Heater not working properly?

Hello All

I currently have a 240L tank that has a 300W heater.

The heater is in the middle of the tank stuck on the back glass. I am having issues with getting the temps i want.
I set the heater to 30 degrees but the actual temp of the water stays at 26-27 degrees.

Any idea what is wrong here? I heard the general rule of thumb is 1W per L and i mean the 300W should be sufficient enough for my 240L tank.

 

Its kind of marginal, especially in cold weather, i would just add another 300W. 26-27 degrees is quite warm, what fish do you keep?

 

Yeah 26-27 is fine for me, but what im saying is that i need to set my heater all the way up to 30 to get to 26. So not sure if its just a cheap brand that i bought or something(not quite sure of the brand). I dont really want to add another heater in my tank, im not fond of having too much equipment in the tank.

I currently have Clown Loaches, Bala Sharks, Rainbow Sharks and a Whiptail Pleco.

 

The cold weather is certainly making things harder for your heater to keep up.

I have two Eheim Jager 200W heaters going in the same size tank, and I don't have any temperature problems, so maybe invest in an extra heater, even if it is only for winter time when temperatures are low? I have hidden all my equipment in one corner behind a skinny, tall rock and a couple of plants. You hardly see it, and the filter uptake makes sure that the heated water circulates properly.

 

I know its winter but in my opinion, a 4 degree difference is quite a lot
300W should be enough for 240L

i have the cheaper heaters in all my tanks and they work fine however I also had a problem in my discus tank last week where the temp droped to 25

I would double check with a different thermometer and if you still get the same reading, maybe the thermostat in the heater is packing up
I replaced the heater and all is fine now
I have however noticed that the fluctuation in temperature in my 320l tank in winter is more than in the big tanks

 

Even eheims you have to calibrate, so I wouldn't stress too much

 

Howzit WadeSmith

I've experienced a similar issue, not for 30 degrees though.
Try getting a flow /current across the surface of the heater, moving the warmer water throughout the tank.
Hot water raises, cold water sinks - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN7E6FCuMbY

 

Yeah will maybe wait until it gets a bit hotter then see how the heater copes, but will consider buying another one if this one still gives problems. At least if it stays at 26-27 its still fine for the fish i have so im not worried.

My heater was placed in the corner of my tank just behind the filter, then i moved it to infront of my filter as to get the water flow past the heater and now i moved it to the middle of the tank. All three situations came back with the same results. In all the three places i still got the same temp of 26-27.

Thanks for all the input though, i appreciate it. Just wanted to get others opinions on this matter.
Will just keep an eye on the temp throughout winter to make sure it doesnt drop lower otherwise i will go buy another one.

Has anyone heard of the SunSun JRB-250 500W heater? Whats weird about it is that the specs show tank sizes of 50L - 100L.
I would prefer buying a 500W instead of a 300W again but im a bit sceptical about it saying tank sizes of 50L - 100L.

 

Jagers are awesome! 1 300w is enough for my 1000lt setup


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

@Dennis ling

Agreed, Jagers are awesome.

 

Further to that, I also have two Eheim Jagers (200W each) in the back corner, with the uptake siphon from my canister filter (also an Eheim, and excellent quality so far) sitting between them. The filter thus draws out the water near the heaters and creates a continuous flow over the elements and "spreads the warmth" over the rest of the tank. I have two heaters, firstly, to spread the work load between them and hopefully thus reduce the wear and tear in the long term, and secondly, as a fail safe, in case one of the heaters should malfunction and stop working for whatever reason. Probably overkill, but I have OCD.

That being said, I took a look at the two heaters, and mine are actually also set higher than the "real" temperature in the tank: tank is at 26 degrees C, heaters are set to 30 degrees on their indicator dial. I have never really paid close attention to that - I just adjust the heaters to whatever temperature I'm trying to achieve, I don't really give a hoot what the heater's dial says.

I monitor the temperature with two thermometers at the opposite end of the tank to where the heaters are. One is an "old-fashioned" mercury type (probably the more accurate one), and the other is an electronic with a probe hanging in the water. As long as those show the temperature I want, I'm happy, and so are my fish, as far as I can tell!

 

@Reedfish Yes the outlet does flow over the heater but still no good results. But i decided to put another heater in my tank to stabilise the temp.

 

I have 2 300W heaters in my 240L tank, and the water temperature is pretty consistently what I want it to be.
One heater is about 20cm from the filter intake, and the other is in the middle back of the tank.
With 2 heaters they don't have to work as hard to regulate the temperature, and if 1 should fail, the other can take up the slack.

 

I use a STC 1000 Digital Temperature Controller with all my heaters set to max.

Was struggling to get my tank to 29 degrees when combating ick with heat and salt treatment.

A quick fix was to insulate the glass sides of the tank with bubble-wrap, bubble side towards the glass, spray some water (fine mist setting) on glass and just press the bubble-wrap against the sides. When insulation is no longer required, just peel off, no glue required.

It works like a charm and really keeps the tank temperature stable with less power.

 

Hi @Toy

Welcome to the forum

Nice tip there, thank you

Hahha now we need you to start a thread and tell us about yourself and set-ups... pictures are compulsory!!

Just joking... but we do love them..

 

Thanks, my pleasure xD

Guilty as charged, just wanted to buy some plecos and ended up enjoying the forum, will post my humble DIY setup asap.

Pic of my babies undergoing ick treatment in a bubble-wrapped tank, it may not look pretty but it is effective

 

HAHHA You cant buy plecos and then disappear!!!!

I will just have to make up a rule for that too..

Dont mind me.. im just full nonsense

Very Nice tank

 

Spot on @Toy - water is a great energy store - be it heat or flow potential, because it takes a lot of energy to heat it reducing heat loss once at the correct temperature is the key to a stable system. Your bubble wrap reduces air movement and heat radiation from the glass tank so less energy gets wasted. Fully agree on not using heater thermometers for tank temp regulation, my main reason is being able to log and track on off cycles etc.

The STC is a easy to use bit of kit ... and does a great job, beer brewing has made them a little hard to find these days.

I prefer to use the sonoff range of products, this allows some form of IoT next level playing.


Later Ferdie