Tank got too warm ...

[trennamw]

Found that my tank thermometer is broken, the temp is 82 and probably has been for awhile (like, months).

I have glowlight and rosy tetras, danios, harlequin rasboras, Pygmy multi striped loaches, Otocinclus, snails, and ghost shrimp. I lost one Oto and one snail about 6-8 weeks ago when nitrates were high and I'd changed my plant fert routine.

It was a month before that, that I submersed the heater and put it horizontal at the bottom of the tank. There is a lot of circulation but maybe the change of position threw off its thermostat.

I've not noticed any change in the fish. Colors are bright, behavior is frisky, appetites are normal.

I'm not sure how to adjust back down, especially since the heater dial doesn't have any indication of how far a turn equals a degree.




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[candymancan]

Trial an error man.. All my heaters aren't accurate.. I can set one at 76f and itll put the water at 82f... Just turn it up and down and wait a few hours and check the temp... Or buy a new heater..


82f isn't very high anyway.. I have all my tanks are 80-82f and my discus tank at 86f. Ansd I have neons and otto's and other tetra's and angles pretty much every kind of fresh water fish

 

[Fresh2o]

Trenna - Which heater are you using? Some are meant to operate horizontally and some vertically. I think the reason why the heaters that normally run horizontally is that if run vertically then the heated water will rise and affect the thermostat.
I have a Fluval M series heater that is set vertically and the temp settings are labeled around the adjustment knob. I have a Finnex titanium heater that sits horizontally. The controller is outside of the tank. Both have not been adjusted in over two years and they keep the tanks at 78-80 F.


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[trennamw]

It's one that came with the Marineland led 29 gallon kit, it says it's submersible and the photos show it both ways. It's possible I bumped the dial when I flipped it. It's kept a very consistent temp, I iust didn't reAlize till I had my hands in both my tanks on the same day that one felt waaaay warmer, and I discovered the one thermometer is off by several degrees.

I keep wondering if it has to do with being closer to, or further from, the powerhead intake or outlet. Or having its thermostat at the bottom vs top of tank. But with an Aquaclear 50 filter and an Aquaclear 45(?) power head surely the circulation keeps the whole tank at about the same temp?

It does bring up another question I was pondering anyway ... I'd like to eventually keep discus, but to first have a loooong run (years) of keeping a warmer more acidic tank. My tapwater is soft and acidic, I artificially bring hardness and pH up now. So I was thinking of rehoming some fish and changing this tank (slowly, for the fish that remain) to a discus-type tank with no discus. I understand some of the species I have might be ok with that (or even prefer it) but some might not, and the info out there is of course conflicting.


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