euripides Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 (edited) Hey everyone Wondering if anyone can help me out, I currently have a 200 watt heater in my 55 gal , which should be sufficient. Last night my thermometer was reading about 80 F, and the heater was still kicking on, the setting on my heater, is nowhere near 80 F, I did kick it down to about 74F, but I still notice that it is still kicking on and off. I am aware that it will go on and off due to water temp drops, during this time when it would kick on and off there is good flow within the tank. When I got my new 20 gal kit, the heater was set at 76F and the next morning the thermometer was over 80F. Is this the nature of these heaters being not every accurate when you set it at the temp you want, since my thermometer is reading 4F higher than the heater setting? I have 2 power heads on the right hand side circulating water, and I have a strainer outtake on the right hand side, and another outtake near the middle of the tank for my canister filters. My heater is on the left hand side close to the middle of the tank. If it's crappy heaters, anyone know of any reliable ones? or if the fluval electronic ones are good? I want to get this solved, or figured out if it is a issue, before the summer comes, I live in a condo and it get's hot in there, I don't want to have faulty heaters kicking on and heating up my tank when its not suppose to . Thanks Chris Edited March 28, 2012 by euripides Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprucegruve Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 i used to use elite submersible heaters with no problems. also the fluval E series submersible heater is nice(works great and has lcd screen),but over priced. now i use ebo jager submersible heaters,very accurate,and it has the thickest glass out of all the heaters. but your choice,just dont use a $5 heater.....i wouldn't risk it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euripides Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 im pretty sure the heater I have is a fluval one, but i bought it used... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprucegruve Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 im sorry i have no experience with those. only the 3 i mentioned,im actually going to try one of those hydor inline heaters for canister filters in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euripides Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Yeah I was looking at one of those, AC is suppose to be getting some of those in soon, for about 80 bucks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euripides Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Actually my heater is a Rena cal brand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epiphany Posted March 28, 2012 Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 Inline will be nice. I also use an eheim jäger heater and it works great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisher Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 (edited) I inherited a used heater that ran hotter than the dial reading. I discovered the dial was removed and put back on the spline 45 degrees from it's original position. So while I do expect a heater to maintain water temp, I don't put much stock in the temp dial matching the actual water temp. Until you get a different one, if that's your next move, you can drop the temp on your heater a little at a time until the heater thermostat stablizes at the temp you want your water to be. It means checking your thermometer and tweeking the heater until it does, and finally, ignoring what the heater dial says the temp should be. I set heaters up the same way regardless of name or feature. Turn the temp dial down, install the heater (unplugged) and let the heater thermostat normalize for 10 minutes or so. Then I plug it in and turn it up until the heater kicks on - watch it to see when it starts to cycle (turn itself on and off) and I make small adjustments from there.. in an hr or two, depending on how close I'm paying attention, it's set. I bought a slightly used hydor eth. Couldn't tell you what the temp dial says. edit: heaters wouldn't be so frustrating if they were manufactured without the frustrating parts Edited March 29, 2012 by Fisher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PistolPete Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 (edited) i just use the eseries fluvals. Select the temp and thats what it is maintained at. Give or take 1 F Edited March 29, 2012 by PistolPete Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euripides Posted March 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 i might eventually get a efluval and try that out maybe even the hydor inline one. just that they both are pricey. but if it impacts the health of my fishes than Its a no brainer to spend that money. thanks for everyone's help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euripides Posted March 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 Oh a question about the hydor inline fitlers to ppl who used them. I have 2 canister filters, will I be good with running one heater, or will I have to buy one for each canister? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 I ran 1 on a 120g that had 2 canisters and the tank stayed as warm as I needed it to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euripides Posted March 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 perfect that's good to know thanks Jason! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprucegruve Posted March 29, 2012 Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 are these hydor heaters the type of thing that you could keep discus with? or would you need two for good measure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
euripides Posted March 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2012 hmmm just found out that I will need new hoses for my fluval canister to make the hydor inline filter work, since the fluval hoses are ribbed, so if I changed out my hoses, then I will have to change out my fittings.....might have to stick to a submersible one.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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