7Enigma
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hello everyone,
I've recently had some heater issues with my dwarf puffer 10 gallon tank at work. The heater after being set and working seemingly fine for a month or so decided to start heating well above its set temperature (or so I thought).
I had originally set it for 80, and got it dialed in pretty well. Then I didn't check it for a couple weeks, until a couple days ago. Well I was shocked to see it was almost 87F!!!
I had lost 2 oto's in the last 2 weeks but didn't attribute it to anything such as the water temp. So I turned the heater down slightly and waited until the next day. No change?!?!!
I then turned it down some more and still no change.
Now I thought I had a broken heater and was all set to return it. But first I wanted to make sure I wasn't doing something like turning the wrong direction, not turning enough, etc. This whole time I was setting it by putting my hand into the tank and turning slightly. I had never taken it off the suction cups and actually looked at what the temp setting was.
So on Saturday I came in and sure enough the temp was still 87. I took it off the suction and looked at it. Sure enough the setting was quite high (well above 80F). I turned it down to about 82F or so (for fear of overshooting in the wrong direction and seriously stressing the lone puffer), and replaced it.
I came in this morning and it was still 87F!?!?! Now I was sure the heater was broken (and just constantly on), but I had one more stupid thought.
I UNPLUGGED the heater and turned it down a bit more, then plugged it back in. The temp started to fall in the tank. That was this morning and at 1:30pm, the temp is now 82.2F. It seems to be holding stable around that temp but I'm going to keep an eye on it before I leave today.
So to other Stealth owners, have you experienced it not taking a new setting until unplugged and plugged back in? Or is mine just on the fritz?
And for ALL owners, this is one of the reasons why we do NOT recommend more than 5 watts per gallon (wpg) for any tank. Staying at 5wpg or slightly less should allow you to catch the problem before you boil the fish. It seems like my heater might have been maxing out and by evaporation and radiation the tank temp never got above 87F.
EDIT: I've had this heater for less than 1 1/2 years.
I've recently had some heater issues with my dwarf puffer 10 gallon tank at work. The heater after being set and working seemingly fine for a month or so decided to start heating well above its set temperature (or so I thought).
I had originally set it for 80, and got it dialed in pretty well. Then I didn't check it for a couple weeks, until a couple days ago. Well I was shocked to see it was almost 87F!!!
I had lost 2 oto's in the last 2 weeks but didn't attribute it to anything such as the water temp. So I turned the heater down slightly and waited until the next day. No change?!?!!
I then turned it down some more and still no change.
Now I thought I had a broken heater and was all set to return it. But first I wanted to make sure I wasn't doing something like turning the wrong direction, not turning enough, etc. This whole time I was setting it by putting my hand into the tank and turning slightly. I had never taken it off the suction cups and actually looked at what the temp setting was.
So on Saturday I came in and sure enough the temp was still 87. I took it off the suction and looked at it. Sure enough the setting was quite high (well above 80F). I turned it down to about 82F or so (for fear of overshooting in the wrong direction and seriously stressing the lone puffer), and replaced it.
I came in this morning and it was still 87F!?!?! Now I was sure the heater was broken (and just constantly on), but I had one more stupid thought.
I UNPLUGGED the heater and turned it down a bit more, then plugged it back in. The temp started to fall in the tank. That was this morning and at 1:30pm, the temp is now 82.2F. It seems to be holding stable around that temp but I'm going to keep an eye on it before I leave today.
So to other Stealth owners, have you experienced it not taking a new setting until unplugged and plugged back in? Or is mine just on the fritz?
And for ALL owners, this is one of the reasons why we do NOT recommend more than 5 watts per gallon (wpg) for any tank. Staying at 5wpg or slightly less should allow you to catch the problem before you boil the fish. It seems like my heater might have been maxing out and by evaporation and radiation the tank temp never got above 87F.
EDIT: I've had this heater for less than 1 1/2 years.