First tank scare woke up to 82.5F

[ajm83]

That heater is awfully large for a 40g. I would get one closer to the size of your tank.

What makes you say that?

https://www.thesprucepets.com/aquarium-heater-size-guide-1381033

 

[Zeal]

What makes you say that?

https://www.thesprucepets.com/aquarium-heater-size-guide-1381033

This is the graph I used.

Do the Aqueons need calibration??

 

[JBKReef]

Was messing with my heater last night no idea why I touched it, but this morning I woke up to the tempatures being 82.5F. I know for a fact the heater has been working fine it's only 2 months old but I always had an issue calibrating it..

It's one of those dang ehiem heaters... To calibrate it do I push the little red notch to the current water tempature THEN turn the blue know to match the desired tempature?

Edit: first time something like this happens so I'm worried. I reclibrated it after watching videos. I disconnected it used the red not to set the tempature at 81. Then connected it and turned the know down to 79.. hope I did this right.. the light turned on is that supposed to happen?

Not a cheap option but one that would be very reliable. Get one 75 watt, and one 100 watt neotherm heather, and run them both through an Inkbird temp controller. $158.67

Set the Neotherms to 78, set the inkbird to 80, the Neotherms are one of the most accurate out of the box and if either of them fail on the inkbird will shut it down.

https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/cobalt-neo-therm-submersible-heater.html

https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Temp...ocphy=9014409&hvtargid=pla-326308171578&psc=1

 

[Zeal]

Ok so I put my heater in a 5g bucket calibrated it to 78 and it heated up the water to that temp and turned off..

I'm guess I'm calibrating it wrong in my tank?

Edit: gonna move it to 79 to see if it turns off again.

 

[HotRocks]

What makes you say that?

https://www.thesprucepets.com/aquarium-heater-size-guide-1381033

Here is the chart from the MANF he has.
Going oversized is risky from the standpoint of "Sticking on". It can roast your tank. You never need to heat above 80 degrees F for a reef tank. So actually under sizing is a much safer route IMO.

Watts Manufacturer
Recommended
Aquarium Size Heater
Length
50 7-16 gallons 9"
75 16-26 gallons 10"
100 26-40 gallons 12"
125 40-53 gallons 12"
150 53-79 gallons 13"
200 79-106 gallons 15"
250 106-159 gallons 17"
300 159-264 gallons 19"


For example I use the 100W on my 40 gallon QT. I did have it stay stuck on and temp never got above 81F. Just my .02.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Do those need this dumb calibration?

If the calibration is confusing, ignore it. Just pick any temperature on the heater close to what you want, set the heater, then let the tank do its thing. Come back and check the temperature a little bit later. If it's too high, set the temperature dial lower. If the temperature is too low, increase the temperature dial. Once your tank has stabilized, if you'd like, move the calibration to reflect the range you want. The problem also could be that the thermostat is broken. Try turning the heater all the way down and see if the light turns off. If not, you might need to replace it.

This is how you'd use a heater without the calibration anyway. You'd just have to set it to an arbitrary number and see where your tank ends up. At least with the calibration feature, you can change the temperature display to reflect what actually happens in your tank.

For what it's worth, on natural reefs, temperatures can swing by several degrees in the course of minutes as currents bring colder water from the depths. Natural reefs also experience temperatures up to 90*F, especially in the Red Sea. Having your tank at 82.5*F is not an emergency. Just keep an eye on the temperature and try to minimize the changes.

 

[Zeal]

If the calibration is confusing, ignore it. Just pick any temperature on the heater close to what you want, set the heater, then let the tank do its thing. Come back and check the temperature a little bit later. If it's too high, set the temperature dial lower. If the temperature is too low, increase the temperature dial. Once your tank has stabilized, if you'd like, move the calibration to reflect the range you want. The problem also could be that the thermostat is broken. Try turning the heater all the way down and see if the light turns off. If not, you might need to replace it.

This is how you'd use a heater without the calibration anyway. You'd just have to set it to an arbitrary number and see where your tank ends up. At least with the calibration feature, you can change the temperature display to reflect what actually happens in your tank.

For what it's worth, on natural reefs, temperatures can swing by several degrees in the course of minutes as currents bring colder water from the depths. Natural reefs also experience temperatures up to 90*F, especially in the Red Sea. Having your tank at 82.5*F is not an emergency. Just keep an eye on the temperature and try to minimize the changes.

Noted, felt like it was an emergency I'm new to the hobby everywhere I read it says to keep things between 78-80. So waking up really early in the morning and seeing that is a cause for concern in my eyes

 

[Bruno516]

I use a Fluval 300W for my tank. It's adjustable and has a high temp shut off and low temp turn in to keep temps accurate as possible. LED temp display as well. It was $40 on amazon but much better than the other 2 heaters I used.

