# Temperature dropping ?



## mrscrystal23 (Jul 5, 2012)

I was getting ready to do a water change on my tanks and I noticed the temperature is not where its supposed to be on any of my tanks . I have the heater set to 80 degrees in both tanks and until recently the temperature was always 80 degrees . The temp inside the house has been dropping and its about 73 degrees inside the house now is this the reason the tank temperature is changing . I thought having the heater set to 80 meant the temperature would never drop below 80 . Im still very new to this so please correct me if im wrong. Tank temp now is 76 degrees on the first floor and 74 in the basement tank . The fish in the basement tank is just swimming by the heater and he looks to be ok but how long can he last with the temperature dropping the way that it is. Please someone tell me what I need to do to fix this problem . I dont want to loose any of my fish .


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

slowly turn heater up(take a day or so).They are not as accurate as we would all like.If you heater has indicator light(most due) turn up a little and wait till light goes out,check temp and continue till you reach target.Monitor heater(S) for next couple days to make sure it's not"wacky"


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I find that with many heaters, I have to adjust them to get what I want. I have one 'tronic' heater that has to be set to 87 to keep the temperature at 78, while one of my newer ebo jaegers set at 72 gives 77. 
It's very hard to experiment with those limits with the fish in the tank, but you can't trust the reading on the heater.
As well, it would seem great imagination is being put into lessening the quality of heaters. They seem to burn out like light bulbs. The light goes on but the heat doesn't. Depending on how long you've had them, they could be burned out.
At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, it was easy for heater manufacturers to make devices that lasted reliably for ten years just a few years ago, but now, they last half that at best, for a higher price.

I unplug my heaters in the late Spring. Around now, when they go on, I test each one in a container of water to see what temperature they give. Otherwise, I risk boiling my fish every September.


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## mrscrystal23 (Jul 5, 2012)

Ok thank you I though I did something wrong . Now while im doing the pwc what temperature water do I add to the tank . Should I just make the water the same temp the tank water is currently and let the heater slowly warm it up .


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

water within a couple degrees F (+/- 2,3) would be fine .


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I adjust the temperature of the water for a change by touch. If it feels the same as the tank, it goes in. If you remove a lot of water for the change, unplug the heater. The water cools the tube and they sometimes crack exposed to air. Don't ask me how I learned that...


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