's 55 gallon tank -- they got a 300 watt heater and if they set it to 78F degrees it will heat their tank to almost 81F degrees, and if their room gets hot on certain summer days, the temperature can climb even a few degrees higher.

The tank is not in front of a window, but it is in my "front" room (has about 4 windows) which tends to warm up a bit mid-day and as the sun goes down even though my A/C is set at 77.


Thanks for all of the input guys - I'm going to lower the water level an tad along with the heater temp and see how that works.