This Heater Seems To Hate My Tank

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e1n

Registered Member
Oct 15, 2009
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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?
 

dudley

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Feb 9, 2005
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Dee
Switch the thermometer from the 18G tank & see if that is the problem.
 

MotionInSilver

AC Members
Nov 14, 2007
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when you placed that 25w/50w into that 5g tank was its position the exact same when it was in the 18g tank?
 

Star_Rider

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Dec 21, 2005
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might just be to cold and the heater isn't working good enough for the massive temp. drop
I am inclined to think this same thing.

if your room drops too much the heater may not be able to keep up
how constant is the temp in the room?

also if the light is not coming on the heater and it is suppose to ..check the outlet,
check to see if the heater is actually working.. while submerged you should be able to feel heat coming from it
 

247Plants

Plant Obsessed
Mar 23, 2007
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eastside LBC
Have you checked the power to the plug you are trying to use? Seems to me you have plugged both in but still arent getting anything out of them to indicate they are getting any power.
 

e1n

Registered Member
Oct 15, 2009
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thank you for the responses.

might just be to cold and the heater isn't working good enough for the massive temp. drop
No, that is not the problem. The 5g tank is in my bedroom, which is always considerably warmer than the living room. The 18g tank is in the living room, and both the 25W and 50W when placed in the 18g tank managed to hold it at a constant temperature.

when you placed that 25w/50w into that 5g tank was its position the exact same when it was in the 18g tank?
Yes, it's always right side up. I thought orientation might be an issue, but it wasn't

I am inclined to think this same thing.

if your room drops too much the heater may not be able to keep up
how constant is the temp in the room?

also if the light is not coming on the heater and it is suppose to ..check the outlet,
check to see if the heater is actually working.. while submerged you should be able to feel heat coming from it
Have you checked the power to the plug you are trying to use? Seems to me you have plugged both in but still arent getting anything out of them to indicate they are getting any power.
Yes, I have checked the power of the outlet. Like I mentioned in the original post, I have a 6-outlet power strip that I use for filter, lighting, and air pump. I have switched around the plugs and everything else works just fine, but the heater still wouldn't turn on.

Switch the thermometer from the 18G tank & see if that is the problem.
Yes! That seemed to be the problem indeed. Yesterday night I decided to take out the digital thermometer from the 5g tank and compare it with the taped-on thermometer in the 18g tank. Turns out there WAS a discrepancy.

I found that when the taped-on thermometer on the 18g tank measures 76°F, my digital thermometer only measures 72.8°F, which accounts for approximately 3°F of discrepancy. After further observation of the 50W heater in the 18g tank, it seems like this Tetra Submersible heater only managed to maintain water temperature of the 18g tank around 73°F. The heater seemed to turn on when it hits 72°F, and stops when it's near 74°F.

This actually explains why neither of the heater never lights up when used in my 5g tank. Throughout the day I keep careful watch of the tank to ensure the temperature does not drop below 77, and at night it never drops below 73 because I normally wrap up the tank with a blanket, so it's no wonder that the heater never works! Apparently it doesn't turn on until 72 (even though the box said 78 +/- 2), and the water temperature in my room never goes down below 73 (with the blanket wrapper)!

Anyway, I guess problem's solved now. I'm going to get a different heater, because my catfish and my tetras like warmer temperature.

Thanks folks!
 
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