So a few weeks ago I decided my 5-gallon Marineland Eclipse Corner tank needs a heater because during the 6-8 hour period of the day where I sleep, I could not monitor the temperature and maintain constant temperature with a small external heater that I use to warm up my room.
(Normally when I'm awake, I would just execute the primitive method of turning the heater on facing the tank when the temperature reaches 77, and turning the heater off when it hits 78.5 -- I have a digital thermometer and I'm a human thermostat)
But since winter has kicked in, when I wake up in the morning, the temperature could drop to 72, which has caused my tetras to catch ich. I bought AP Pro's QuICK Cure and now they're all fine, but I want to make sure this doesn't happen again.
So because I wanted to save some money, I went to walmart and bought Tetra submersible heater, the 25watt one. They said you're supposed to use 5W/g, and I have a 5g tank, so I figured this one would be enough. The box said that this heater has an automatic thermostat setting that keeps it at 78 +/- 2. Also when it turns on, an indicator light should light up.
However, the heater has been acting weird. I have NEVER seen the indicator light on. EVER. The strange thing is, during the time I'm awake and constantly monitoring the temperature, ever since I got the heater I've never needed to fan an external heater at the tank, since the temperature has always wavered between 77 and 78. But when I wake up in the morning, the temperature would again drop to around 73. I concluded that this heater is not working, but I decided to do a bit more test.
My dad has an 18g Gourami tank. He uses the same Tetra submersible heater, but a 50W one. That thing works. When the tank's temperature drops to 76, it would light up and bring it up to about 78, and for as long as I know, it has managed to keep his tank between 76 and 78. So I stole his heater and replaced it with mine. I figured I'd test it out for a week, if the 25W doesn't work on his tank either, then I'd just declare it broken.
Then something really strange happened.
The 50W heater that has been working the entire time, DOES THE EXACT SAME THING as the 25W when put into my tank: the indicator light never lights up, temperature remains constant around 77-78 during the day, but would drop to 72-73 at night. BUT: the 25W heater that is now in the gourami tank, WORKS! when the temperature hits 75, it would light up! Of course because of the small wattage it never managed to bring the tank up to 78, but it maintains the bloody 18g at 75-76 constantly, even at night when it's really really cold. That thing wouldn't work in my tank, and now the 50W wouldn't work in my tank either!
And no, it's not the outlet. I have a power strip of 6 outlets that I use for lighting, filter, and air pump, and I have tried switching the outlets around; they all work.
So after weeks of testing out, I concluded that I'm out of idea and would be better off asking for help of my fellow aquarists. Any simple explanation as to why this silly phenomenon happened?
(Normally when I'm awake, I would just execute the primitive method of turning the heater on facing the tank when the temperature reaches 77, and turning the heater off when it hits 78.5 -- I have a digital thermometer and I'm a human thermostat)
But since winter has kicked in, when I wake up in the morning, the temperature could drop to 72, which has caused my tetras to catch ich. I bought AP Pro's QuICK Cure and now they're all fine, but I want to make sure this doesn't happen again.
So because I wanted to save some money, I went to walmart and bought Tetra submersible heater, the 25watt one. They said you're supposed to use 5W/g, and I have a 5g tank, so I figured this one would be enough. The box said that this heater has an automatic thermostat setting that keeps it at 78 +/- 2. Also when it turns on, an indicator light should light up.
However, the heater has been acting weird. I have NEVER seen the indicator light on. EVER. The strange thing is, during the time I'm awake and constantly monitoring the temperature, ever since I got the heater I've never needed to fan an external heater at the tank, since the temperature has always wavered between 77 and 78. But when I wake up in the morning, the temperature would again drop to around 73. I concluded that this heater is not working, but I decided to do a bit more test.
My dad has an 18g Gourami tank. He uses the same Tetra submersible heater, but a 50W one. That thing works. When the tank's temperature drops to 76, it would light up and bring it up to about 78, and for as long as I know, it has managed to keep his tank between 76 and 78. So I stole his heater and replaced it with mine. I figured I'd test it out for a week, if the 25W doesn't work on his tank either, then I'd just declare it broken.
Then something really strange happened.
The 50W heater that has been working the entire time, DOES THE EXACT SAME THING as the 25W when put into my tank: the indicator light never lights up, temperature remains constant around 77-78 during the day, but would drop to 72-73 at night. BUT: the 25W heater that is now in the gourami tank, WORKS! when the temperature hits 75, it would light up! Of course because of the small wattage it never managed to bring the tank up to 78, but it maintains the bloody 18g at 75-76 constantly, even at night when it's really really cold. That thing wouldn't work in my tank, and now the 50W wouldn't work in my tank either!
And no, it's not the outlet. I have a power strip of 6 outlets that I use for lighting, filter, and air pump, and I have tried switching the outlets around; they all work.
So after weeks of testing out, I concluded that I'm out of idea and would be better off asking for help of my fellow aquarists. Any simple explanation as to why this silly phenomenon happened?