Habitat - Indoor :: Heater Question..

[Shinigami]

i have a heater thats in my turtle tank and i submerged it onto the red line because it says so...and i put it on 78 degrees and i feel like its not working..i touch it and it isn't hot AND i checked the manuel and it says a green light should be on but i dont see it..and its plugged in can any1 hep me?

[flutterby]

What brand heater do you have? I've had heaters that didn't work, I've had heaters that worked too well and never shut off.

What temperature is your water at now? That should be a sign of whether it works or not.

[Shinigami]

i put it at 79 degress and wen i feel it it feels a lil warm but its because of my light

[flutterby]

Do you have a thermometer in the water?

[CountryGirl68]

You should lower the temperature on the thermometer to between 74 and 78 degrees depending on the size of your turtle (higher for smaller turtles). You need to find out what the actual temperature of the water is. Guessing by touch will not give you an actual temperature. That's the only way you will be able to see if the heater is working. Just remember that if the water is the same temperature as the setting on the heater (or higher), the green light won't go on. It will only go on if the water temperature is colder than the setting.

[turtlesrock77]

My water heater has a light like that that only comes on at most once an hour for about a minute. It could be coming on without you seeing it. You should really get a thermometer to tell if its working.

[Andrew7769]

can you give a model number? i have had simeral problems w/ heaters, also can you just return it and get another one?

[SpotsMama]

I think turtlesrock77 iand CountryGirl68 are on target - you really need a thermometer to measure temperature. There are three basic kinds for aquariums.

Some are glass. A glass one can be very cheap - just a couple of dollars. But some turtles (like mine) will bit at it until it breaks if I let him. So I just put the thermomter in the tank long enough to register the temperature while I keep an eye on it, then take it out.

Another type is a neat little flat plastic strip that sticks to the outside of the tank and registers temperature. They are really cheap, easy and safe but may not be as accurate because they might be influenced by the air temperature. But they're not bad - I've compared them to the readings I get with a glass thermometer and they're very close. I find the ones that lie horizontally much easier to read than the vertical ones.

The third type is a digital thermometer that stays outside of the tank with just a little probe that goes into the water. These are more expensive - $14 or so and up - but are nice. But I wouldn't leave the probe in the water with my turtle unsupervised any more than I'd leave him alone with a glass one - because he'd try to eat it for sure!

[CountryGirl68]

I use a Tronic heater 100w. I also got a heater guard for it which was only about $6.