Yikes, heater problems

Help! I only recently bought a thermometer and now I’m realizing my heaters in my tanks are maybe not so great. My 5 gallon is preset to 78 but the thermometer reads 76. I’d actually prefer it closer to 80 so 76 isn’t going to cut it. My 10 gallon has an adjustable thermometer which is set to 75 and thermometer is reading about 80! What the....

Do I scrap the heaters and get new ones? Or try switching them? Both are 50 watts/120v

Would also love recommendations on adjustable heaters as I will probably need to invest in at least one more.

 

Adjustable heaters are usually the way to go for any tank. What I have learned is you need to adapt to each heater, like each fish has it's own personality. No heater will be perfect. I had a heater and thermometer from PetSmart (they were trash) and the thermometer read 79ºF. The heater was at 82ºF. For 8 months. I never knew. I assume they were paired, which led me to some micro-conspiracy theories that were probably me overreacting. Anyway I would say for the 10 gallon, if the heater is always 5ºF above what it is set to, learn to work with that, maybe set it to 70ºF and if it is always 5ºF above, it will be 75ºF. For the 5 gallon, I'd say get a better heater that is adjustable. I really like the Aquatop Glass heater. I have a 50 watt and it is only 1ºF off. But it stays at a constant temp which really matters.

Good luck.

 

Adjustable heaters are usually the way to go for any tank. What I have learned is you need to adapt to each heater, like each fish has it's own personality. No heater will be perfect. I had a heater and thermometer from PetSmart (they were trash) and the thermometer read 79ºF. The heater was at 82ºF. For 8 months. I never knew. I assume they were paired, which led me to some micro-conspiracy theories that were probably me overreacting. Anyway I would say for the 10 gallon, if the heater is always 5ºF above what it is set to, learn to work with that, maybe set it to 70ºF and if it is always 5ºF above, it will be 75ºF. For the 5 gallon, I'd say get a better heater that is adjustable. I really like the Aquatop Glass heater. I have a 50 watt and it is only 1ºF off. But it stays at a constant temp which really matters.

Good luck.

Thanks for the recommendation I am gonna check that heater out!

 

Thanks for the recommendation I am gonna check that heater out!

You're welcome. Just keep in mind the thermometer. I returned one of those because I though it was heating 4 degrees lower. Just an inaccurate thermometer. Good luck.

 

Ok, here's one for you. Have you verified your thermometer? Ever look at the thermometers at your local hardware store? Three or four out of five will have a different reading. It's not uncommon. Otherwise, I agree with what NBettas83 said .

 

A 50w adjustable heater will be just fine in a 10g. I have a cheap Aqueon 50w in our 10g.

I never go off what the heater's thermostat is set to. I go off the thermometer. If tank needs to be hotter, I bump up thermostat a couple clicks. If it needs to be a but cooler, I bump thermostat down.

Most heaters are not calibrated super accurate, but they should hold steady a certain temp in the tank.

That's why I set it according to the thermometer and not the thermostat.