[bsherwood]

I hate them. All of them. I have 12 tanks and I am buying flipping heaters all the time....cheap ones, expensive ones, small ones, big ones, 100 watts, 300 watts.....

of course I have never ever, not one time, read the manuals...so


I can't get my tanks up to temp. I am trying to get to 79-80 in a couple angle tanks. they bump a degree or 2 and then hold...

all 300 watt heaters

55 gal
120 gal
72 bow

heaters are all set at 80-83 and all tanks are lower than 77.

Is there a secret code that you all know and I missed back in high school?

I do have a 55 shrimp tank with 2 300 watt heaters that I can get above 80 but "seriously" I need 2 heaters on a 55???


thank you all in advance....

 

[roadmaster]

I have been pretty lucky with heater's but feel your pain in the wallet.
Thermal shock is how I destroyed the few that I managed to screw up.
Been using the same Hydor Theo's for last several year's and a couple old Visi Therm's made by Marineland I think.
Heard good and bad about both but as mentioned,I seem to be lucky (knocks wood).

 

[aja31]

I hate them. All of them. I have 12 tanks and I am buying flipping heaters all the time....cheap ones, expensive ones, small ones, big ones, 100 watts, 300 watts.....

of course I have never ever, not one time, read the manuals...so


I can't get my tanks up to temp. I am trying to get to 79-80 in a couple angle tanks. they bump a degree or 2 and then hold...

all 300 watt heaters

55 gal
120 gal
72 bow

heaters are all set at 80-83 and all tanks are lower than 77.

Is there a secret code that you all know and I missed back in high school?

I do have a 55 shrimp tank with 2 300 watt heaters that I can get above 80 but "seriously" I need 2 heaters on a 55???


thank you all in advance....

The only secret is circulation. The cheap temperature controller for the heater is attached to the heater itself where all the heat is. If you don't have a very strong current pulling/pushing the water away quickly enough then the heater will turn itself off before the majority of the tank is the right temperature.

Can't say i've ever had your problem, my heaters all keep my tanks (although they are smaller than yours) at the desired temp. I put them directly next to the filter intake so the heated water is constantly distributed throughout the tank. Just make sure the heater is in the spot in the tank with the greatest flow and it shouldn't be a problem.

A less likely problem is that whatever you are using to measure the temperature is not accurate. Try a couple different thermometers in a couple different locations in the tank and see how they compare.

 

[nel]

It's really odd. Now I have 100W heater in 350 litres tank, the heater is near filter outflow and it always keep right temp (25-26 Celsius).
+1 for the flow problem ;-)

 

[York1]

What are the ambient room temps?

 

[MaroMan]

I employ the inline heaters, currently only using one on my 75 gallon, but knock on wood have not had a problem, tank runs a degree less than I have the heater set at, mainly because of the traveling through the uninsulated return pipe. I have used these for years and have not found fault in them. your problem does sound like a circulation issue like the last few posts had stated. Good luck!

 

[deeda]

What type of thermometer are you using to verify tank temperatures?

 

[No.92]

I'm not sure about you, but I usually don't give much thought about the exact temperature of the tank as I'm sure it will vary depending on where in the tank you are measuring from and how far away it is from the heater. I have a 125 gallon tank and bought this heater on Amazon.

It has worked perfectly fine for me keeping my temperature close to 80F.

 

[PlantedRich]

If there is a "secret" being missed it may be about the numbers they put on the heaters. I trust none of them to be accurate for any length of time. The secret for me is to find a thermometer that is accurate and then turn the heater up until I get the reading I want.
How to find an accurate thermometer? I go to the store and look at a group of them and choose one from a group that reads in the middle of the bunch. Off the shelf, they may vary by five degrees so I choose an average one.

 

[bsherwood]

Excellent advice all around.....to answer

Basement temp is on the cool side probably 66 degree's in the fish room right now...so that is a factor.

Current!?!? ***face-palm** of course....thank you for that one.

Measuring temp: some cheap old school floaters, but on the "Fancy tanks" I bought digital with the sensors....but they are also cheaply made...



I think that 2 of the three tanks it is user error- I bought new Eheim Jager heaters...and they have a double ring thing... of course I can't read the directions...but I did watch a youtube clip and I need to check out the "calibration ring"....


so thank you all- I have things to try....

peace

 

[Dirtdawg57]

I bought the 250w version of this one. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003C5TPF6/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_LUNnxbQWZ3JBZ

I have a 75g and my house does stay between 66 and 68. While the temperature dial on top is not accurate, the heater is rock solid temperature wise. I had it stay right at 82 for a while and now it is at 76. I have never seen it shift a single degree other than when I have adjusted it. It is in my sump overflow box so it gets pretty good flow.

 

[DaveK]

I hate them. All of them. I have 12 tanks and I am buying flipping heaters all the time....cheap ones, expensive ones, small ones, big ones, 100 watts, 300 watts.....

of course I have never ever, not one time, read the manuals...so


I can't get my tanks up to temp. I am trying to get to 79-80 in a couple angle tanks. they bump a degree or 2 and then hold...

all 300 watt heaters

55 gal
120 gal
72 bow

heaters are all set at 80-83 and all tanks are lower than 77.

Is there a secret code that you all know and I missed back in high school?

I do have a 55 shrimp tank with 2 300 watt heaters that I can get above 80 but "seriously" I need 2 heaters on a 55???


thank you all in advance....

I feel your pain. Heaters as a group are just about the worst products we use on our tanks. Of all the equipment problems I have had over the years, I'd say the bulk of the emergency ones were heaters either not working at all or not turning off.

With the type of electronic temperature controllers you see today, there is really no excuse for this. [end of rant on heaters]

What I would do is get an electronic temperature controller and use that to operate the heater. Set the original heater thermostat to about 5 degrees higher than the controller, so it acts as a fail safe.

 

[aja31]

If your basement is 66 and you want the 120 to get up to 80 then that is a difference of 14 degrees. According to some quick and dirty online heater calculators they say you should have at least 400 W of heaters to get there, assuming you are running them constantly. You may want to get 600 W so you aren't driving them as hard. You will probably not be able to reach 80 degrees with a single 300 W on a 120. The 72 gallon shows a need of 330 W, which is still above the capabilities of a single 300 W.

I would say you either need to warm up your basement or add more heaters. I would first solve the flow issue though and see if that is enough.

 

[Guy Cole]

Do you have all 12 tanks in the basement? And do you also have any other electrical equipment down there, like washing machines, dryers, etc? I'm just wondering if somehow the heaters aren't getting enough power from the outlets down there. I once had some trouble with a tank in a room that was drawing too much power to begin with, and the filter and heater never seemed to work as well as I knew they should be. I moved the whole setup to another room eventually, and the difference was notable. If everything else is working fine, then it's probably not an electricity issue, but possibly something else to think about anyway.

 

[bsherwood]

All 12 are in the basement. 10 are in the same room as; furnace, h20 heater and washer dryer...I should have plenty of power as I put in a sub- panel after the big flood of 97....

but there is a lot of load in that single room, that is for sure.

 

[PlantedRich]

It is not likely to be a problem with electrical load if the motors on the other stuff are working okay. Something like a refrigerator not starting might be the first to show up rather than the simple heaters. Brownouts are not very common in most areas and they will certainly work on the delicate stuff before the simple. Twelve tanks are not likely to exceed even a fifteen amp breaker. If your electrical is not really old or haywired, I would assume it good.