smithw14
Aquarium Advice Regular
Help with Visi-Therm
HELP! I am getting to my breaking point dealing with Visi-Therm heaters for my 20g long community tank. The very serious issue is dealing with the heaters over-heating the tank. I have been troubleshooting and dealing with this problem for upwards of 4 months.
In my 20g long community tank, I purchased a 50w Visi-Therm deluxe heater (http://www.marineland.com/products/consumer/con_vtherm.asp). The water temperature in the tank without a heater remains in the 60-70* F range, and I am trying to raise and keep the temp between 76-78*F. I originally located the heater in an upright position in the middle of the tank, submerged with only the red dial breaking the surface of the water. I waited 15 minutes as the directions stated before plugging in the heater. I monitored the water temperature with 2 coral life digital thermometers, one located on the left side of the tank, one located on the right side of the tank. I plugged in the heater after that 15 minute wait, with the temperature set at 77*F. On it went – alright – it was working!
From the get-go it seems I started having problems. The dial seemed to be off quite a bit. 77*F on the dial put the water temperature at 81*F. So I adjusted to try to calibrate or at least compensate. No problem, I don’t really care if the dial isn’t correct, as long as I can find and get a good steady temperature. So I adjusted down closer to 68*F, and that seemed to keep the temperature around 76*F, for the time being. I would wake up in the morning and check the temperature, it would always be jumped up to the low 80’s*F. I was shocked, and adjusted even further. Why is it doing this? I completely started over several times, turning off, waiting 15 minutes, even changing the location of the heater, closer to the bottom, left, right, up, down, horizontal, vertical, slanted, etc. Nothing worked. The temperature jumped up and down – no explanation. How does my heater not realize with a setting of 64*F that the water temperature is freaking 80*F and it needs to shut off? It seems like it gets “stuck”. On at times. I feel like I am killing my fish. So about a month ago I bought a 10g sick tank, and another 50w Visi-therm deluxe. I decided to try both of the 50w heaters in the 20g long tank. Maybe I was over-working the one 50w I had in there. So I put them on opposite sides and set them up like you are supposed to. Nope – did not do any better.
All I can find after months of searching websites and message boards online is how MUCH people praise and adore visi-therm heaters. They are so accurate and perform superbly. What am I missing? What am I doing wrong?
Thanks in advance,
William
HELP! I am getting to my breaking point dealing with Visi-Therm heaters for my 20g long community tank. The very serious issue is dealing with the heaters over-heating the tank. I have been troubleshooting and dealing with this problem for upwards of 4 months.
In my 20g long community tank, I purchased a 50w Visi-Therm deluxe heater (http://www.marineland.com/products/consumer/con_vtherm.asp). The water temperature in the tank without a heater remains in the 60-70* F range, and I am trying to raise and keep the temp between 76-78*F. I originally located the heater in an upright position in the middle of the tank, submerged with only the red dial breaking the surface of the water. I waited 15 minutes as the directions stated before plugging in the heater. I monitored the water temperature with 2 coral life digital thermometers, one located on the left side of the tank, one located on the right side of the tank. I plugged in the heater after that 15 minute wait, with the temperature set at 77*F. On it went – alright – it was working!
From the get-go it seems I started having problems. The dial seemed to be off quite a bit. 77*F on the dial put the water temperature at 81*F. So I adjusted to try to calibrate or at least compensate. No problem, I don’t really care if the dial isn’t correct, as long as I can find and get a good steady temperature. So I adjusted down closer to 68*F, and that seemed to keep the temperature around 76*F, for the time being. I would wake up in the morning and check the temperature, it would always be jumped up to the low 80’s*F. I was shocked, and adjusted even further. Why is it doing this? I completely started over several times, turning off, waiting 15 minutes, even changing the location of the heater, closer to the bottom, left, right, up, down, horizontal, vertical, slanted, etc. Nothing worked. The temperature jumped up and down – no explanation. How does my heater not realize with a setting of 64*F that the water temperature is freaking 80*F and it needs to shut off? It seems like it gets “stuck”. On at times. I feel like I am killing my fish. So about a month ago I bought a 10g sick tank, and another 50w Visi-therm deluxe. I decided to try both of the 50w heaters in the 20g long tank. Maybe I was over-working the one 50w I had in there. So I put them on opposite sides and set them up like you are supposed to. Nope – did not do any better.
All I can find after months of searching websites and message boards online is how MUCH people praise and adore visi-therm heaters. They are so accurate and perform superbly. What am I missing? What am I doing wrong?
Thanks in advance,
William