why does my aquarium heater stay on when the tank is overheated?
I have a fairly new 150 watt heater that has been working fine. What I’m noticing is that I adjust it to the temp that I want based on outside influences i.e. Winter weather, 68 deg in the house, lighting etc. then when the sun hits the room the tank is located in the temp jumps from 78 to 86 in just a few hours. This is a 29 gallon tank. My best guess is that the heater is not reading ACTUAL temperature and therefore is only keeping it’s OWN temperature steady not necessarily WATER temperature. Has anyone else realized this or come across this? I don’t want to have to adjust my therm every single time the outside conditions change. Any heaters actually track water temp instead to assure accuracy?
That’s the thing. I’m not so sure the heater is not working. It does turn off and on, and it’s out of the sun, but the sun hit the room and the ROOM temp went from 68 to 75, the tank temp went from 78 to 85 with the heater switching on and off normally. This seems to have become more of a problem since opening up the top of my tank. I recall having to turn up the heat quite a bit after doing that to maintain 78. Maybe I actually need MORE heater to maintain 10 degrees over the room temp. What I might have done is turn up the heater to say 86 to maintain 78 in the tank under cold conditions in the room??
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First get the tank out of the sun or you will have algae problems. get a thermometer for the tank so you can keep track of the temp. if the heater is not turning off I would return it because it may not be working properly.
Sounds like you could have a faulty thermostat, they are suppose to detect when the water temp reaches the appropriate level, and then reduce heat, or turn off, I think maybe you should call the shop you bought it from and ask if you can exchange it
i dont like the sound of that, i wouldnt trust it if its not doing what it should, i had one stay on all night once ond whiped out all the fish in it, i’d be getting a new heater if i was you.
i had the same problem with one not turning of.it was damaged and i took it back and got another one so i did.i agree to take the tank out of ssun light and make sure it is not beside any heaters.there are good digital thermometers on ebay to really cheap but good.also your 150 watt may be too much so it could.100 watt should be enough for your tank.good luck.