Heating problem

[trish&dave]

OK, we are having a major issue with our water temp. We have a 150 watt fishcue heater (56 gallons and 20 gallon refugium) that comes with a temperature gauge. We thought that might be enough of a heater (we have a stealth 250 on a 125 that hold tempurater well on a cichlid tank at 80 degrees). It is reading 78.6. We have two coralife gauges reading 81.7 and 79.2. That is a three degree swing between the top and bottom and it is scary. I guess you get what you pay for!!!! All of the equipment is new (within a year for one coralife). Any suggestions on what to trust?
We understand we need more heating and we have the tank in our morning room that has a lot of window (and colder). We have another stealth 200 we are going to place in our refugium and place the fiscue in the spare water storage. Any recommendations for good temperature gauges? What about another heater that would save on the headache of adjusting the temperature every evening to make up for the cold weather? We lost a emerald crab and believe it was due to temperature drop, I will be glad to pay for a good heater and temperature gauge to solve the problem.
Thanks for any advise!

 

[scsinet]

You shouldn't ever have to adjust your heaters. They pretty much get set and left. If you are having to mess with your temperature there is something wrong with the heater.
I use Jager heaters myself, but Visi-Therms are nice as well I've heard.
Plan on at least 5 watts per gallon of heat.
For thermometers, I use the coralife ones with no problem. I'd bet it's the heater, not the thermometer you are using.

 

[trish&dave]

Originally Posted by SCSInet
You shouldn't ever have to adjust your heaters. They pretty much get set and left. If you are having to mess with your temperature there is something wrong with the heater.
I use Jager heaters myself, but Visi-Therms are nice as well I've heard.
Plan on at least 5 watts per gallon of heat.
For thermometers, I use the coralife ones with no problem. I'd bet it's the heater, not the thermometer you are using.
We have two corallife in the display, one is reading 79.5 and the other is 77.1. I am having an issue with trusting a digital thermo now! Our floating glass is sitting right at 80. So I am guessing the 79.5 is the accurate one. What causes these things to get so far off????
We ordered the Jager 300 watt heater last night. I was extremely mistaken in my original thought process was a nice 150 would be fine with a submerged mag 9 also generating some heat, but that has failed to be the case! Live and learn! That is why you should ALWAYS wait to expensive fish and have patience. It has definitely been a learning process!
Thanks for everyone's advise!

 

[scsinet]

It's not so much important as to what the temperature is as that it remain stable.
If you are reading 79.5, and you figure 3 degrees of error, that means the actual temperature is anywhere between 76.5 and 82.5, anywhere in this range would be fine for reefs, as long as it stays stable.
Most of the thermometers in the trade are inexpensive consumer grade stuff so their accuracy will always be questionable. Without a calibrated, lab grade thermometer, you will always have some error.

 

[bang guy]

How much waterflow do you have?

 

[scsinet]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
How much waterflow do you have?
That's a good point... I have a propagation/QT system that has two tanks and a sump. The heater is in the propagation side, and it's always a few degrees warmer than the fish side, likely due to low flow.