 

[Zeal]

I use a Fluval 300W for my tank. It's adjustable and has a high temp shut off and low temp turn in to keep temps accurate as possible. LED temp display as well. It was $40 on amazon but much better than the other 2 heaters I used.

Noted gonna do some research on heaters today

 

[Flippers4pups]

This is the graph I used.

Do the Aqueons need calibration??

No.

Inkbird:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Inkbird-IT...troller-thermostat-110v-2-stage-/322059258645

 

[lbacha]

I wouldn't be too concerned over 82 degrees a lot of people's reefs run this warm all summer long. I would get a controller to make sure you don't stick on and go higher

 

[Zeal]

I wouldn't be too concerned over 82 degrees a lot of people's reefs run this warm all summer long. I would get a controller to make sure you don't stick on and go higher

Will do my next investment.

Thank you everyone for the responses I'm gonna take everything into consideration

I was worried tempature spike would cause a crash on my first tank. Up until now I've had zero major issues and everything is growing

 

[ajm83]

Here is the chart from the MANF he has.
Going oversized is risky from the standpoint of "Sticking on". It can roast your tank. You never need to heat above 80 degrees F for a reef tank. So actually under sizing is a much safer route IMO.

Watts Manufacturer
Recommended
Aquarium Size Heater
Length
50 7-16 gallons 9"
75 16-26 gallons 10"
100 26-40 gallons 12"
125 40-53 gallons 12"
150 53-79 gallons 13"
200 79-106 gallons 15"
250 106-159 gallons 17"
300 159-264 gallons 19"


For example I use the 100W on my 40 gallon QT. I did have it stay stuck on and temp never got above 81F. Just my .02.

Genuinely I mean no disrespect, but I disagree- IMVHO a heater sticking on and only reaching 81f is IMVHO marginal in terms of capacity, as it is only increasing the temperature a small amount above room temperature (assuming room temp is 21c ish).

But I suppose really it depends on your environment as to what the greatest risk is. For example, my front room is much more likely to be too cold than too hot. So i'd rather cover that eventuality and use a heat controller to ensure it can't stick on and boil the tank. If you know your house is never more than 5c lower than the tank then I suppose you can use a small heater with minimal risk.

I have personally experienced a tank wipeout from an undersized heater as I had a 100w heater fail to keep my 80 litre tank at normal temp (27c/80.6f) when my central heating failed to come on and the room temp dipped. Lost everything apart from a clownfish.

 

[Griffothefog]

Inkbird plus titanium heater is fairly bulletproof

 

[VbReefer]

I prefer the bayite temp controller
Can calibrate it and has cooling outlet for sump/canopy fans. Also features customizable high and low alarms.

Temperature Controller bayite BTC201 Pre-Wired Digital Outlet Thermostat, 2 Stage Heating and Cooling Mode, 110V - 240V 10A https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KEYDNKK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fpskBb008C5MS

 

[VbReefer]

I prefer the bayite temp controller
Can calibrate it and has cooling outlet for sump/canopy fans. Also features customizable high and low alarms.

Temperature Controller bayite BTC201 Pre-Wired Digital Outlet Thermostat, 2 Stage Heating and Cooling Mode, 110V - 240V 10A https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KEYDNKK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fpskBb008C5MS

 

[Zeal]

I decided to buy a new heater. Went with the Aqueon 100w

 

[TheBackAndForth]

Here is the chart from the MANF he has.
Going oversized is risky from the standpoint of "Sticking on". It can roast your tank. You never need to heat above 80 degrees F for a reef tank. So actually under sizing is a much safer route IMO.

Watts Manufacturer
Recommended
Aquarium Size Heater
Length
50 7-16 gallons 9"
75 16-26 gallons 10"
100 26-40 gallons 12"
125 40-53 gallons 12"
150 53-79 gallons 13"
200 79-106 gallons 15"
250 106-159 gallons 17"
300 159-264 gallons 19"


For example I use the 100W on my 40 gallon QT. I did have it stay stuck on and temp never got above 81F. Just my .02.

I think a person needs to understand how their home affects their temp. I live in Minnesota, and for 8 months of the year, my house is kept at 66 degrees. A large heater is necessary here, and I actually run a much much smaller one in the summer to avoid frying when my house is 75-78 degrees. I've considered going sans heater during summer months, but need it to heat the water about 2 degrees above room temp

 

[JoshKReef]

Inkbird can also be calibrated. I'm not sure if calibration is the right word. You can offset whatever it reads to make it match what you want. So if you have a known working thermometer, and your inkbird is off by .5, you can +/- .5 from it. You can also set alarms if your temp drops below or goes over a certain number.

 

[Bayareareefer18]

Inkbird can also be calibrated. I'm not sure if calibration is the right word. You can offset whatever it reads to make it match what you want. So if you have a known working thermometer, and your inkbird is off by .5, you can +/- .5 from it. You can also set alarms if your temp drops below or goes over a certain number.

+1