Aqueon Pro 50 Watt heater problem! Help please!

[Stef]

I described my tank in my profile, but I'll write it out again.

So I have a 20 gallon tall aquarium with a hood and stand. It's set up for two Axolotls, but I haven't purchased them yet--I'm waiting until I get this problem solved. So I have a tank divider in the center, and on one side (the left side) is the Aqueon Pro 50 Watt heater, and on the other side is a Fluval U1 underwater filter (meant for 15 gallons but I didn't want anything more powerful than that to stress the Axolotls out). The problem is, that with the light AND heater on (heater set at lowest setting, 68 degrees f), the tank gets up to 74-75 degrees! Before I had a different thermometer, the kind that you stick on the outside of your tank and whichever number is lit green then that's the temperature of the tank, but with the setting at 68, I thought that had to be incredibly inaccurate so I went back to work and bought a different thermometer (similar to this guy http://www.petsrising.com/acatalog/F...SmallImage.jpg). And it also showed the temperature as 74-75 degrees! That's WAY too warm for the Axolotl's, and 68 degrees would have been perfect! I don't know what to do now. I turned off the heater and put a ton of ice in the tank to drop the temperature, but I'm afraid that I wont be able to have it stay at 68 (it's at 69 now). I made a little chart today that I stuck to the side of the tank to keep track of the temperature throughout the day (writing down the day, time, indoor and outdoor temperature, and then the tank's temperature).. I'm just really disappointed that the heater is overheating my tank. I don't want to keep wasting money on heaters if they're not going to heat it to the temperature I'm setting it to. Help please!

[Vol4Ever]

Probably your lights. I had to change out to CFL that run cooler. Turn lights off for a few hours and see what temp does.

Edit: by the way, what is the temp in your house? For 68 you shouldn't even need a heater?? I don't know how you'll keep it that cold honestly.

[Stef]

Originally Posted by Vol4Ever

Probably your lights. I had to change out to CFL that run cooler. Turn lights off for a few hours and see what temp does.

Edit: by the way, what is the temp in your house? For 68 you shouldn't even need a heater?? I don't know how you'll keep it that cold honestly.

The lights been off and the temperature still rises \: I'm starting to think that I won't need a heater either, maybe not until winter comes and it cools down. The house is set to 76 degrees, but it has been pretty hot outside (80s to 90), so that's probably a big part of the problem. What I want to know if how people manage to keep Axolotl's tanks cool enough so they can survive? Pfff.

[Vol4Ever]

Water is going to equalize with the surrounding temperature so what you are seeing makes perfect sense. A heater won't cool the water.

You'll have to have some sort of mechanical cooling, unfortunately.

[Stef]

Is a water chiller the only option for that? Those are incredibly expensive.

[Dale_I]

Originally Posted by Stef

Is a water chiller the only option for that? Those are incredibly expensive.

Would probably be less expensive than keeping the house at 68, which is probably the only other option. Your tank will equalize with whatever ambient temperature is in the room the tank is in.