Peaks and Troughs In Temparture

I

Ikari

AC Members
Feb 23, 2006
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0
0
Hi

Set up a gifted 5.5g tank yestersay. The heater is set to 24 dgrees C. After initial fill up the heater cut out at 26 degrees reading off my digital thermometer. It stayed at this temp for 4-5 hours. I turned the light off overnight and this morning the temp was 22.6 degrees C. Without the light being on I twizled the temparture knob a bit and it switched on so i left it just above 24 degrees C. It finnaly switched off at 27.4 degrees C. Four hours later with no light still on the temp is 23.2 degrees C and the heater hasn't come back on yet.

Are these parameters ok or do i need a new heater with a more sensitive/responsive thermostat?
 
I'd be happier with a better heater. But, how long was it in the tank unplugged? Some fish will tolerate the swings, but it won't be in their best interests to have those continue.
 
Since the tank has been filled the heater has been left plugged in. What heaters are best?
 
Okay--unplug the heater, and let it sit in the tank for an hour. Then plug it back in. Monitor the temp, and when it kicks on and off--could be that the heater is bad, could be that it needed to be calibrated, could be a number of things, but this will help determine if it's bad. Heaters need to sit in the water for a while before being plugged in to operate properly.

In terms of brand--sounds like you're not the US, so I'm not sure what all is available. I've been happy with Ebo Jagers for smaller tanks.
 
What size heater is it? I have a 2.5 beta tank, that had to do with a spare heater from my 10 gallon for a few days(till I could buy a smaller one) and I noticed this problem. It would swing from 76*F to about 83*F. I knew this wasnt good, but it was better than the little guy getting frostbite :) Now I have one of those little 25w (I think, its early) ones rated for tanks 2-5 gallons. Much better.
 
My tank is only 5.5 gallon and the heater is 100w. Seems a bit over powered to me but i don't know if that makes it harder to control the temp?
 
Ikari said:
My tank is only 5.5 gallon and the heater is 100w. Seems a bit over powered to me but i don't know if that makes it harder to control the temp?
Click to expand...

Definately overpowered. You should be using a 25 watt...50 watt tops if the tank is in a room that gets cold overnight.
 
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