Heater Question?

[net_shark512]

OK here is the prob. My 55g Cichlid Tanks heater is set at 76 but the water is at 81. The room is about 73. Watching the heater it seems to turn on alot. I am the one that posted about my digital thermometer and it works fine now. I also tested water with a regular glass one. Should I just turn the heater down more or is it worn out and should be taken out of service? How long is average for a heater to last? I am guessing the thermostat isn't working correctly. I use the acura 100 (200watt) never had much problem with them. Also in the winter it gets a little colder down there and the heater works its butt off. Should I get a bigger one than 200 watt. A bigger one would have to do less work right? Or is there a drawback to this? I am thinking Ihave to replace this heater and not sure what to do? Also is 81 bad for 2 jewels a clown pleco and 3 assorted Cichlids and a silver $. thanks much.

[Tightdog1]

in both of my 55g i have marineland visi-therm deluxe 200w heaters. i have never had a problem except when 1 of my pacus broke 1 of them, luckily i always have a backup of almost everything! but my heaters also heat the tank to over the temp on the heater, so i jsut companesate for that and set it lower than what it should be to get the desired temp. i have it set at like 74 and the tank is like 78. '

as for the temp of your tank, 81Fi think that woulkd be fine except that as the temp goes upo the amount of oxygen in the tank goes down, thats y i keep mine about 77-78 it seems to bring the fish out of their hiding spots and keeps them active enough. i would lower it to about maybe 78 that it pretty much staple, in my tanks . since there is less oxygen in the tank the fish have to breathe faster and more often and therefore will not live as long, but if the temp is higher then the fish will move more anbd eat more , but also reduce his life span. its just a personal tradeoff and what conditiond you want your fish to live in.

all my tanks are in my signature below.

[net_shark512]

Ok I guess I'll try to turn it down before I replace it. What I don't understand is when the water is over the temp of the heater should it be turning on? Is it just trying to maintain the temp? I always though they only turn on when the water gets below the temp of the heater??

[Tightdog1]

well all heaters are different and they normally will try to keep the temp excatly the same but it is not always what it is on the heater i have noticed, that is y i always recommend a thermometer either in or on the tank or on the tnak glass. i use digital thermometers that stick onto the outseide of the tank.

what i forgot to tell u earlier is that fish dont like temp changes over short periods of time, sometimes its fatal, that is y u should only change 1 or 2 degrees per day.

[DarthV]

Definitely double up on the heaters...always good to have two in case one fails. I haven't had any problems with my Visi-Therm 150w, it's pretty much bang on with what my thermomter reads.

[net_shark512]

I forgot I e-mailed tetra to tell them how my heater was acting. They also said that it should read closer to the thermometer than it is.They used the term out of spec. To my surprise they are sending me a new one free they just want me to send them mine back in the shipping box the new comes in. I told them it was about 3 months old. That is pretty good customer service if you ask me!:D

[scott]

Two questions. One, is your heater near the output of your filter(s)? And two is the thermometer on the opposite side of the tank from your heater? If you have poor circulation the temp by the thermometer could be say 81 but at the heater only 78 so it turns on. Also what are assorted cichlids? Just curious.

[net_shark512]

The heater is dead in the center of the tank I have 2 power filters, one at each end. So no the heater is not really close to the intake tubes. Also the thermometer is to the far right of the tank also. Assorted Cichlids are the ones you see in the assorted tanks at the LFS. I have been told that alot of them are hybrds and hard to ID. I am pretty sure one is a Red Zebra and one is a Zebra Mbuna kind of common ones. There is another that I also think is Zebra Mbuna but he has less blue and some white and yellow highlights. I just like the colors of these Cichlids. I think they are pretty common ones. Don't know how common the last one is never seen one like him before thats why I bought it.

[scott]

If you move the heater to (my preference) the left side of the tank and put the thermometer on the right side you will get a more acurate reading as the output of the left (facing the tank) heater will push out the heat and the right filter will suck it across the tank and the thermometer on the opposite side will give you the most accurate reading. That can be juxtapositioned. Also, your cichlids, while all African are of different varieties. Mbuna prefer harder more alkaline water and the jewels prefer softer more acidic water. However, honestly if you got them from a store like Petsmart they are on a central filter system and are all used to the same water parameters. It will have an effect on coloration and lifespan though. The only real tricky part is that as they mature they will have different "body language" and those jewels get pretty mean. I had one shred a dempsey and an oscar before I took him back to the store.

[net_shark512]

Thanks much. I know I may have my hands full when the jewels grow but right now they chase each other around (the 2 jewels) and don't even bother with anything else.

[Anaxus]

Only thing I don't like about visa therm heaters is they don't feel as solid like some of the others I have used.

[Tightdog1]

visitherm seem to be good heaters to me, mine is right next to the HOB filter intake on the left side and the thermometer is on the right sie of the tank. i have it by the intake so that it circulater the warmer water arond the tank faster.