Just a thought....

[EdgarMedina1010]

i have incandescent lighting and it raises my water temp a little .......so i havent put in a heater.......here's my thought : if I turn on my heater and set the temp at 80degrees........then when i turn on my lighting turn off my heater ....and so on and at night keep the heater on......what do you think??could this work??

 

[TwoHobbies]

I don't see why it wouldn't work, but why not just leave the heater on, it won't turn on unless the water temp goes below 80 anyway.

 

[Alshain]

Yeah all heaters will automatically shut off if the water is warmer than its own setting, so no need to turn it off.

Some heaters, like visitherm heaters, will shut off automatically when you do a water change too (assuming the water goes below the minimum fill line). All the heater and filter instructions say to unlpug the filter, heater, and lights when you do a water change, but I have to wonder how many of us actually do that.

 

[EdgarMedina1010]

thanks

 

[HannahJ]

Alshain--I do actually that, but since I have an aquarium-only powerstrip, what I do is just unplug the strip. Makes it nice and easy.

 

[EdgarMedina1010]

so the heaters turn off if the temp is a little higher than set?? whoa i didint know this!!...thanks...

 

[rich311k]

Yes heaters have a built in thermostat to keep temps stable. Don't trust the numbers on the heater go by a quality thermometer but the thermostats do a good job of keeping things stable.

 

[joannde]

HannahJ - I too have an aquarium only powerstrip - I just turn off the whole thing during water changes and flip it back on afterwards - it makes things alot easier.

 

[Burks]

Yes heaters have a built in thermostat to keep temps stable. Don't trust the numbers on the heater go by a quality thermometer but the thermostats do a good job of keeping things stable.

This is a very true statement. My heater can be set at 71 yet you'll see it kick on around 75 and heat up to 78. Not a high or even mid quality heater, but it does work. It's so warm right now I just took the heater out. Tank temps are hitting 80 degrees easily (stupid weather).

Always look at tank numbers instead of heater numbers.

 

[hsherman1986]

i have three strips. One runs all the filters, one runs the heaters and air pumps, and the third runs all the lights. The third is plugged into an outlet that is controlled by a light switch, so to turn on the lights in the morning, I just have to flip a switch. Much easier than turning on and off seven tank lights one at a time.

 

[Alshain]

I don't trust the heater numbers, but I do have to say teh Visitherm Steath heaters are incredibly accurate.

 

[plecoperson]

The Visitherm I have is remarkable; it holds a 2.5 g at a temp within less than a degree--