Is this a normal issue with heaters??

[NODAK1979]

I'm putting this in the water forum because water that's too cold is a water issue...I didn't know if it should go in another forum.

Anyway, our first heater was a Stealth Pro, which was recently recalled. The temperature in the water was consistantly two degrees colder than what I had it set on the heater. We have two thermometers, one on each side of the aquarium.

We just took back that heater and got a new one, an Aqueon. Again, it's about 2 or 3 degrees colder in the water than the heater is set to.

Both heaters were more than enough watts for the aquarium.

Do you usually have this problem?

[TURQ64]

Thermometers ain't perfect, either!..

[NODAK1979]

Thermometers ain't perfect, either!..

That could be true, but if I have two of them telling me the same thing, they outnumber the one dial on the heater.

[Chad Hughes]

What is the ambient temperature? If the room is too cool it could cause the heaters to run non-stop and still not reach the desired temperature.

Just a thought!

[NODAK1979]

What is the ambient temperature? If the room is too cool it could cause the heaters to run non-stop and still not reach the desired temperature.

Just a thought!

It's 68 in our house during the winter. 74 in summer. Maybe that'll help, we'll see soon enough with the changing weather.

[jimg]

The stick on thermometers I have are all 2 deg lower than the actual water temp. I tested it against a very expensive fairly new meter and a $10.00 walmart probe thermo. even see the digital with probes be off between themselves and saw that with a infa red thermo.

[NODAK1979]

The stick on thermometers I have are all 2 deg lower than the actual water temp. I tested it against a very expensive fairly new meter and a $10.00 walmart probe thermo. even see the digital with probes be off between themselves and saw that with a infa red thermo.

One of ours is a stick on...the other is a normal one with a suction cup. I find that one so hard to read though. It's like I need a magnifying glass to actually see what the temperature is. Maybe I just need to get a digital.

[moon_knight1971]

I use 2 thermometers, one at the top with a suction cup and 1 with a weighted bottom that sits on the opposite side of the bottom of the tank.

[jimg]

One of ours is a stick on...the other is a normal one with a suction cup. I find that one so hard to read though. It's like I need a magnifying glass to actually see what the temperature is. Maybe I just need to get a digital.

most thermometers are only accurate to withing 1-2 degs so long as you keep it the same,it really doesn't matter too much.
It is funny though that two I have, one was $350.00 the other was $10.00 read identical every time, but any aquarium thermometer that i have ever bought was almost always off by 1.5- 2 deg. the stick on ones as well as the coralife digitals. I even looked into buying the infrared ones, they're only accurate to 2 degs also.

[jeepdad]

something I
ve wondered about temp differences............How far is the thermometer from the heater? Is it possible to have a couple degree difference in different areas of the tank? I would think the area close to the heater would obviously be a bit warmer than an area further away from the heater, I know that in the past I've felt a diffenece in temps from the very top of the aquarium to the bottom. I've been meaning to put 2 thermometers in my tank at diffent areas just out of curiousity.

By the way NODAK, I just put an Aqueon heater in my tank this weekend, and I like it so far.

[Foxfire]

My AquaVia underwater Ti heaters hold exactly their set temp in the aquarium - no guessing. Of course, I have two (at each end of the tank) and they each alone are rated for the tank (75 gal, 300 watt each.) The remote temp sensor appears to be the key to holding temp.

[ericatdallas]

I would tend to side with the thermometer over the heaters. What kind of thermometer is it? The ones with the red liquid inside work pretty well. If you have two different types of thermometers telling you the same temperature that's further justification.

Dials aren't precisely calibrated. My heater when it reads 86F gives me 90F while a different heater that is the same brand/model reads 88F and gives me 90F.

There's also the possibility that your heater is 1F off and your thermometer is 1F off...

I wouldn't worry too much so long as your fish are happy. I know I rarely notice a difference between temperatures of 2F.

I'll bet $1 that it's your heater though.

[Jhhnn]

Only very expensive thermometers are guaranteed accurate any closer than 1C across the range. I like and use the ATI stick-ons from Kensfish because they're extremely consistent, even from entirely different lots. They may read slightly low, which I see as no big deal. They agree within 1/2C with an spirit thermo I have from Thomas Scientific, and that's good enough for me.

The calibration on heaters is only close, not precise, unless you set it yourself as with Jagers, so I'd trust the stick-on thermo more than anything else.