Which Temp is preferred?

[Droberts0724]

So I have a hygger heater in my aquarium and while it works the temp control sucks IMO you have to bump up the heater setting high to have it register 2° temp lower. So example in the summer I had the temp control set to 79° and my tank seemed to stay at 77.5° all summer with slight fluctuations on hot days. However it's cold now and I had to bump up the setting because at 79° the temp in tank in the AM is low due to overnight it's only sorce of heat might be the refugium light and heater. The temp when I checked it the other day was 76.5 so it dropped a degree overnight but my house was 67°. So I increased the temp to 81° and now my tank is at 79.7° my question for everyone is...do you believe it's better to stay on the cooler side or warmer side? I sent a shot of my heater as well. Plus with this heater settings you have to set in by degrees of 2 for some reason...like the temp control goes from 77 to 79 to 81 and the weird thing is if you try to set it in between not sure if it works...it clicks into place with the numbers increasing by 2. Anyone have experience with this heater or just experience with the temp of your tank fluctuating and what do you do?

 

[Saltyreef]

I have two of these on my tank set to 77 degrees year round.
The temp of my tank only gets above 77 when the ambient is above 80 for over 8 hours. This is when a chiller would be needed.
On cold months with a 59 to 62 degree ambient temp ive seen my tank as low as 75. That just means my heaters cant keep up when the temp difference goes beyond 15 degrees.

Your heater may be undersized.
And you have to understand all heaters have a degree of error. Some as high as 2 degrees.
Mine read pretty spot on.... within a degree of actual temp and within a degree from eachother. Only time i ever cross check the tank temp is with my ph meter and its always dead on!

You also may want to look into one of the models with a standalone controller. IMHO those inline units dont keep a good temp reference as the probe is down by the heating element.

Good luck!

 

[Onewolf]

What size tank and what wattage heater?

 

[Droberts0724]

What size tank and what wattage heater?

32 gallin nano and its

I have two of these on my tank set to 77 degrees year round.
The temp of my tank only gets above 77 when the ambient is above 80 for over 8 hours. This is when a chiller would be needed.
On cold months with a 59 to 62 degree ambient temp ive seen my tank as low as 75. That just means my heaters cant keep up when the temp difference goes beyond 15 degrees.

Your heater may be undersized.
And you have to understand all heaters have a degree of error. Some as high as 2 degrees.
Mine read pretty spot on.... within a degree of actual temp and within a degree from eachother. Only time i ever cross check the tank temp is with my ph meter and its always dead on!

You also may want to look into one of the models with a standalone controller. IMHO those inline units dont keep a good temp reference as the probe is down by the heating element.

Good luck!

Thank you...my tank right now is reading 79.9 and my heater is setbto 81 but its much warmer in my house. My tank is a 32 gallon nano and my heater is a 300 watt heater.

 

[Droberts0724]

What size tank and what wattage heater?

32 gallon nano and a 300 watt heater.

 

[Saltyreef]

Thats pretty overkill. I have two 100 watt on my 60 gallon system and its perfect for anything up to15 degrees past ambient. Your heater is likely short cycling and heating up the water too much too quick.
Plus if your heater sticks on, it will cook that entire tank real quick

 

[Nanoreefer4ever]

What is the less likely to fail heater to use external controller like the inkbird model?

 

[Droberts0724]

Thats pretty overkill. I have two 100 watt on my 60 gallon system and its perfect for anything up to15 degrees past ambient. Your heater is likely short cycling and heating up the water too much too quick.
Plus if your heater sticks on, it will cook that entire tank real quick

Believe it or not that heater actually never gets as hot as I set it. I have been using it in my tank since April and the temp never reaches the temp I set it to. So like I said...it was set at 79° and only was getting the water to 77.5 temp it was this way for months. I just bumped it to 81° and the water is staying around 79.7 so I guess that temp is ok. I was just wondering if people preferred cooler temps around 75-77 or did better with higher temps of 79-82? The fish and coral are all still happy and fine I just didn't want to set it too high. I only bought this heater because it was rated for up to 55 gallon tank.

 

[Hermie]

black box heater

 

[Saltyreef]

Dont pay attention to manufactuers ratings on tank size.
You should put the heater on an external controller since it seems its not working right and you are set on using it...
Disaster waiting to happen if you keep using it as is.

 

[Droberts0724]

What is the less likely to fail heater to use external controller like the inkbird model?

It has an external controller. However I hate that you can only set it to temp like 75, 77, 79, 81 it's in increments of 2...and you can't set the thermostat to anything in between apparently it shuts off the heater which thankfully I read online. Ibwas only concerned because this will be my first winter with my tank and I don't want the temp fluctuations overnight...so I bumped it to 81° to be on the safe side and my tank is remaining at 79.7 and when it was set to 79° it was registering the temp at 77.5 this is where I set up my thermometer and this is the type. I'm pretty sure it's pretty accurate

 

[Droberts0724]

black box heater

What does that mean???

 

[Hermie]

What does that mean???

analogy to black box light

 

[phatduckk]

I have a neotherm on my quarantine tank and that one set to 78 keeps the tank steady at about 79 (it’s about 84 degrees out).

on my real tank I have 2 Jagers controller by my apex. That tank is almost always ballpark 78 but, admittedly, it’s an expensive setup.

also worth looking into whether or not you can manually calibrate your heater. Many have a way for you to adjust what it thinks the actual values are.

 

[Droberts0724]

Dont pay attention to manufactuers ratings on tank size.
You should put the heater on an external controller since it seems its not working right and you are set on using it...
Disaster waiting to happen if you keep using it as is.

What do you mean external...it's just ike the heater you showed me. It's controller is outside the tank. It is just like the other heater where you connect it to outside connection....

 

[Droberts0724]

analogy to black box light

Oh ok...was not sure what you were getting at :]

 

[Saltyreef]

Yes thats a cheap version of a controller and they dont work good. You need an "external" digital controller.

Your tank should not deviate from the setpoint even in winter months, that means the heater isnt doing its job.

In my case, its only when i leave my windows open or the one to 2 days a year we get into freezing temps here on the good ol central coast in cal.

 

[Saltyreef]

What do you mean external...it's just ike the heater you showed me. It's controller is outside the tank. It is just like the other heater where you connect it to outside connection....

Thats an inline controller.

 

[Droberts0724]

Yes thats a cheap version of a controller and they dont work good. You need an "external" digital controller.

Your tank should not deviate from the setpoint even in winter months, that means the heater isnt doing its job.

In my case, its only when i leave my windows open or the one to 2 days a year we get into freezing temps here on the good ol central coast in cal.

Ok so you suggested the hygger with the digital controller? The 200 watt?

 

[Saltyreef]

I explained the difference already. One has a temp probe on an extension where as the inline conteoller heaters usually have the probe at the top of the heating element head which is a bad design for precise temp control.
You can get an inkbird and just be done and keep your malfunctioning heater if you wish....

To answer your original question....aim to keep your tanks temp around 77 to 78 year round.
Dont dial up and down the setpoint on your controller as thats not how to control tank temp.