DE88ROX

Ok... I currently have a 150w Topfin heater in my tank. I can't get the water temp to drop below 80º. I would like to have it set at around 78º. Although the fish seem to be happy as im sure they have become use to the "warm" water, IMO its not an ideal temp. Could it be that this heater is TO big for the tank? I have the thermostat set as low as it will go. I just checked it this morning when I got home from work and all 3 thermometers read 80º.

While at the store today I found a cool little 100w Tetra Whisper heater that claims it automatically sets itself to 78º. There is no dial on it or anything. Set it...and forget it. Its made for 10-30 gallon tanks. The thing I like about it is that its only about 6" long and can be easily hidden.

http://www.tetra-fish.com/sites/tetr...id=1276&cid=63

I guess im just wondering if I should just keep the heater I have in the tank in there or swap it out with the new one. (yeah I bought it lol) I figured I might as well have two ,that way I could have a one for a Q Tank/and or back up for the main tank.

Thoughts..........?

Lucy

I've never used topfin heaters. I keep a small tetra on hand for QT.
For my tanks, I mentioned in the other thread, I use the Visi-Therm Stealth Heaters by MarineLand.
Fully submersible, adjustable, unbreakable, auto shut off should it be above the water line for some reason and guaranteed for life.

I would be concerned about not having a dial to adjust it. Heaters can be off a few degrees and if you needed to treat for ICH by increasing temps, you wouldn't be able to do that.

DE88ROX

I was thinking about that same issue with not being able to adjust it.

Am I fine with the 80º temps?

Im thinking about taking it back and buying a new one. (100w) I don't like the fact that I have it as low as it will go and its still 80º

Lucy

80 is a little high, I think for the fish you have, not sure, I haven't looked at their requirements. I have my serpaes at 76-77.
You might want to add aeration, if you don't already have it

Does the dial show the degree?

Franklin

I have one without a dial in a 5 gallon betta tank.I have not had any problems with it keeping the temp at a steady 78*F.However,I'm with Lucy,and I use VisiTherm Stealth heaters in all my other tanks.I keep meaning to get a new one for my betta tank,but have not gotten around to it yet.If I were you,I would use the one without the dial for your QT.Why mess around swaping them out if you don't need to.

aquarist48

Hello. Don't forget to take into consideration the fact that heat rises. Where do you have your thermometer placed? If it's on top, lower it into the substrate and check that temperature as well. You may find a degree or 2 difference. Too, lights from the hood also have to be taken into consideration and the room temperature.

DE88ROX

Good point! The light I use is only 20w. so im not sure about that giving off a lot of radiant heat plus, its only on for about 8 hours a day. Room temp is 71º The heater is on the back right of the tank. I have it sitting horizontally about 4" up from the substrate. The one glass thermometer thats located on the left hand side of the tank about ½ way down. That one is reading 80º. I have one of those stick-on ones that don't give a very accurate reading located on the top font side of the tank. That one is reading about 82ish. The 3rd thermometer is the one I use for water changes that just hangs over right front of the tank. This is the one thats closest to the heater. That one is glass as well and is reading a solid 80º.

I have to head out to do some running around so I think i'll just buy a new one with a dial. I will have to set it up in a bucket of water so I can make sure the temp is set between 76º-78º. I know with the one I have now, it took a few days to tweak the temp because it didnt have numerical degreee markings on it. Just High and Low with a bunch of hash marks inbetween so it was hard to find that starting point.

ahhhh the things you learn when starting a new tank.... :-)


TANKS!!!!!

DE88ROX

I was thinking about adding some small air stone just because I like the bubble effect. But knowing it would also be beneficial as well look good tells me to go ahead and do it.

TANKS!!

DE88ROX

The one I have doesnt have any numbers on it. Just a Low-High setting with a bunch of hash marks inbetween.

I ended up buy a 100w stealth. I like the looks of that one much better and it has a dial with the degree settings. No more guessing games.

