Hi,
As the subject says I have a 75 gallon tank which I'm currently cycling. I was using an old eheim Jager heater however I know that this heater is stuck in the on position and way undersized. I threw that out and I went to my local Petco and I got two of the preset (to 78°) 200 watt aqueon heaters. They were about $23 a piece and I assumed that would be good enough for this tank. The problem is three separate thermometers show temperatures ranging from 75 to 76.1°. I went oversized on the wattage because it's November in PA and it does get cold. Ambient room temperature in my house is anything from 66 to 68°. I even tried turning the heat up to 70° and about 2 days later the temperature did not rise at all. I'm assuming either I'm doing something wrong, 400 w can't bring up 75 gallons to 78° on this ambient temperature, or the heaters are just garbage. I even stuck a meat thermometer in the tank and got the same results as my digital thermometers. My cycle has been running for weeks despite me adding bacteria in the bottle as well as some of the ammonia drops as per the bottles instructions and I know warmer temperatures speed that up, problem is I can't get those warmer temperatures. if this is an issue of the heater is being garbage I was looking at getting another eheim heater from BRS and was planning on going with two of the 150 watt units. I'm just posting here to see if anybody has any recommendations that might save me another $50 on heaters. I appreciate any input.
As the subject says I have a 75 gallon tank which I'm currently cycling. I was using an old eheim Jager heater however I know that this heater is stuck in the on position and way undersized. I threw that out and I went to my local Petco and I got two of the preset (to 78°) 200 watt aqueon heaters. They were about $23 a piece and I assumed that would be good enough for this tank. The problem is three separate thermometers show temperatures ranging from 75 to 76.1°. I went oversized on the wattage because it's November in PA and it does get cold. Ambient room temperature in my house is anything from 66 to 68°. I even tried turning the heat up to 70° and about 2 days later the temperature did not rise at all. I'm assuming either I'm doing something wrong, 400 w can't bring up 75 gallons to 78° on this ambient temperature, or the heaters are just garbage. I even stuck a meat thermometer in the tank and got the same results as my digital thermometers. My cycle has been running for weeks despite me adding bacteria in the bottle as well as some of the ammonia drops as per the bottles instructions and I know warmer temperatures speed that up, problem is I can't get those warmer temperatures. if this is an issue of the heater is being garbage I was looking at getting another eheim heater from BRS and was planning on going with two of the 150 watt units. I'm just posting here to see if anybody has any recommendations that might save me another $50 on heaters. I appreciate any input.
