kutamallard

I have a no brand heater in there now but the light is ALWAYS on! My tank is in the basement but it's not that cold....yet. The thermometer says it's like 85 degrees. Is that too high? I got 5 tiger barbs, 5 neon tetras, 3 guppies and a snail.

Lucy

I'd try and lower it slowly to 77-78F.

clinton1621

Sounds like the thermostat is busted in the heater... get a good name brand heater with a wattage range between 250 and 300. Like Lucy said, you want the temp to be in the 76 to 80 range, 85 is way too high for a constant temp.

Jeff M

The size of heater required depends on the room temperature vs the temperature you want in the tank. The bigger the temperature difference, the bigger the heater will need to be. Also, you are safer to use 2 100w heaters instead of one 200w heater. In case one sticks on, it will take more time for the tank to overheat thus giving you more time before you start losing fish.

Jeff

Lucy

Clinton's right, a good name brand heater is a good idea. You don't want that thing breaking down on you.

I like the visi-therm stealth heater, they're fully submersible, unbreakable and guaranteed for life.

That's a good idea, I guess the opposite could be true too, if one stops, you still have at least 1 working.

COBettaCouple

Yea, I'd unplug that heater and take it out after about 15 min. Visitherm Stealths are what we use too.

clinton1621

If you decide to use 2 heaters, you will need two 150 watt heaters to get enough wattage... standard rule is a minimum of 5 watts per gallon or more for heaters, going a little over minimum is better though because the heater doesnt have to constantly turn on and off with a higher watt heater.

kutamallard

Tanks a-lot! I unplugged it last night and when I checked it this morning it was at about 80. So I got alittle bit of time to get a new one.