Heating issues

[tinkerpuppet]

I'm having some heating issues in my 10gal tank.

I have a little submersible 50w heater that is supposed to come on and off and keep the water at 78. But the lights from the hood are pretty hot, and the water is getting too hot during the day while they're on. I've lost three guppies in two days, and finally figured out that was happening. I'm going to start keeping the heater on at night and turning it off in the morning to hopefully avoid overheating the tank again.

My question is, is there a way to keep the lights from getting so hot? Its just a normal hood that came with the tank, with two sockets, each has a 25w clear bulb (aquarium bulb bought at Pisces). Nothing strange or out of the ordinary. I've been looking for the 13w CFL 6500k T10 bulbs, but not having any luck locally. I think those would be cooler, but maybe not.

Any suggestions? The lights during the day make a big difference, I don't want to have to keep them off, especially as I have plants in the tank (low light, but not that low light!).

Thanks!

[timbruun]

Are you sure it's the lights and not the heater malfunctioning?

[Crystal]

I agree, is the heater working properly? :well: I never had luck with 50 watts, both of mine fried within days of getting them...

I never bothered with a heater for guppies (or danios, or platys, etc).

I used to have a 10g like that, I switched to 15 watt bulbs and they produced less heat (CFLs weren't out then). My HOB filter also fell an inch into the water and increased evaporation, and thus heat loss.

Some people worry about a 1-3 degree temp change, I don't, as long as it is slow. You have to remember, the water temp in natural water bodies also changes, albeit very slowly.

Edited April 5, 2010 by Crystal

[fish4fun]

if its the bulbs, try swapping them out to the screw in fluorescent twist bulbs.

You can get them in 9 Watt bulbs that put out about 40 watts of light

[jvision]

Those little incandescent lights are HOT! Switch to CFs and you'll lose a lot of heat.

[Treasurechest]

I have a 10 gallon secondary tank that I am running...I went and got one of those thermometer things and stuck it on the glass....My heater is set at 74 degrees and the tank is at 80 to 82 degrees....IMO I would say go get one of those things costs a couple of dollars and then you know exactly what your temp is....

[tinkerpuppet]

Yep, the heater appears to be working fine, it keeps the temp nice and even at night when the lights are off. I do have a thermometer too. When I woke this morning after the lights had been off all night, the temp was 77. The heater has been unplugged all day so far (its lunchtime now), and the temp is 78. Maybe the heater is on the fritz if its contributing during the day when the temps are already too high though? You can feel the heat though after the lights have been running for a bit. I'm pretty sure that's what the problem is.

I have been trying to find the cfl's that will fit in my hood, but I'm not having much luck. The hood takes T10 bulbs, and none of the cfl's I've seen would fit. I've checked my local Walmart, two Canadian Tires, Superstore and online at Canadian Tire, Home Depot and Rona. I have found them online on Amazon, so I'm going to see if maybe I can have them shipped to an American relative who will send them on to me. But if anyone knows where I can find them locally, that would be great!

[T Dawg]

If the heater is not broken unplugging it will have no effect on daytime tank tempature. A working heater will only turn on when the water is less than the specified temp.

With your low light plants and your high output lighting I would think a few hours a day would be more than enough growth time.

[sicklid]

On Boxing Day I bought one of those new electronic Fluval heaters that shows the temp on an LED readout. Pretty cool. No need for a thermometer. When the temp goes below or above the screen flashes blue or red to indicated that. There is a plastic heat guard as well but I think that retricts the flow of water around the heater and then the screen flashes to show that, but yesterday while doing some cleaning I removed some of the guard and it seems better. Those heaters are more expensive than the regular ones but if you get them on sale it is less painful.......