breakaway Posted June 28, 2010 Report Share Posted June 28, 2010 Bought one of these heaters recently, as I'm building a small planted setup. Figured the space I save would be good. The tank it's used on is a AQ-World Panorama 12. That's a 12L bow front aquarium. I figured once I account for all the gravel I put into it, plants, etc, the total water volume will be under 10L, so the Marina C10 (rated for 10L max) should be fine. Now I've had it running for 2 days. The heater hasn't turned off at all (I can see the little light on it is on 24/7) and the temperature of the tank won't come up. When I close the doors to the room (small room) and run my heater, the temperature starts coming up to 24 (I have verified by using two different digital aqua one thermometers and one stick-on gauge that the temperature readout is correct). The highest I've ever seen it is 24.5° C. I've ensured good circulation in the aquarium etc but it just doesn't seem to be working. I just got home from work ant it was sitting at 20.4° C. What's the story? Is this heater simply too small for this tank? It's apparently rated for 10L tanks though, so it should be fine shouldn't it? At the same time I have a 40L tank running with a 50W heater and it seems to have no problems maintaining temps,. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 28, 2010 Report Share Posted June 28, 2010 Bought one of these heaters recently, as I'm building a small planted setup. Figured the space I save would be good. The tank it's used on is a AQ-World Panorama 12. That's a 12L bow front aquarium. I figured once I account for all the gravel I put into it, plants, etc, the total water volume will be under 10L, so the Marina C10 (rated for 10L max) should be fine. Now I've had it running for 2 days. The heater hasn't turned off at all (I can see the little light on it is on 24/7) and the temperature of the tank won't come up. When I close the doors to the room (small room) and run my heater, the temperature starts coming up to 24 (I have verified by using two different digital aqua one thermometers and one stick-on gauge that the temperature readout is correct). The highest I've ever seen it is 24.5° C. I've ensured good circulation in the aquarium etc but it just doesn't seem to be working. I just got home from work ant it was sitting at 20.4° C. What's the story? Is this heater simply too small for this tank? It's apparently rated for 10L tanks though, so it should be fine shouldn't it? At the same time I have a 40L tank running with a 50W heater and it seems to have no problems maintaining temps,. It's rated probably for 10L at a room temperature of 21°...Sounds like it's not enough if you have a cold room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diver21 Posted June 28, 2010 Report Share Posted June 28, 2010 could try putting poly on the back and sides to help keep it maintail temp and cover it with something at night. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted June 28, 2010 Report Share Posted June 28, 2010 I would take it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted June 28, 2010 Report Share Posted June 28, 2010 Idve gone with the C17 or C25 anyway. they are still really small units Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted June 28, 2010 Report Share Posted June 28, 2010 Regardless of how many litres the heater is rated to, how many watts is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 28, 2010 Report Share Posted June 28, 2010 Regardless of how many litres the heater is rated to, how many watts is it? If you google it, it's 10 watts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breakaway Posted June 28, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2010 I thought the 1 watt / 1 litre rule that's thrown around would stay true, but guess not. At the moment I'm having to run a heater to keep the room warm, and even then the heater can barely manage 23°. Will be taking it back at my earliest convenience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 28, 2010 Report Share Posted June 28, 2010 I thought the 1 watt / 1 litre rule that's thrown around would stay true, but guess not. At the moment I'm having to run a heater to keep the room warm, and even then the heater can barely manage 23°. Will be taking it back at my earliest convenience. Not even close. Volume is basically irrelevant, it's surface area that matters. Double the dimensions of a tank and the volume cubes, but the surface area only squares. If 10 liters takes 10 watts to keep at a set temp, double the dimensions and you'll have an 80 liter tank that takes 40 watts to keep at temp or 1 watt per 2 liters. Triple the dimensions 270 liters that takes 90 watts, 1 watt per 3 liters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil_elmo Posted June 29, 2010 Report Share Posted June 29, 2010 they are not very good heaters at all i have the C25 (rated for 26deg for a 25litre tank) on my 20-23litre tank, room temp of about 15-16deg and it only heats to 22deg max Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshlikesfish Posted June 29, 2010 Report Share Posted June 29, 2010 I would take it back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted June 29, 2010 Report Share Posted June 29, 2010 maybe just warm the tank with your hands :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breakaway Posted July 1, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2010 Took it back and got a 25W Aqua One Cylindrical heater. Tank is at 25.5-26.5 degrees even during cold nights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted July 3, 2010 Report Share Posted July 3, 2010 The Marina heaters are designed for people wanting to heat plastic tanks. So basically safe for kids to use, unbreakable, safe to remove from the water while plugged in, don't run burning hot to the touch. They work very well for the purpose they were designed for, but are a compromise and poor heater if your wanting it to work like a traditional heater but look pretty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted June 26, 2011 Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 Anyone else used these heaters? Am planning a 1ft cube nano (25L) and considering the C25 model, but low temps for plants aint gonna cut it. Was thinking I could run two C17s even, would still look better than a conventional heater, but more $$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted June 26, 2011 Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 it is winter, so you basically need one and half to twice the wattage to maintain a good temperature Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FraserNZ Posted June 29, 2011 Report Share Posted June 29, 2011 Anyone else used these heaters? Am planning a 1ft cube nano (25L) and considering the C25 model, but low temps for plants aint gonna cut it. Was thinking I could run two C17s even, would still look better than a conventional heater, but more $$ Yeah I have one of the C25 models... I have to say it was probably the biggest waste of money I have spent on fish related items. I purchased mine in February and it couldn't get the tank even close to the stated 26c that it's meant to achieve on correctly sized tanks. The box states it's designed to increase the water temperature by 4c from room temperature... I guess I should of read that bit :roll: Anyway if anyone wants one I have a hardly used one going cheap lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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