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Hello,

I have an approximately 70G tank that houses a large angel, a red-tailed shark and a variety of barbs, tetras, danios. The tank has been set up for about three years.

We seem to be having a consistent problem with heaters: about six months ago, the temperature rocketed up to above 90F, so we took the heater out (assuming it had failed). Because it was the summer, the temperature remained consistent for the next few months without any sort of heater.

Now that it is starting to get cooler again (we are in British Columbia, Canada), we placed a new heater in the tank. It is a 300W Top Fin (from Petsmart). We set it on the second lowest heat setting. The next day, the tank was already at 80F. So, we turned the heater down as low as it could go. The temperature is now at about 78F, but I still feel that is a little warm.

The tank has a glass lid, and a single florescent bulb for lighting. It is filtered by a Fluval 404.

Is this heater too large for our tank? (I thought the rule of thumb was 5 watts per gallon). Do you think the problem is with the quality of the heater?

Any suggestions? Don't want to cook the tank again!
Thanks very much.

I had a top fin heater in my very first tank, never had an issue with it.

My guess is, heater size in relation to tank size and internal thermostat of the heater. If your using just a single heater and happen to have less movement or too much movement in the water the heater may not register the right temp. ie if there's too little water movement the water right near the heater will heat up, it'll turn off and the rest of the tank will remain cold, go the other way for too much water movement, it may not have time to register the temp.

I know some heaters require you to put the heater in the tank and leave it unplugged for 15 min then plug it in, not sure if they're still like that.

You might consider two 150's


Good luck, I hate heater issues , nothing like seeing your tropical fish begging for warmth cause of a heater failure in the middle of "winter"

^_^

Hi,
Yes, the "Rule of Thumb" for aquarium heaters is to figure
5 watts/gallon. Now, having said that, keep in mind that
the "rule" was generated by folks living north of the
Mason Dixon Line, where they have "true winters" and you
are striving to raise a quantity of water to a temperature
higher than most folks keep the rooms the tanks are housed
in. It takes more wattage to do that, than the folks
living south of the line where room temperatures are much
warmer.

Tanks that are "long" like 55 gallons and the larger
6 foot tanks generally use two heaters, one at each end.
Or, one placed in the return flow from the canister filter.

As Babelfish mentions, you need currents in the tank to
move the water past the heater so that it raises the
temperature evenly throughout the tank. And, when placing
a new heater, I was always taught, and read, that one
should let the heater sit in the tank, unplugged, for a
half hour so the internal thermometer reaches that of the
tank water.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks for the suggestions, guys.

We have always had the heater positioned right next to the outlet from the canister filter... I thought it would help to distribute the heat better. But, I never considered that the current may be too strong for the heater to register that it has actually heated the water. Good point! Maybe I will try moving in over a bit, or position it closer to the intake tube. That would be an easy fix.

I've always had TopFin filters and heaters, too. I like that they have a lifetime guarantee. Glad to hear others have had a decent experience, too.

If the repositioning doesn't help, maybe I will consider getting a smaller wattage. We're in a basement suite where the temperature stays consistently comfortable. Maybe a smaller heater will do... Just don't want to strain it!

Worth a try!

Didn't fully explain my two 150's reasoning. Sure it's the same wattage but it can more easily cover a larger amount of the tank, plus, if one 150 has some failings it's not as likely to overheat the tank as one 300 will.

If you've got the room temp pumping out a near tropical temp you won't need as high a wattage heater either.

I'd say keep it near where you have it, but less directly in the water flow.


^_^