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ive been trying to keep my african tank at 82F and i set my heater at 82 and if the house gets really cold the heater wont work at all and if the house is a little warmer the heater has heated up way to much please help. i have tried 2 different heaters and i have had the same problem. i currently have a rena excell 2oo watt in a 55 gallon.

First off, your heater is not powerful enough for a 55 gallon, and even more inadequate for keeping it at a high temperature. I would highly recommend a second 200 watt heater for your tank, one on opposite sides of the tank. A general guideline for heating a tank is approx 5 watts per gallon of water. Judging by this guideline, you should shoot for at least 275 watts, more if you plan on keeping the temp higher.

Several environmental variables can have an effect on heating stability. Ensure you have a tight fitting hood to reduce evaporation. Take care not to place your tank on outside walls of your home, or near register/radiators that will influence temperature. Doors or windows can have the same effect, try and keep the tank away from them.

In your case, i think the heater is overworked and starting to malfunction. I'd get a new one at least ASAP to stabilize the temp. A rapidly varying and inconsistient temp can cause stress and illness if you're not careful.

thanks for the help. i kinda thought that was the problem but i just wasn't sure. thank you.

Just out of curiosity, why are are you trying to keep the tank so warm? 82 is on the high end of tropical temperatures.

Joe Potato

Joe has a point there , most fish are perfectly happy in the 75f -79f range, unless you have fish like blue rams or rather inbred discus theres rarely a need to break 80f, in fact its usually important that you don't, as oxygen saturation can be significantly reduced at higher temperatures, and combined with overstock a lot of people kill their fish by keeping them too warm.

Most people would ordinarily only go for those higher temps in a short hike, to try and increase the reproductive rate of , and therefore speed the annihilation of certain diseases like whitespot when already using meds.

Yes it does seem rather high unless you have a special reason for that temp.
I would certainly run two heaters and place them at opposite ends of the tank this gives a more even temperature over the tank. Also providing a good air circulation will help to distribute the temperature even better.
If one heater breaks down which they do you have a back up heater working. It always to carry a spare heater as it will fail just when you do not want it to happen.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

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Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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