I cross checked mine with one of my friend and both are showing the same temperature.
Is my heater malfunctioning?
- Thread starter raja
- Start date
Heater might be miscalibrated. You can dial it down to like 68 and see if the temp drops. If it does, then replace the heater. If the temp remains high, then you've got other heat sources such as filters, powerheads etc. Good luck bro!
Here's a couple things.
1) how do you know that your room is 76 degrees?
2) what size is your tank?
3) does the tank get direct sunlight? is it directly under or next to a heating vent (assuming you are running your furnace?)
The reason I ask is because lights and pumps can easily add 100 watts to the heat in a tank. If you had a 55 gallon tank, and the room was really a little warmer (82 for example) the water could easily be 90 because a tank that size with 100 watts of auxiliary power can gain 8 degrees over ambient temperatures even without a heater.
Otoh, lets say the room is really 76. If the tank is near a heater and/or getting direct sunlight, it could again get to 90 because the lights and pump could get it to 84, while the sun and heater could do the rest.
And of course, it could be some combo of that. The room might go up to the low 80's during the day, and drop down later, while there is a secondary source of heat.
It it were me, I'd remove the heater and see what the temperature of the tank is in 24 hours. Given the circumstances, the tank could hardly drop below 80 even without a heater, so there's no obvious danger.
1) how do you know that your room is 76 degrees?
2) what size is your tank?
3) does the tank get direct sunlight? is it directly under or next to a heating vent (assuming you are running your furnace?)
The reason I ask is because lights and pumps can easily add 100 watts to the heat in a tank. If you had a 55 gallon tank, and the room was really a little warmer (82 for example) the water could easily be 90 because a tank that size with 100 watts of auxiliary power can gain 8 degrees over ambient temperatures even without a heater.
Otoh, lets say the room is really 76. If the tank is near a heater and/or getting direct sunlight, it could again get to 90 because the lights and pump could get it to 84, while the sun and heater could do the rest.
And of course, it could be some combo of that. The room might go up to the low 80's during the day, and drop down later, while there is a secondary source of heat.
It it were me, I'd remove the heater and see what the temperature of the tank is in 24 hours. Given the circumstances, the tank could hardly drop below 80 even without a heater, so there's no obvious danger.
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Thank you for your detailed reply, I have led lights, the tank is 20g with a hob filter and it doesn't get direct sunlight, now I removed the heater last night (it's been about 12hrs) and the water Temps dropped to 87-88F
I also noticed that the room temperature is in the low 80's today.
Nice job checking. Looks like you already had worked out the issues.
So, if the room gets into the low 80's and it has lighting and pumps, I think it's plausible it's not the heater. And if it only dropped 2 degrees in 12 hours, that seems to support that as well.
I don't know what size heater you have, but I would probably consider leaving the heater out until the room temperature drops quite a bit. If the heater does get stuck "on", it could really heat the tank to a lethal level in that situation. When the room is down to 72-73, the tank might be 78-79, then the heater would be safer to use.
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Yes, but still to be on the safer side I will be picking up a digital thermometer in a couple of days.
Heaters have always malfunctioned in the "on" position for me, trying to cook the my, and it seems to happen a lot in the most malfunction posts I see.
I have stopped using them altogether in rooms that remain in the 70s for most cichlids, especially those that are endemic to Mexico, like trimacs. beani, and any Herichthys.
Most of the above cichlids easily handle (and some do better) with occasional water temp drops into the 60sF
I have stopped using them altogether in rooms that remain in the 70s for most cichlids, especially those that are endemic to Mexico, like trimacs. beani, and any Herichthys.
Most of the above cichlids easily handle (and some do better) with occasional water temp drops into the 60sF
