# 25W heater on allll the time.



## Fishnoob78 (Oct 30, 2005)

I have a 5 1/2 gallon tank thats all ready for a betta. The only problem is that the heater is on all of the time. It's been running for 3 days and I think I saw it go off only once. I'm guessing it's because of the size of the tank and it wont hold heat.

It's a cheap 25W heater with a dial that works by when the desired temp is reached you back off (turning left) till the light goes off. 

I live in New England and because it's winter the house can be a tad be cool at times.

Right now the temp doesn't seem to want to go any higher than 74 ish. Also with the heater on all of the time I'm worried how much $$ it's consuming on power.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

what temperature room do you have. Most heaters are tested for a room that is 70 degrees. true a smaller tank would lose heat faster than a larger one but if the heater is on all the time maybe it is set too low and can't get to the right temp.
Is it at the temp you want it at?
You can always check it out in a bucket of water so you don't run the risk of cooking the fish, or if you can afford a good heater that has numbers on the dial get one of those. It pays off to buy good quality heaters. you can cut back somewhere else like filter supplies.
My friend has a 5 gal betta tank and has a 50 watt heater in there and it stays consistently at 78.
I keep my bettas at an even 70 degrees which i know some of you will say is too cool but the temp is at least constant.They are sitting on the table in my sewing room. My bettas in tanks are kept at 74.
They are all healthy little guys.


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## Fishnoob78 (Oct 30, 2005)

Ya tomorrow i'm going to buy a larger dial type heater. This one is to small and it just gets to cold at night to keep the temp steady with this one.


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## PaulInKingston (Dec 4, 2005)

Yes invest in a better heater for sure, its also a good idea to have one spare on hand also so in case of failure which does happen you are ready to go.


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## meyerhaus (Feb 27, 2006)

I just had one of those radiant heaters (clamp on the tank) go haywire on me and fry my Crowntail and 2 Pygmaeus Corys. It appears that the thermostat broke since it was 90 degrees in the morning when I saw it. Never again will I use a radiant heater; I just ordered several submersibles.


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