weird heater problems

[BigDaddy420]

i went to bed last night and my 55 seemed fine, the oscars were swimming around and responding to me, eating etc etc. i got up this morning and fed everyone in my 29 and went to feed the oscars in the 55 and they were hiding in the back like they did when i first got them. i put my hand in to clean the intake of the filter and the water seemed extremely cold, i pulled out the thermometer and it was a little under 70 (its kinda hard to read). i turned the heater all the way up and no light came on, so for some reason i started turning it down and when i got to halfway the light came on. is there some reason the heater wouldnt come on when it was turned all the way up? or any reason it let my water get so cold without kicking on? i hate to go out and buy another heater but i refuse to let my oscars die as ive became very attached to them. when i put food in their tank when i woke up, they didnt even pay attention to it, which is very rare for them. ive had them almost a week and theyve been very healthy eaters. i tested the water and the nitrate and nitrite are pretty low, both in the safe ranges. visually they dont seem to have any color loss or anything but they just seem lazy, is this just because of the cold water? my heater light has stayed on steady since i turned it down. do i maybe have a bad potentiometer in my heater? any suggestions?

 

[FroggyFox]

I think I'd pull that heater out and get a new one. For the cost of a heater it could save you the problem of frozen or boiled fish. The light isn't supposed to stay on solid...its supposed to go on and off as it doesn't heat constantly it should heat in intervals so the temperature doesn't swing too much. The low temperatures will definitely make your fish "lazy" move slowly etc...so I'm sure they'll perk up when you warm the tank back up.

 

[BigDaddy420]

Thanks alot froggy, im gonna have to keep a close eye on it for awhile, i really cant afford a new heater with the wife's birthday coming up i do have some electronic experience tho so i may take it out and clean the potentiometer and see if that helps, usually with those variable switches just a small peice of dust or a broken trace can affect it. i was more worried with the fish being in danger. its heating the tank now and the temp has risen a few degrees. the tank;s never gotten to hot (thank god) id hate to wake up to boiled fish..lol on the funny part of that, i was doing research on my Lemon oscar and all i could pull up was recipes! i didnt know people ate oscars. again thank you SOO much for the quick reply, i wish i could afford to run out and buy the new heater today but unless it gets extremely bad ill have to just keep an eye on it till payday.

 

[FroggyFox]

Well you gotta do what you can (you dont want the wife cursing your hobby because you spent too much money the last minute on a new heater instead of her present heh) ...but honestly, once a heater is out of whack a lot of times they're more susceptible to cracking or frying and just quitting on you. When I said broiled I didn't necessarily mean from the heater getting stuck on (which could happen) but what happens to fish when a heater cracks and electric current gets into the water? Just something to be aware of and to be really careful when you know you have a heater thats on the fritz.

 

[BigDaddy420]

lol ive already been cursed believe me. she got me the 55 as an early christmas gift, complete for 100$ i mean it came with everything but fish and it was only a few months old(discouraged newbie with more money than brains). and i got my 2 baby oscars and found a 250 gallon complete for 300$ this one was encase in a pine cabinent and everything to. if it wasnt for her birthday id have the 250 too!

 

[Lotus]

Thermostats on heaters can be off, sometimes you will have to set it at a different temperature to get the one you want. Keep an eye on it, and get a new one when you can.

 

[BigDaddy420]

ty lotus, ill be gettin a new one payday

 

[TLM4x4]

I can make a cheaper suggestion! When I needed a bigger heater for my 100 gal. tank but didnt want to pay a big price, I called my LFS and asked if he had any good USED heaters he would consider selling to me...well he did and I got a $60. heater for $20.! Never know unless you ask......

 

[JNevaril]

also, if you cannot get the heater to stay at a constant temp, or need it 'upped' a few degrees....you could always wrap the tank in a blanket (it works!), or if you have central air.....maybe shut the vent off to that room (if you're running air).....or...hmmm....keep the light on.......if you have an incandescent light, that may help keep the temp. up...but you prob. have flourescent.....

Hmmmmmmmmmm.......if the tank is in it's own room, you could toss a space heater in there to warm it up a bit...


just throwing out ideas...

 

[BigDaddy420]

the heater is heating the tank up still, almost back up to normal temp. im keeping an eye on it. i think its a bad pot. not sure. the fish are swimming around again and i gave them some more food and they attacked it like normal oscars. this heater isnt very old, i may find out where she bought it and see if i can take it back, hopefully its walmart, theyll take anything back!