Heater mystery solution presents new big prob

[Blucat]

Well my tank always overheated so i have to set my heater to 70F/22C togetatemp of 80F/26C. I have wondered why this happened for a year now and I have the solution.

The lfs told mewhen i bought the tank that i could have a free heater. being a newby then, i agreed and let him put any heater in without asking the wattage, as i assumed he would know. He didn't even give me the instruction sheet or the box. Now I have just found out it is 300W!!! This wouldn't be a prob for a 75g tank but I have a 24g tank.

Is this safe? I have been doing it like this for a yr? should i continue taking the risk or ask the lfs to exchange it for a smaller one? Even with a heater 3 x the size for it,my tank maintains a steady 26C/80F

 

[Toirtis]

The extra watts do not at all explain the over-heating....all the extra power should do is make the heater work less, and less hard. I have 350w heaters in 30G tanks with the temp being withing 1ºF of what I want...and with the heater set normally.

 

[Blucat]

really? as soon as i switch the heater to 80F the thermometre shows higher than that. when i turn it down to 70F the thermometre shows 80F. It happens every singlebtime. Itmay be a cheapo heater tho....

 

[gheitman]

You've probably already considered this but have you tried a different thermometer? It might be giving an incorrect reading.

 

[malkore]

aside from the possible faulty thermometer...wattage doesn't cause a tank to overheat...it simply heats up faster, so the heater runs less often.
if you set it to 70 adn the tank really is at 80, teh heater's thermostat is junk.

it was probably a returned heater at the LFS, and that's why they 'threw it in' with your tank purchase.

a little shady, but they didn't charge you for it at least.

 

[Scottm]

if its one of those on the glass dealies it always reads wrong. Mine always reads much higher then my in tank thermo which I trust alot more. the good news is that a floating or suction cup thermo only cost lik 2-3 dollars at walmart.

 

[Blucat]

Can i keep it?

 

[gheitman]

If the heater is so far off from the actual setting as described earlier I wouldn't recommend keeping the heater. There may be other problems and it could get stuck in the on position and boil your fish.