what is a good place for a heater

[carpediem]

I had my new heater first behind plastic plants, but did not get the temp up in my 10 gal tank.
Now I moved it into the corner beside my HOB cascade filter. Still, it will not go higher than 80. (I am trying to get it to 83 for my fishless cycle with raw piece of prawn).
I have the dial at 87 right now. It will heat for a while and then shut down.
It is a Jaeger 75W.
Any ideas how I can get the temp up?

 

[Meredith]

Is it a fully submersable heater? If it is I keep mine pretty near the bottom at an angle.

 

[Devilishturtles]

My tank heater for all of my tanks are simply sitting vertical attached to the back wall.

Like already asked, is your heater submersible?

 

[JohnPaul]

And how big is your tank? If the heater is anything less than 5 watts per gallon of water, don't expect it to be able to do the job.

Sadly, often pre-packets aquarium starter kits contain heaters that are too small. I just got one of those kits for a 29 gal tank; stupid heater that came with it was only a 100 W heater. Which is fine if I am just raising the temp a few degrees above room temperature. But when my heat (as in, my building's heat) went out for a day and my room temp dropped to around 68, my heater was unable to maintain my tank even at 76.

If your tank is larger than 15 gal, I would suggest a new heater.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

We have the 150 gal heaters verticle at every 1/4 mark in the tank (3 heaters total). On all the others, it is horizontal a couple inches from the bottom in the center.

 

[carpediem]

It is a Jaeger (now made by Eheim) 75W Model TS.
It has a water-level indicator on it, but the lady at the lfs said, it is fully submersible. Has anybody experience with it? Is it now fully submersible, or not?

According to the package, the 75W should be enough for 15 to 20 gal, so therefore should be plenty for my tank. It has one of those dials on the top to adjust the temp. At a setting of 87, my water (since last night) is still just below 80.
Am I doing something wrong?

 

[JohnPaul]

Ok, first rule of thumb, *never* trust what it says on the package. In my (short) time having an aquarium, I have learned that lesson on several occasions already, once to a very significant degree (trusting a package when it said the antibiotic was "safe" for my biofilter..and a few days later having my biofilter entirely destroyed...0% ability to process ammonia. So I'm now ~ 2 weeks in to re-cycling my tank. grrrrr )

If you have a 15 gal tank, a 75 W heater *should* be fine. If you have a 20 gal tank, and you are trying to get the temp up beyond 80*F, I think the heater package can make claims until the cows come home--I simply don't think it has enough "juice" to raise the water to the temp you want.

Now, that being said, let's examine what you have. If the thermostat on the heater is set for 87*F and it is not getting your water above 80*F, and yet the heater is turning off, then I would say you have a faulty heater. A heater should not turn off until it is sensing that the water around it is the temperature the thermostat is set at. So it sounds to me like your heater "thinks" it is successfully getting the water to 87*F. I suspect the internal thermometer within the heater is miscalibrated or broken in some way.

I wish I could help with the fully submersible issue, but I am confused and perplexed by that as well.

 

[QTOFFER]

What is the temperature in the room where the tank is located? When the manufacturers rate their heaters, they assume that you'll be raising the water temp just 5 - 10 degrees above ambient room temp.

The other possibility, already brought up, is that the heater's thermostat is out of calibration. If it's a new heater, you might bring it back and exchange it for another.

 

[TomK2]

I would think a 75w heater in a 10 gal tank should be able to raise the temp 14 degrees or more above room temp. Since it is shutting off, I bet it is defective.

If it has a "maximum water depth line," it is probably non submersible, since they don't want it in any further. If it has a "minimum depth water line" it probably is submersible, since they want it in at least that far. Make sense?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Could the thermometer be reading the temp wrong? What kind of thermometer do you have? Stick on? Digital?

 

[carpediem]

The thermometer is a "regular" that you stick in the gravel (it has a weight on the bottom).
I do not know if the heater is just labeled with a top water line because of regulation here in Canada (electric stuff should not be in water idea). That is why I hoped that if the U.S had the same product, regulations might be different for the same product and the heater could therefore be submersible.
It is in my son's room and without a heater, I was able to achieve around 76 to 78 with just the light on during the day. So 83, I am aiming for should be easily obtained in my humble opinion.

 

[Bad Jeff]

The Eheim "TS" model heaters are Totally submersible hence the "TS", for some weird Canadian regulation reason they were not allowed to be marketed as totally submersible until very recently. I've got 2 TS models at the bottom of my 90 gal for over a year.

 

[carpediem]

Thanks Bad Jeff. It is the model with the blue dial on the top for temp. adjustment.
How accurate is yours? I think mine is not functioning properly. I have the dial up to 87 and it barely delivers 81 in a 10 gal tank (the 75 W) and the sensor seems to be shutting it off all the time.

 

[Bad Jeff]

Same exact model. I use them in 6 of my tanks.... generally very accurate. Place it fully under water at a 45 degree angle where the water circulates the best. I had the same situation on my 70 gal tank... 250 watt heater set at 85 and not getting higher than 73. The tank was uncovered (mistake #1) and the heater had poor to no circulation around it. (mistake #2). Tank now holds temp fine. Also what may help is to get the tank water within 3 or 4 degrees and unplug the heater for about 15 minutes, (allows the internal t-stat to set) and plug back in. I've found in the past that if the unit is in water within 5 degrees for a short length of time before plugging it in it hold the temp more accurately.
Sometimes i ramble....hope that made sense.
Bad Jeff

 

[carpediem]

I just talked to my lfs and he said to return the unit. He did say that they work best horizontal, but since I have just a 10 gal (and this unit apparently is recommended for 15 to 20 gal) it should work no matter what. So I am off again to see my fishies.

 

[swanandmokashi]

i would place the heater where there is maximum flow of water eg close to the filter outlet. that way the tank is more uniformly heated