General Care Discussion :: heaters

[myboyblue]

I have my sub heater hooked up, and it seems to be warming up then it stops and drops a few degrees. Its at 75.7 now but was 75.4 then drooped to 75.0. Its a 100 watt, in a 20 gall long tank. According to what im reading that should be sufficient.

Could it be broken, if so why would the water temp come up at all.
It said it should maintain around 78.

I know its just tenths of degrees, but I figured it would just get colder if it wasnt working.

Also im getting some different opinions on how long to leave the basking and uv lamp (seperate units) on.

any advice

[BullDog]

Is a type of heater that you can set? Perhaps it's set too low.
Another thing that affects the temp is your lights. Once your lights go off, the water temperature can cool a little bit.

How long has the heater been in there? It make take a while for the heater to warm the water up to the specified temperature.

[myboyblue]

I just purchased it. I think its working and its automatic temp setting mat just be a little off it gets up to 76 deg. and then stops. then it drops a few degrees and will kick back on.

Im going to keep an eye out.

[steve]

What brand heater did you get and what are you using to take the temp?

If the room is cool, and you have a stick-on type thermometer, then it might be throwing the reading off a little. If you are using a digital probe, the inexpensive models are not always properly calibrated.

[myboyblue]

The heater is a tetra for up to 30 gallon tanks and I only have about 15 gallons in there. The thermo is digital with the water probe. Calibration, Thats my thinking as well because the heater is working and kicking in when the temp drops.

The temp is ranging 75.5 to 76.5
He seems really happy, swimming, climbing, eating like a horse gets good basking time.

Hes really cool.

Im going to double check with another thermo and see whats up.

[steve]

Since my previous experience with a digital, I like to recommend 2 different types kept on hand. A lot of like infrared temp guns ($20) and I think the stick-on type is fine with glass and predictable.

[SpotsMama]

On how long to leave the basking and UVB bulbs on, you should try to mimic natural day/night cycle with both. Something like 12 hours on and 12 hours off. Most people get an inexpensive timer to manage the light cycle.

Your water heater should keep the water warm enough for them overnight, and since most turtles like to sleep in the water you don't need to leave a heat bulb on at night.

[myboyblue]

Ok the heat finally came up to 77.7. The thermometer probe is on the opposite side of the heater and Im just thinking the heater works slowly. Perhaps its a safety mechanism. Its heating and cooling and kicking back in as the temp drops, so all seems well.

Does everyone pretty much just let their heater and filter run constantly ?
If so, how soon should I expect to have to change the filter. 79gph in a 20 gall long about 3/4 full. Its only been a few days and its just not clening the opposite side of the tank to well.

[mikee]

bule-boy -- You will need a larger filter. It should pump at least 5 times the water volume that is in the tank. More would be better. Turtles requier a lot of water with biological filtration. I have a 350 gph on a 29 gallon and it does great. On the temperture question if the water stays between 75 and 77 is just fine. Each heater varies as to when it cuts off and when it cutes on. You could resolve this issue by buying another heater and then have two. Good Luck!!

[myboyblue]

Yes I guess your right, I figured a 79 gph in about 15 gallons of water would be sufficient as the tanks only 3/4 full. Its doing a bang up job on one side LOL.

thanks again

[BullDog]

I think most people let their filters + heaters run all the time.
79 gph in a 20 gal is pretty good. That's almost 4x the water volume.
However, I'm guessing it's either a waterfall filter or an internal filter? The problem with those is that the intake and outtake are in essentially the same place. So as you are finding, near the filter is getting cleaned up, but the opposite side is not. That being said, almost all filters leave "leftovers" on the bottom of the tank. You can periodically scoop this out with either a fine net, or a turkey baster (make sure you have a designated turkey baster just for the turtles!). You could also sweep some of the bits towards the filter, to see if that helps suck them up.

For how often you clean the filter, it varies. With a smaller filter and tank, you'll probably want to do it no less than once every two weeks. You'll probably want to do a partial water change that often as well. If the water is getting icky looking, do it sooner. When you clean your filter, rinse the media in tank water, instead of tap water, so you retain the good bacteria that has been accumulated.

[myboyblue]

Yep, its a waterfall alright. lol

Turkey baster now theres an idea. I was trying to think what I could use to suck some of it up. I was thinking of going to purchase a small siphoning pump.

I just put my first rosys in the tank, I dont know if hes ever had them before. So far hes not paying them any attention.

Hes the coolest damn thing Ive ever seen LOL.

[robind]

Honestly I don't really worry about the temperature in my tank. As long as it's above 70F and below 85F they're happy and I'm happy.

[TheComputerGremlin]

robind - You SHOULD worry about the temps in your tank. If the temps are above 76 degrees, your turtle's metabolism is working too quickly, causing them to burn up what little food they eat too quickly. If the temps are below 76 degrees, your turtle's metabolism will decrease, to the point that he will starve to death right in front of you. I see you are in Santa Cruz, so I would imagine your temps are usually higher than 76 degrees, which means you should consider means for cooling your tank, like ice cube bottles or a chiller. Remember that turtles are cold blooded, so they rely only on their environment for their bodies to function correctly.

[robind]

I've been keeping my temperature around 80 recently because one of the turtles has some puffy eye going on. Keeping the temperature a bit warmer helps a lot with that.