Maintaining A Constant Temperature...

[XhaLe]

I am new to fishtanking. I have had my tank for about 8 months now and have had few problems. Is is an 80L corner tank. I am finding that the temperature in my tank is rising and falling alot. When i first set my tank up, the temperature was at a constant 26-27 degrees celcius. In the summer time it seemed to rise to about 28-29 on hot days, when winter came around i noticed that the temperature would drop to about 23-24...i spoke to someone at my LFS and they suggested i adjust the way my water heater was aligned in the tank, that is horizontal instead of vertical. I did this and the temperature maintained well at 26-27 degrees. Recently the temperature has dropped down to about 19-20 degrees.....and i know this is not good....

could it be that the water heater i have is not the right wattage to heat and maintain the correct temperature in my tank?

also i changed some of my filter pads recently and i have found over the past few days that the temperature has risen to about 22-23 from 19-20, maybe water circulation is the problem?

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

if any more detail is needed pls let me know

Regards
Tom

[PeteFromTassie]

Could be circulation for sure... What type of filter and how clogged were the pads? Maybe you should check to see if the impeller is moving okay?

It could also be the wattage? What rating does the heater have? I'd probably put a 100-150W heater in a tank that size because I believe in over-engineering. The way I see it, you are better off having a powerful heater on not very often, than a weak heater which has to be on all the time to keep up the temp!

Cheers,
Pete.

[XhaLe]

i have a 55W heater in my tank and it seems to be on all the time. i didnt choose the heater, as is came with the tank when i bought it, so you would think that it would do the job...i agree with your concept of over engineering as it makes lots of sense. the other thing i forgot to mention is that the temp on the heater is set to 30 degrees, but its only maintaining the tank at 23-24, and before i cleaned the filter pads it was at 19-20...um i havvvvveeeee aaaaa wet/dry trickle filter and the pads were pretty brown and clogged up. i did a water change today and cleaned the dirty filter pads, so i will see how that goes. i think i will end up going and buying a bigger wattage heater as it makes much more sense

thanks
Tom

[joz]

55 watts seems quite underpowered especially with the cold of late.
I maintain my stance of two heaters incase of failure also would suggest placing them where there is a current to diperse the heat more evenly.

[wombat1100]

I also run 2 heaters and they are 200watt each!
Dazz

[XhaLe]

yeh, ok now i feel like my 55w heater is verrrry underpowered! :p two 200watt heaters!? hah nice. how bigs ur tank?
i think im going to get a new heater maybe 150w
cheers
tom

[wombat1100]

I have a 5 footer with the 2 x 200 watt heaters and a 3 footer that I am running 1x150 watt heater in at the moment

[GoGuppy]

yeh, ok now i feel like my 55w heater is verrrry underpowered! :p two 200watt heaters!? hah nice. how bigs ur tank?
i think im going to get a new heater maybe 150w
cheers
tom[/b]

Hi xhale

Definately underpowered :ohmy: . I have recently bought a new heater and was going to get a 100 watter for my 80l tank, but the lfs convinced me that a 150 watter would be better. I went with this and it's working great.

A larger capacity heater will shut off in summer, but a too small capacity heater will not be able to keep up the temperature in winter, as you have noticed :wink: .

If in doubt get a bigger one.

Cheers

[mac_man_luke]

i run a 100watt heater in my 40L tank and 200 in my 150L tank - never seam to work hard

the 150L tank is set to 23ºC and its hardly ever on - the 40L tank runs a decent in winter amount because its set to 26-27º

[Mjay~Fish-Freak]

i have a 500 watt heater for my 200 litre tank in my garage, it works too well, lol i touched it once because it looked hot and i wanted to see how hot it got and i burnt myself!! :angry: but the lfs talked me into buying it cause it's titanium and i have an oscar, and they like to move ornaments around often :biggrin: