Temperature stability problem

[mooman]

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.

That is on the money. Not only will they give off alot less heat, but you will also have enough light to do many of the moderate to high light plants (depending on the wattage you use.) I suggest getting one from home improvement store (Kelvin rating will be more in the Flouroglow range and the light will appear somewhat yellow, but probably not as yellow as the incandecent ) Bite the bullet and buy the second one at a LFS (Allglass makes an 11w selfballasted CF light whose K rating falls more in the middle of the spectrum). Should cost about 12.00

If you do this and don't go with live plants, then leave the light off whenever your not viewing the tank, as these light will grow something. If it ain't plants, it'll be algae.

 

[ejk0799]

You are definitely right about the incandescent being yellow, Mooman. That was the first thing I noticed when I turned it on. Our other tanks have flourescent so it really stood out to me.

The heater doesn't have actual temperature settings like our others. When we set those to 78 or whatever, the temp stays there. This cheapie thing has a high and low setting. We had it set as low as it would go. I no longer have the package it came in but I do know it was the one for small tanks. I'm willing to bet it has more to do with the lights than the thermometer. Our house temp stays at a pretty consistent mid 70's so there's no dramatic fluctuation in room temp.

I'm just finding it so peculiar that this little thing is giving us more of a headache than our 75 ever did. Someone needs to teach me how to say NO to my kids. :duh:

 

[patoloco]

Using fluorescent lights instead of incandescent will solve 80% of the problem. I'm sure, and yes, a 10gl tank is harder to take care than a 75 gl.

 

[UncaBret]

Someone needs to teach me how to say NO to my kids. :duh:

Does that work?

I have flourescents on my 20 and 65, but only a 7.5w incandescent on my 'betta vase'. The peace lily gets plenty of light from the window, and the roots look better under the lower wattage.

 

[webcricket]

I recently picked up Coralife 50/50 10 watt mini compact fluorescent bulbs for my 10 gallon and the light quality is great. Plus, they run much cooler than the incandescent bulbs! The tank temperature was a bit out of control before I switched the bulbs, the incandescents were definitely causing the problem. I had those on with the heater at 76 and the tank temperature sat at 82. Now I have the fluorescents in and the heater at 76 and the tank temperature stays at 76 even if the lights have been on all day. Huge difference.

 

[Rbishop]

Someone needs to teach me how to say NO to my kids. :duh:

Thats' easy....for me it would be, "go ask your Mom".

For you, "go ask your Dad".

:dance:

 

[FisheyLisa]

Small tank are a big ole pain in the butt when it comes to stability. I went from a 5 to a 15 to finally a 30...and the 30 is awsome (can't wait for my 75 some where down the line)!!! I love that the water is soooo much more stable in every way.

everyone gave you great advice. I went from a run of the mill glass heater with the light and no temp marked on it, to Stealth and I am never going back. It is wonderfully constant. And reasonably priced.

As for saying no to your children...I can't even say no to me without a fight, so no help there. Good luck!