Heater broken? or insufficient

LeslieG

LeslieG

Member
I have an new Eheim Jager 100W aquarium heater on my 29G aquarium. The room temp is about 67 degrees. I have to set the heater at 91 degrees Fahrenheit to get an 80 degree water temperature. That seems ... excessive?

(This is the out-of-box calibration. The heater has a recalibration feature, but it only adjusts +/- 4 degrees, so with an 11 degree difference, it's not worth recalibrating.)

The 100W heater is rated for 40-60 gallons, and should supposedly handle a temperature difference of up to 18 degrees Fahrenheit.

Is the heater not working? Or is the 100W insufficient for my 29G filtered aquarium?

I do have a biowheel filter - could that be cooling the water temperature? The heater and thermometer are both in busy flow locations.

I'm inclined to return it for another 100W and see if I get better results. Or should I try a 125W? -- but that seems more likely to cook my fish.

Thanks!
 
Bob

Bob

Well-Known Member
More likely the heater is working but the thermostat on the heater is poorly calibrated. I find that a lot with the heaters i used to use. They were never accurate.
 
L190

L190

Well-Known Member
Vicmaki, what heaters do you use now? I use finnex titanium heater, Catalina titanium heaters and aqueon pro. all are pretty good
 
Bob

Bob

Well-Known Member
I really dont use heaters. Out of my 20ish tanks only 3 have heaters. But they are eheim jager heaters.
 
MattArmstrong

MattArmstrong

Member
I assume you've let the tank stabilize to those temps for 24 hours or so, and the heater is cycling on and off as you would expect, etc. If so, I'd return it or take it back. I have five of the newer Ehiem heaters and none and none are so far off that the calibration thing can't compensate.

I think the Eheim heaters are "fiddly" with respect to calibration. The actual number printed on the dial is just a vague guide. I've talked to multiple store owners that say they get returns because people get frustrated with this. It used to be that the "Jaeger" heaters didn't even print numbers on the dial! So, your other option is to just ignore the numbers and move on with your life! :)

I usually go closer to 5w/gallon, mainly because my house has terrible insulation and I let my house drop to 60F or even 55F at night in the cold months.
 
LeslieG

LeslieG

Member
Yes, the tank & heater have stabilized and the heater is cycling on and off to hold the temp. If 5w/gallon is safe, then a 125W or even 150W would probably be reasonable. I'm going to return this one once I decide what to replace it with. I think I'll go with a 125W, which will give me 4+w/gallon. I've had 2 Eheim heaters, the older ones, and liked their reliability but I've been away for 6 years. I switched to Eheim jager after having non-Eheim heaters quit, vary wildly in temp, and give me a mild zing.
 
Cory

Cory

Administrator
Staff member
You can add some safety factor by using a heater controller. But in general it's a balance between having enough watts and when the heater does fail, if it fails in the on position. The more watts you have, the less time you'll have to catch it.
 
LeslieG

LeslieG

Member
Cory said:
You can add some safety factor by using a heater controller. But in general it's a balance between having enough watts and when the heater does fail, if it fails in the on position. The more watts you have, the less time you'll have to catch it.
Click to expand...

I can see why people get two smaller heaters instead of one larger one. So if I want, say, 125 watts, would I get a 50W and a 75W? Two 75s?
 
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