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OK I have a very obviously silly question. When setting the desired temp. on the heater say you want 78 should't the thermometer read the same? Mine say 80. P.S. I have 2 heaters one one each side of the tank and also one thermometer on each side.

120 GAL. Community Freshwater (2 huge mated angles, 2 German rams, Red tail shark, 2 Pearl Grammies, 3 Bushynose Plecos, Swordtails

110 Gal. (3 Koi Angles, 3 black marble viel tail Angles) 20 Neon tetras, 1 red tail shark, 3 clown loaches, Platys

Often times heaters are off by a degree or 2. Other times thermometers are off by a degree or 2. It can require a bit of fiddling with it to get it exact especially when running 2 heaters and you don't know which is off. A few brands say they can be adjusted so they read accurately again but I've never tried it. The heaters I've had that got off I just turned the dial a degree in whatever direction was necessary. Most of the time 2 degrees or less isn't going to make a difference in the fish your trying to keep. Many tolerate a range of 5 or more degrees without issue so long as the heater still holds the temp steady.

In hot weather it will overshoot. You set it to 27C but the weather is warmer so the heater cuts out but ambient temp is over that.

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

In hot weather possibly but probably not the problem since their flag says Canada. Anything north of me(which is Canada) is usually below freezing and covered in snow around this time of year. Unless their house heater is set high and the tank is running high wattage lights to bring it up another few degrees.

Sham, I wasn't saying that was the problem for Bar-B. the fact is that heaters are not all that accurately calibrated.

Also must take into account;
water movement
time it takes for a tank to heat or cool depends on volume of tank
type of lighting
proximity to heat sources/light

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~~~ My fish blow kisses at me all day long ~~~

hahaha now, now children lets not argue over my problem here. I think you're both right. It is a little more difficulf to set two at exactly the sme temp because for whatever reason (one is closer to an air bubbler) one will work harder than the other and has to be turned down. I guess I just have to keep adjusting them. Oh by the way your're sort of correct that as a Canadian I should be in below freezing temps. and eyeball deep in snow. But this year we've only had a lite dusting of snow and all week it's been in the 40's tonite at 8:00 pm it was 52. I can't believe it. This summer (and I live up north) we had a heat wave, I don't have air cond. and my tank temp. went up into the mid, 80's I had to float a bag of ice in the tank. Oh ya..the heaters didn't go on all week during the heat wave!!!hahah Barb

120 GAL. Community Freshwater (2 huge mated angles, 2 German rams, Red tail shark, 2 Pearl Grammies, 3 Bushynose Plecos, Swordtails

110 Gal. (3 Koi Angles, 3 black marble viel tail Angles) 20 Neon tetras, 1 red tail shark, 3 clown loaches, Platys

Running a bubbler pulling in cooler air from the room and passing it over the heat could actually be causing your problem. Depends how warm you keep the house but with our apartment at 68F anything running off an air pump will set off the heaters if it's too close. Move the heater just 2-4" farther away and it might bring the temp down those 2 degrees. In the past I've attached heaters to the sides of the tank moving them a few inches in from the back corner to avoid bubble wands or corner sponge filters from causing that problem.

We had quite a drought but I wouldn't say it was really that hot this summer. While it wasn't cool out we were out running around during what is usually the warmest week of July without any problems with the heat. Quite warm this winter though. We had a couple storms but no snow on the ground and haven't had to bring the horses in more than a couple days in a row. Usually they'd be inside every night starting around the beginning of November. Can't say I mind. Only 2more months and we will have avoided the snow and -20F we usually get for at least one week a year.

Canada is actually south of me and I am in michigan

But I've had seen this also with my tanks. Where the temps are set at 76 and it is around 80. But I've found its due to how much activity is going around the tanks. days where i'm busy and cleaning and doing things like dishes. will raise up the temp a couple degrees in all the tanks.

Fish tanks are an expensive addiction

I try to monitor mine by turning it down as I see it getting high and watching during the day until the light goes on at the desired temp. Then I watch it a little more and make sure that when the light turns on, it is at the desired temp. Then I mark where the marker is and move the thermometer. Also, it helps when your tank is in a room where the temp is constant. I am lucky enough to have a hot water heat system, so my house stays at a very constant and even temperature.

It sounds like your using a heater that does not read the temp of the tank. The more expensive and usually longer lasting heaters will read the temp of the tank and turn on and off at a set temp. Problem comes when the heater is off by a few degrees from what the numbers on the dial say or if something is triggering the heater to turn on or off when it's not suppose to.

Cheaper heaters will just run at a set temp irregardless of the temperatures around them and have no numbers to show what temp they are set for. You just have to fiddle with the dial until it keeps your tank at the temp you want. Might work ok if your house stays steady and you aren't running large light setups but can lead to huge temp swings on some occasions. There's actually a room in my mom's house that can go from 65F at night to 84F during the day even in the middle of the winter without the heat running because it's designed to maximize use of the sun. I had to have a heater that would keep the tank at 82F all night and shut off when it got that hot during the day or the tank went through 10 degree temp changes killing all the fish.