Temperature stability problem

ejk0799

ejk0799

AC Members
Dec 5, 2005
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Connecticut
We are used to larger tanks but our son wanted a small tank for his room. We bought him a 10 Gallon kit from Petco with the Marineland Bio Wheel, hood, lights...etc. I am having a major problem with temperature stability in this little tank. It is driving me insane. If I leave the heater off but turn the lights on that alone will cause the temperature to jump by as much as 2-4 degrees. If I put the heater on, forget it, I'll cook the fish. If I leave it all off, the temp will drop overnight because it is still fairly cool here. Being somewhat experienced, I know how bad temperature fluctuations are for the fish. What the heck do I do???? Should I replace the bulbs that it came with or will they all do the same thing? I swear, a 10 gallon is more difficult to take care of than a 75. :duh:
 
Well, the first thing.

Are the lights Fluorescent or incandescent? And is the heater new? What type is it?

Did you properly set the heater? As in let it sit in the tank so the thermostat can adjust properly to the temp. You will want to do this with the lights on so you get the proper adjustment. Fluctuations of a few degrees won't hurt anything. And you might want to check to make sure a fan or air duct isn't blowing directly onto the tank. Also, what type of thermometer are you using? A digital tends to show temperature inconsistencies more than say a regular old glass one.
 
The lights are incandescent and yes the heater is new. It wasn't a very expensive one compared to the ones we have in our larger tanks. There are no ducts, vents or windows anywhere near the tank. I have tried everything to stabalize including running the heater and lights together, heater alone, lights alone...you name it. This thing is going to be the death of me.
 
you are correct..10 gallons will fluctuate ...it's the nature of the beast.

what size is the heater?watts

I recently had to replace a 200 watt heater that at it's lowest setting was raising the temp of the tank(75 gallon) to 88-90 degrees..I picked up a stealth heater set it at 88 and let it stabilize the temp ..then lowered it 1-2 degrees till I got it at 85(discus tank).

sounds like the heater could be defective..

I found over the years that 10 gallon tanks require more maint that a larger tank. 10 gal is a small envirornment that can spike very quickly.

have you tried taking the heater and setting it in a 5-10 bucket to see if you can get the water there to stabilize?

I did this once setting the heater high to try and get the thermocouple in it to wear in...it worked...but I didn't trust it, finally bought a new heater...I have stealth heaters in all my tanks now.

good luck

ed
 
The biggest problem is the lights. Incadesent lights are real bad about heat.

But, it is hard to say what your problem is. Unless your house experiences extream fluctuations in temp. you sould have those types of fluctuations on your tank. Try leaving the tank uncoverd with the heater in it and see if you get a more stable reading.

If you are only experiencing 2 to 4 degrees in a fluctuation. I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Thanks guys. I'm thinking I'll just replace the heater with the same kind we are using in our 75 and 37. The temp shot to 88 at it's worst when I was experimenting with the heat and lights. Fortunately that was before there were fish in there. If a new thermometer doesn't fix it I will see if I can swap out the lights. Worse case scenario...I'll replace the whole hood. I will not be beaten by a 10 gallon tank. :laugh:
 
Incandecent lights are notorious for giving out way too much heat for little tanks. The light alone could keep the tank heated, but of course no one wants to have lights on 24/7. You could try replacing lights with a florescent ones.
 
I would immediatley go to Home Depot or some place similar and buy some mini ballast screw in spiral flourescent bulbs. That will help a lot with daytime temp.

As for the heater, well you shoudl just be able to turn it down to min, not off. Chances are it just won't come on during the day but will if it gets too cold at night. My tank is kept at room temp. I have a heater just in case but I have never seen it come on, so I am able to keep my tank around 72-74F just by keeping the heater as low as I can.

A few degrees of temp change over the course of a few hours won't hurt your fish, unless maybe they are really sick.
 
Heaters have thermostats. It should turn on when below the set temp and go off if above. Perhaps you need to adjust actual temp. of the heater. For example the Jager has a button that pops up and lets you adjest the thermostat. Also perhaps the wattage on your heater is too high or too low. If too high the temp can climb too quickly. If too low the temp. will be radical since the heater is trying to heat to the right temp., but having difficulty.
 
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