General Heater Question

[jschweg]

I have a quick question concerning aquarium heaters, I couldn't dig up any specific information concerning this issue. This is also my first aquarium, so I don't have any comparison.

I have a 50w All-Glass Aquarium heater (My tank is 10g), fully submersible, with a temperature dial on the top. I payed around 20 bucks for it, so it should be at least on the decent end as far as heaters go.

Being that it's the summer time, my tank water is sitting around 83 degrees according to my thermometer. The heater is set to 75 degrees. I've noticed that every 10-15 minutes or so, the indicator lamp in the heater turns on, stays on for about 15 seconds, and turns of again.

Being that the tank water is 83 degrees, why is the heater even turning on? Being that it stays on for a very short amount of time, and at a seemingly predictable interval, is this normal operation?

 

[greenmaji]

that is normal operation if it was set to 83 degrees!!! try ignoring the numbers on it and lowering the temperature setting on it.. SLOWLY... untill you get down to your desired temperature.. 78-80 degrees in the case of most tropical fish.. but only lower the temperature 1-2 degrees a day.. it keeps stress down..

 

[Blazeherd2306]

that is normal operation if it was set to 83 degrees!!!

He said he set the temperature to 75 degrees. If I were you, I would turn the heater off because there is no need to keep it on anyways.

 

[greenmaji]

What im saying is the room temperature is probibly less than 78 degrees and the heater's temperature guage is off.. unpluging the heater could cause the temperature to crash to room temperature in less than a day or two stressing or possibly killing the fish..

 

[greenmaji]

What is the temperature in the room and that would clear that question up..

 

[Blazeherd2306]

Ok I get what your saying, but I turned off the heater in one of my tanks when it was reading 82 degrees and the room temperature was 78 degrees and all my fish were ok. Its just like when you float fish in a bag to let temperature in the bag equalize with the temp in the tank it adjusts slowly.

 

[greenmaji]

Blazeherd2306....yes.. it also helps that your room temperature was 78 degrees.. mine is more like 75..

 

[jschweg]

The actual temperature in the room is 80 degrees or above, my apartment gets pretty hot in the summer. I'm pretty sure that the water is 80 degrees due to the ambient temperature in the room. I've turned the heater down to 72 degrees and the water temperature does not drop, and the heater indicator light does not seem to come on very often.

That really stinks if the thermostat is off that badly.

 

[wabyrd]

You guys are missing the point. Room temperature has nothing to do with it. His point is that the water temperature is 83 and the heater keeps coming on when it's set to 75 degress. It doesn't matter if the room is 50 or 100 degrees. Why is the heater coming on when the water temp is above the set temp. Perhaps the thermostat is WAY off on your heater, I don't know. Once you get it set properly (or buy a new heater) there is no reason to disconnect the heater in the summertime. I leave mine plugged in year round and it only HEATS when the water temp drops too low. Even the AC running in summertime can cool the tank down too much. Since my thermostat is set to 78, the tank lights keep the water warm when on, and at night when there are no lights, the heater might kick in for a few minutes here and there. My suggestion would be to trial your heater to figure out what the scale actually is or get a good quality reliable heater.

 

[Blazeherd2306]

If the heater is overheating the tank, you need to turn it off. Why would you keep your heater on in the summertime anyways, its not like there is going to be a day when the temperature drops to 30 degrees.

 

[jersysman]

The heater is coming on because on most heaters you can't trust what the dial says it is. You have to trust the thermometer. You might have to turn your heater down a bit until it stops coming on. The dial may say it is set for 75 degrees, however, the heater may be really set at 80. That is one bad things about heaters, especially heaters that may be on the lower end. It's trial and error at first until you get to know your heater.

 

[greenmaji]

I remember when submersable embo-jagers didnt have numbers! and were 60 bucks!!! LOL.. Im truly an old-timmer.. ..LOL

 

[wabyrd]

If the heater is overheating the tank, you need to turn it off

I agree. If it's overheating the tank, then it should be turned off.

Why would you keep your heater on in the summertime anyways, its not like there is going to be a day when the temperature drops to 30 degrees.

Like you stated, the temperature of the tank will take on the temperature of the room. At night, when I turn the AC down, the room temperature is lower than the tank temp. The tank cools off. The heater kicks in to keep the tank a minimum of 78 degrees. It's possible for the tank to cool off to a temperature of AS LOW AS 75 degrees since that's the room temperature at night. The combination of tank lights an high room temperature during the day can heat the tank up to 80. I don't want those kinds of big temperature swings in my tank on a daily basis. The slow daily change between 78 and 80 is more acceptable than 75 to 80. So, yes, it is still understandable to keep the heater on in the summertime (even here in Texas 8O ). Especially in a smaller tank like a 10 or 20 gallon tank (a 10 gallon tank was mentioned in the original post) where the water can lose heat faster than a big tank. If he's setting his AC thermostat to 75 or so, the tank will likely cool to that temp and then rise to whatever temp the AC is set to while away (perhaps 80). A small body of water loses and gains heat much faster than a large body of water.

 

[greenmaji]

wabyrd....thanks for elaborating for me...

 

[jschweg]

Thanks everybody.

I'm slightly annoyed at this heater, I bought it for $20ish and it lists online for $29. Thermostat seems to be really off, didn't really think it was a POS.

I'll just turn it down until the light stops coming on and figure it out come winter.

 

[Bhunsucker]

Could be a defect in the unit. See if you can return it and get another one. I've got a 300watt Rena and so far it works great. Its right on the temp that I set it at.

Britt

 

[wabyrd]

Yeah, it's probably not a pressing issue since it's summertime, but I'd try to exchange it for a better heater like an Ebo Jager or something. I've had great luck with my Ebo's. They're reasonably priced too. I'm sure there are other brands that other readers could suggest.