Is my heater working?

[azjen]

I got a new 10 gallon tank that comes with a heater. It is a tetra 50 watt heater with a suction cup. I put horizontally at the bottom along the water line and plugged it in but it does not seem to have made a difference 10 hours later. Should the heater itself feel warm at all because mine doesn't?

The website says it can take 36 hours but I would think the heater would feel a little warm if it was heating the water.

Thanks!

Jennine

[Jupiter]

Tetra filters, I've found, don't work well at all. I wouldn't reccomend them.

[azjen]

Dang! It came with my aquarium and since my water is normally about 74 anyway, I hoped it could do the job to just heat it a few degrees. I did not think that is asking much - even for a cruddy heater!

Does it sound defective? Should it feel slightly warm when I touch the tubing? If so, I will return it and have them give me another one.

[Jupiter]

Do you have a thermometer in your tank? It's not heating it at all?

[azjen]

It is hard to tell. I just put in a thermometer. To me, it feels a little cooler than last night because when I put the tap water in, I put in some that was a little warm at the end to try to speed up the process of heating it. This morning, it feels the same or a little cooler.

My question though is if it is in heat mode, will the actual heater feel a little warm to the touch? Mine does not at all which makes me assume it is doing nothing.

[Ender]

Mine does not feel warm. You really need to get a thermometer (only $2). Touch won't be of much help. 78F (which is what the Tetra heaters are set at) water feels quite cool on 98F skin.

Be sure to not turn the heater on unless it is submerged. You can irreparably damage it.

[azjen]

I did put the thermometer from my other tank in there to check and it is running about 76 degrees in there. A red light went on the heater for about 5 minutes then went off again so that means it was heating it for a few moments at least.

I am off to get a few things at the pet store and will grab a few more thermometers.

I went and bought my boys a betta yesterday and fell in love with a white one and so now I need to buy another tank and such for MY betta.

I was just trying to assess if this heater was working and such before heading to the store since my boy's betta will be alone in a 10 gallon tank and I did not want it to be too cold in there when I put him in.

I hadn't needed a heater in my girls betta tank yet since the water was staying at 76-78 degrees but with it getting a little cooler out with the weather cooling, I think I am going to go ahead and grab a little heater for it anyway so it doesn't get too cool in there.

thanks for your help with this! I will have to post a pic of the boys tank later. It is a gorgeous tank that they picked out...