Inaccurate 250 watt heater

[lordroad]

I bought a Visi-therm (marineland) 250 watt heater for my 55 gallon three weeks ago, and it has steadily been losing its ability to keep my tank at 82 degrees. Today I had to jack it all the way to 89 just to keep it at 80. At night I cover the tank with a blanket to insulate it since the living room drops into the low sixties.

The package said it was rated for 35-65 gallon tanks. I also have a 50 watt heater of the same brand in one of my ten gallons, and it does fine.

Has anyone had a problem with this type of heater heating larger volumes of water?

Thanks.

 

[baotchi]

My 3 Ebo's are 100% precise, but i don't think you can set the dial to 80 and expect to find your water at 80 degrees... I got 1 in a tank and 2 in the other, I set them all to 80, then adjust with an electronic thermometer. When they are set to the temp I want, it'll never move from a degree. Is it this way for everybody? Or do you just set the temp on the heater and the thermometer reads the same thing?

Simon

 

[Lotus]

From what I have understood, you need 5 watts per gallon of heater for raising the temp up to 10F above room temp. If you need to raise it 15F or 20F, you need 10 watts per gallon of heater.

I would suggest adding another heater (300w, probably).

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Don't you have to calibrate it? Not sure if Visi-therm makes theirs where you have to calibrate it or not......just a thought. I know Ebo does. Good to know about your Ebos baotchi, i need new heaters for all the tanks so i'll be looking at them.

 

[lordroad]

It comes calibrated

I'll look to snag an Ebo next time I can find one... unfortunately, it seems like the run of the mill is the standard visi-therm (the high dollar end, at least around here) whisper heaters, and the all-out crap.

Visi-therms, unlike the whispers with the adjustable knob and bar, are already calibrated, though they're a few degrees off even when they're in working shape, at least in my experience.

Lotus, I think I'll do just that and just grab another heater... if I can't find the Ebo, I'll go whisper and fully submerge it... hopefully it will right things out.

 

[Lotus]

We have to buy a new heater We bought one the other week for one of our 10g tanks that was made by Aquarium Gardens. It already stopped working (mostly... it flickers on an off).

Of course, your discus need a nice warm tank with little fluctuation, so a second heater is a good idea anyway.

 

[michael]

for all the glass tube heaters that I have used, I must say they all suck! whether its from time or from a fish bumping it they tend to go out of whack very quickly. sometimes just tapping the top or side of it puts them back in sync, but more often its on to buying another one.

Then I decided to try a heater with a separate temp. sensor and element. They are somewhat accurate and very reliable as long as you keep the sensor in the water.