Fluval heater

haigyfish · Nov 15, 2023

Hey y’all for some reason my Fluval heater is 68-86 degres for options. However when I set it ANYTGING below 74 it heats the tank up to 77 and above! Is there anything I can do to fix this!!!

fishyjoes · Nov 15, 2023

Heaters with the little knob setting thing? Those I mostly ignore the number.
Put it in a small (spare) aquarium with some minimal flow and let it run until the temperature is stable, then adjust the knob toward whatever temperature you want and wait for the temperature to adjust - do that until you get the knob to whatever position gives you the temperature you like (it takes a long time, but works)

TokenReefer · Nov 15, 2023

Go get a better heater I say. This is a critical life support component and they're all under $100. I get people are on a budget but maybe skip a few coffees if that's an issue. Isn't an area I want to skimp on in my system and I don't have anything elaborate. Just some Finnexes on a controller.. Even a heater controller is cheap; the Inkbirds are like $40 (at the most) with wifi! Pretty good bang for the buck imo

Naekuh · Nov 15, 2023

+1 on getting an ink bird controller, and connect the fluval heater to it.
ITC-308S is a excellent unit, and can support 2 heaters or up to 1200W.

haigyfish · Nov 15, 2023

TokenReefer said:
Go get a better heater I say. This is a critical life support component and they're all under $100. I get people are on a budget but maybe skip a few coffees if that's an issue. Isn't an area I want to skimp on in my system and I don't have anything elaborate. Just some Finnexes on a controller.. Even a heater controller is cheap; the Inkbirds are like $40 (at the most) with wifi! Pretty good bang for the buck imo

With the wifi controller can I turn off the heater from my phone or I have to be present?

TokenReefer · Nov 15, 2023

haigyfish said:
With the wifi controller can I turn off the heater from my phone or I have to be present?

Its even easier. You set a temp and it stays there (within your set range). So on my finnexes, they have a controller before the plug (same as yours just digital and along the cord instead of on the heater top). I set the heaters themselves to 83 or something (I forget) so that they stay on. Then I set the inkbird to turn on at 77.5 and off at 78 and it turns them off and on from there and that's it (you can change these to pick your own range). The tank stays within this temp range. The wifi is just an added bonus because you can set this from the unit itself but you can also calibrate from the app via wifi and adjust the alarms, etc. (I also use a apex so I calibrated it to the apex probe) and it'll tell you if your power went out when you're not home. For the $36 I think I paid it's priceless...

Edit: tldr - no you don't have to be present

haigyfish · Nov 15, 2023

TokenReefer said:
Its even easier. You set a temp and it stays there (within your set range). So on my finnexes, they have a controller before the plug (same as yours just digital and along the cord instead of on the heater top). I set the heaters themselves to 83 or something (I forget) so that they stay on. Then I set the inkbird to turn on at 77.5 and off at 78 and it turns them off and on from there and that's it (you can change these to pick your own range). The tank stays within this temp range. The wifi is just an added bonus because you can set this from the unit itself but you can also calibrate from the app via wifi and adjust the alarms, etc. (I also use a apex so I calibrated it to the apex probe) and it'll tell you if your power went out when you're not home. For the $36 I think I paid it's priceless...

Edit: tldr - no you don't have to be present

What’s the difference between the heating and cooling place? Also does the WiFi option just give you the ability to connect to the app?

TokenReefer · Nov 16, 2023

Heating and cooling place? Not sure what you mean. The temps are when the unit will turn on the heater (low temp setting) and it will heat until it hits the high temp setting. Then I think it just stays off until it drifts down below the low temp then repeats. Wifi let's you connect to the app, yes and there you can change alarm and calibrate. Maybe you can do it from the buttons but there's only three... Couldn't be simpler. I probably made it sound complex lol

haigyfish · Nov 18, 2023

TokenReefer said:
Heating and cooling place? Not sure what you mean. The temps are when the unit will turn on the heater (low temp setting) and it will heat until it hits the high temp setting. Then I think it just stays off until it drifts down below the low temp then repeats. Wifi let's you connect to the app, yes and there you can change alarm and calibrate. Maybe you can do it from the buttons but there's only three... Couldn't be simpler. I probably made it sound complex lol

Just bought it this thing is awesome! I set the SV to 74 does that mean if temp falls below heater will activate and if the temp goes above it will turn off? Will it stay in the general area of 74? Or always try to be exactly 74??

TokenReefer · Nov 18, 2023

haigyfish said:
Just bought it this thing is awesome! I set the SV to 74 does that mean if temp falls below heater will activate and if the temp goes above it will turn off? Will it stay in the general area of 74? Or always try to be exactly 74??

NIce! It should stay pretty tight within your high and low settings. Mine has only a .5 range difference; stays pretty tight

PS: don't pay attention to the typos in my pic; I use a different app for the InkBird control and apparently some things are lost in translation lol

TokenReefer · Nov 18, 2023

Now to add a layer of complication...I mean protection! Not saying you have to do this but if you can follow it may help. ANd you can add another control on your heater for like $8

-Use the SmartLife app (not the inkbird suggested app) and add your InkBird
-Get a Smart outlet or powerstrip
-Add that to SmartLife
-Plug your InkBird into the Smart outlet/strip
-Create a 'Scene' in SmartLife - if Temperature (F) reaches XX degrees - then turn off Outlet X

Now if your heaters go wacky and your inkbird also fails to shut them off, your outlet will shut off at whatever high temp is set!

Disclaimer: these are simple IFTTT devices/routines, may have glitches and were probably not intended as life support for animals (although IME these things run pretty smoothly with steady network connection) but they work! Also, to be fair maybe their app works similarly in the opposite direction (adding the outlet/strip after the inkbird)

Naekuh · Nov 18, 2023

TokenReefer said:
Heating and cooling place?

Cooling is where you would connect a fan.
So if the temp gets to X or above it turns the fan circuit on.
IF the temp drops below X, the heater curcuit turns on.

Personally i don't like the combo, because i run a dedicated phase change compressor chiller and it saves me in the long run on evaporation, and humidty in the room.

The dedicated heater one also has 2 circuits for heaters, so you can run dual heaters, incase one fails.
But i guess its all in preference, as you could run a splitter on the heater circuit. Just make sure you get the one specifically for aquariums as they are rubber coated, and do not corrode.

The beauty of the inkbird controller is your heater doesn't need to be accurate as the controller does all the controlling for it. So it cuts the power as the temp is reached, and turns on the power as the temps are below thresh hold.

So i typically set my heaters to the max possible like 80F and let the inkbird turn the curcuit on and off as needed.

I would recommend you getting the Hygger titanium heat exchanger or the BRS one tho, as they are shatter proof.
Also make sure your temp probe for the inkbird is always submerged so i typically throw it in an overflow or inside the first chamber of the sump where its never possible for the probe to be exposed to air.