Current heater sucks...

[G S P Freak]

Ok, as the title so eloquently put it, my heater is terrible. It's one of those tetra submersible heaters you can buy at walmart. It says it's for 2-10 gallons aquariums and is supposed to keep the temp at 78F, with a indication light to tell when it's turned on to heat the tank. The heater seems to be keeping the water at 74F/23C and doesn't turn on at this temp, according to my thermometer. Idk if the heater or my thermometer is broken, or if I need a better rated heater since my room mate refuses to keep his window closed, and it can get quiet cold at night - this is usually when I see the heaters red light on - indicating it's heating. Any recommendations on affordable, effective aquarium heater for a 10 gallon tank?

[Terrance]

aqueon pro heater.

[sgtmyers88]

Interesting I have that exact same tetra heater maintaining a 55g fw tank at 75F-78F.

[G S P Freak]

I found this review on amazon, it's a review for the new thermometer I bought today, a JW Fusion Smart temp thermometer...

I bought this thermometer from a local pet store for my new betta aquarium because it seemed like it would be easier to read than the other weighted thermometers they had that sit at the bottom of your tank. That is definitely true, it's easy to read given that it sits right up against the glass. It did actually scratch my tank because I moved it by just sliding the magnet on the outside of the tank rather than placing the thermometer where I want it and then placing the magnet accordingly. That was my own fault, nothing that was a flaw of the thermometer. The biggest issue I have with it is that it is off by four degrees. Once I set up my tank and waited 24 hours for my heater and filter to circulate the warm water thoroughly. However, the temperature wouldn't go above 72 degrees so I assumed that my heater (which has an automatic thermostat) was malfunctioning so I exchanged it but still had the same issue; the temperature wouldn't go above 72 degrees which would be too cold for my betta. So I compared the thermometer to a high end temperature controller with a temperature probe in a glass of water and it consistently showed that the little aquarium thermometer read four degrees lower than the actual water temperature. I won't be exchanging the thermometer because a new one may also be off. At least with the one I have, I know when it says 72 degrees it's actually 76 degrees. It's a nice design, just wish it was more accurate.

SO... I figure the heater may be working fine, but it's the thermometer that sucks lol. I'll be buying a different thermometer soon and if it reads a temp around 78F, I'm returning the one I just bought...

[sgtmyers88]

I always liked the stick on glass types. Never had any problems as long as you place it above the substrate level and light is not directly shining on it. All my tanks use them.

[Tim]

I quite like the eheim heaters, got 3 of them, the only real issue is that even the ones for smaller aquariums are still quite substantial in size

[Pufferpunk]

I've been using the Jagers for 35 years.