TANKS!!

aquarist48

You'll find that a Marineland VisI Therm Stealth Heaters to be a good choice. Very accurate. I have 3 of them.
You certainly have the thermometers spread about your tank well

DE88ROX

I have had the stealth in my tank now for about 45 minutes. Im wondering how I go about turning one off while tunring the other on as to not have a temperature drop. I read over the instructions and didn't find anywhere that said how long it takes for the unit to get up to temp. I thought I read on another post about it taking a few hours. But that was (i think) for a new tank.

Since my temps are already at 80º would it be ok to just swap them out?

Thoughts?

DE88ROX

Well after having the heater sitting in the tank for over an hour. I plugged it in. With in a few minutes It was hot to the touch. Im mean REALLY HOT!!! So I went ahead and unplugged the old one and am now running only the stealth. But it concerns me a little bit on how hot that thing gets. But I guess it can heat water if it stays cold huh? Its just that I have felt the old one and it never seemed to get that hot which leads me to wonder why the water temp wouldn't go below 80º Oh well......see what happens.

But I do love the looks of the stealth in the tank. The old Topfin that I had had the topfin logo painted all over it. (a bunch of little angel fish I think) Every time I would move it or if it got spun in its holder, flakes of paint would peel off. Not cool.

Yet another reason why the Stealth ROX in my book!

TANKS for everyones advice!!

Drew 43920

How big is your tank ?

DE88ROX

30g

Lucy

What was hot? The water? The Stealth? or your old heater?

DE88ROX

The new Stealth heater was/is hot. But I guess it has to be hot in order to heat the water. Can't really heat the water if its cold, right? lol

I just wrapped up my weekly water change. I also wanted to lower the thermostat just a tick. I couldnt get a good grip on the dial to turn it so I removed it from the back glass so I could grab it with both hands and I noticed it was warm to the touch again. But like I said, it has to be warm to heat. I guess thats why your supposed to place both cups towards the dial side of the heater to keep them clear of the heating element.

But I love the heater! seems to maintain temp as well as looking good in the tank.

Also, while I was doing my PWC/Gravel vac I was still suprised at how many black little flakes I i was picking up. I figured out that all those flakes I noticed doing vacs in the past were coming off of the old top fin heater.


Thanks to all, for your recomendations/help/advice! :-)

p.s. to Lucy. (i know off topic but im excited) I also did a water test prior to the PWC. You may remember the issue I was having with my trAtes not dropping and hovering around 20ppm's. Im happy to report that both my ammo and trite levels were at 0 and my trAtes were at 10!!!! pH was also low. at around 6.0 wooohoooo

just wanted you to know!!!!!!! TANKS!!!!

Lucy

serissime

You may already know this, but temperature distribution through the tank is best if your heater is positioned close to the filter intake.

Also, make sure that your water level never drops to the point to where the heater is out. While it may be shatterproof, it can still be broken like that. I try to position the heater low in the tank (also helps to be close to the filter intake) If you don't want to put the heater down, unplug it about 15 min before a water change and make sure it's cool before letting it come out of the water (actually, for any reason)

I feel your pain on the cheap, crappy heater dilemma. I have a few I need to replace. Yuck. Glad you went ahead and did it

Peterpiper

Hi everyone,
One issue with using larger heaters is that they do heat the tank higher than the set temp.
This happens due to the surface area of the heater.
When a heater is sized for a tank it must heat the water and be able to maintain the temp. when the water reaches the set temp the heater turns off, but the heater is still warm, but is cooled by the water.
If you are using a oversized heater this cooling time will be longer, and this is why the temp is going up 2 deg higher than what the heater was set at.

DE88ROX

I didn't know that about the heat distribution. Makes sense! Thats something im going to consider. I did however, know about the heater being below water at all all times. I keep it horixontal about 4" above the substrate.

The new heater is working like a champ!

TANKS!

serissime

awesome