newly cycled/stocked - couple ?'s

[justrelax]

successfully cycled my 55gal (thanx to everyone who helped with input) and started with a small load of four black skirt tetras and a common pleco. after much consideration to stocking completely at once, i chose the small load due to the fact that i just couldn't make that many decisions in one day! anyways, two questions:
1.one of the four tetras only "hangs out" with the other three about half the time. he likes to chill by the pleco and in the plants, and also seems to have less of an appetite than the others. do y'all think there's something wrong with him or is he possibly braver/more scared than the others?
2.for the last week my 250w stealth heater has held a very steady temp of 81.0 degrees, only deviating by 1/10 of a degree from 81.0. i lowered the temp after cycling to 78.5 and am now noticing that deviation is covering a much larger spectrum, aywhere from 78.1 - 79.8! i can't figure out any pattern to the deviation, and it shows on both my stick-on thermometer and the digital one. should i be worried?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Congrats on the fishless cycle!

1) No, I don't think anything is wrong with him. They won't school unless they feel threatened.
2) What is the room temperature?

 

[justrelax]

i keep my thermostat at 69degrees. it's pretty consistent through the whole house, i guess the room the tank is in is by far the most drafty... but even that wouldn't explain why it was so consistent (the tank temp.) THEN became less after i changed the temp... or would it?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

It is odd that it would vary so much. Do you have stock lighting on the tank or did you add to it?

 

[justrelax]

i bought the tank used, the lighting i have is what came with it. it's a single 24" bulb, other than that i don't know any more specs. i am planning on getting new lighting soon, maybe better bulbs will provide more consistent heat.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I don't know what to tell ya. Maybe the heater is faulty. That's really the only thing that I can think of if the room temp is not in the upper 70s.

 

[Musket]

I would try readjusting the temp uip or down .5 to one full degree. See if that stablizes it. Maybe just that particular setting or area of settings is bad. That is a big range though. If you can't get it stable at another temp, I'd exchange it for a new one.
Good luck

 

[TomK2]

The tank is not sitting right next to the heating/AC vent, is it? Or just below one?

 

[justrelax]

hmmmm.... well, i guess a heater exchange is in my near future. crap. things were going so flawlessly no tomk2, nothing near the tank at all. thanx for the input everyone! -chris