heartsongsinger

My tank's temperature the past few days has been going higher than it normally does. I have the heater as low as it can go which is below 70 F. It is located between the computer and tv. It also sits next to a vent. The temperature was at about 85 F about an hour ago. The light is on for about 4-5 hrs a day right now. The room gets enough natural lighting right now. I have never seen it go over 78 F before this. I have had this tank set up for a year. It has been in this location for the past 6 months.

Does anyone have any clue as to why the temperature is spiking?

Sam Livingston

If nothing has changed over the last 6 months then sounds like a bad heater. You can try to check by putting water in a bucket and test out the heater with it, should get accurate results that way and will better help you narrow down what the problem may be. Mine sounds like it is in a similar spot (b/t my tv and comp) but my vent is about 3 feet away, I've never used a heater and tank has stayed at constant 75 for 2 years. So a spike like that sounds like a heater to me.

heartsongsinger

do you mean put it in the heater in the bucket at different temperatures and let it sit and then record the temp?

clinton1621

Sounds like a stuck thermostat in the heater... I would unplug it and see if the tank cools down, if it does then you know the heater is fried.

Is it one of the heaters with an "on" light that glows when it is heating? If so, then is the light always on?

Sam Livingston

Yeah that should help show how accurate the temperature is. The above comment is good idea as well ^

heartsongsinger

clinton i have unplugged the heater over night before and had the temperature down by 10 degrees the following afternoon. The heater is not plugged in and is down to 82 F (2 hours unplugged). I think that it is one of the ones with the glowing light but I don't know if it is on all the time. It's one of the ones that you can change the temp on.

clinton1621

Well by that explanation alone, I think it is definitely a bad thermostat... time to get a new heater =(

Try to get a Visitherm Stealth, or a Theo Hydor... these are both very high quality heaters and seem to be the most recommended =)

heartsongsinger

Ok. The heater was the one that came with the 10 gal starter kit

ahiggins

So if I have a heater with an indicator light on it and the light goes off,
that means the heater is broken?
Even if its just two days old?

Lucy

I think the light goes on when it's heating the tank and goes off when the tank reaches whatever temp you have it set at.....if the temp starts the drop, the heater kicks in and the light goes back on.
If you have doubts, keep your eye on your thermometer.

I use the visi-therm stealth, they don't have indicator lights.

clinton1621

Lucy is absolutely right =)

If the light stays on, then the thermostat could be stuck... thats why I asked if that was the case in this scenario. It could also be the opposite, if the themostat was stuck the other way, then it would never be on, and the light would never be seen. However, as a third possibility... the light could be blown, and you wouldnt notice if the thermostat was bad, thats why its a good idea to always use a thermometer and check it daily =)

heartsongsinger

I don't know I've had it unplugged for the last 4 days and the temp has stayed between 72-74 so until winter weather starts in I'm going to leave it unplugged