Heating Problems...

[Mjnorcal922]

Gosh im having so much bad luck......My heater was set at the - sign and it rose my tank up to 80 degree!! What do i do??
The heater was only on 4 an hour or so its been off for about 2 hours now and its still at 80

 

[aakaakaak]

If the ambient temperature in your house is around 76-78 the tank will naturally be around 80. Mine floats between 79-80. I don't even have heaters in my tanks anymore.

What's your normal home temp at?

Edit: Your fish should be fine at 80.
Oscar: 74-81 (77 preferred)
Pleco: 72-86 (Doesn't really matter)

 

[Mjnorcal922]

my house temp varies day by day but without the heater on the tank stays at about 76-78

 

[Newman]

then set your heater at the - sign and dont touch it until the tank temp stays around your room temp. keep the heater plugged in. if you want to see a cooling of your tank, then do a water change with room temp water. but make sure you prepare the WC water properly (dechlorinator and letting it sit a bit)

 

[prsturm]

Having a higher temp will speed up their metabolism a little, but 79-80 is fine. It'll also help the bacteria divide a little faster. The range on a heater is really restricted by ambient temperature and watts. My heater, for all of its dial range, has a 2 degree range of difference. I can go down to 78 or up to 80. That's all the movement I have! It was quite frustrating trying to adjust the temperature slowly over time and seeing no movement.

 

[Mjnorcal922]

Well im out of town for 4 days visiting my grandparents, i told my mom everything will be fine if she does 3 things
*Watch the tempature(really easy because the temp gauge i have has a fish safe zone on it colored green)
*feed the oscar-2 pellets 7 am and 2 pellets 10 pm
*rechange the pleco's cucumber once a day

i think its pretty easy xD

 

[achase]

I think she should do fine....it's nothing too complex!

 

[aakaakaak]

When you get back you might want to get some algae wafers for your pleco. You know, pleco does not live on cucumber alone.

 

[Newman]

dont get wardley algae wafers. theyre kinda bad, and for w/e reason they contain copper. Hikari Algae disks are a quality choice for the pleco. you will want to get a larger diameter disk tho so the oscar wont eat it in one bite.

 

[aakaakaak]

On a random note, my mollies don't really like the algae wafers anymore. It started about the same time I got live plants.

Oh, and who is it that can't use algae disks because his oscar thinks is some alien invader and protects the rest of his fish from it?

 

[Newman]

I think that was some member who had a Betta who protected his tank mates from algae wafers lol.

 

[aakaakaak]

That could be it. Still a hilarious story.

 

[Newman]

right it was a betta protecting otocinclus from the wafers