Tank not heating up as it should

[r3h0ld3r]

Last week I purchased a 50W Aqueon submersible heater. I put it in my 15 gallon and let it warm up over the weekend. Unfortunately, according the the thermometer, it has only raised the temp 1 degree. I have it set on eighty and it's at about 71!

Am I doing something wrong?

[BasilBetta87]

The thermostat of the heater may not be functioning correctly. Try setting it to max and then see what's the temp at. Are you using a Digital Thermometer or a traditional thermometer? Even digital thermometers can be inaccurate.

[r3h0ld3r]

I'm currently using a traditional thermometer. I actually never never moved the heaters temperature setting as it was set on 80 out of the box, maybe that has something to do with it?

[EvilVOG]

Sometimes the setting on the dial isn't going to be exactly what it will make the water, but that is way off.

What Temp. is the room the tank is in?
Are you sure it's turning on at all?
I apologize for the following questions, but i have to ask...
Is it plugged in? and that includes if it's plugged into an ex. cord, is that plugged in?
Is the outlet it's plugged into working?

You could always try filling with warmer water and see if it will hold that warmer water at temp.

and like above, check it with another thermometer.

[bastage]

Do you have a filter? If not there may not actually be a problem. If the water is stagnant then you will end up with a hot spot around the heater & the the farther away you get the colder the water gets. Also reach in & adjust the heater to see where it turns on & off at. If it is simply the internal temp guage reading wrong you can use this to figure out how many degrees roughly it is off.

[r3h0ld3r]

The room varies from about 65 to 70ish. The light on the heater does turn on, so it does "work" in the sense that the outlet works and everything else seems to be working.

[r3h0ld3r]

Yes the tank is filtered. I currently have it set up so that the heater is near the intake of the filter and the thermometer is near the output.

[EvilVOG]

That's a pretty cold room. It's probably leeching the heat out of the tank as soon as it gets heated. Also for the extra heating bettas need we tend to recommend 5w per gallon so 75w... but even then it's going to struggle to heat the water if it's 65 degrees in the room. Any way he can be mover to a warmer room?

[r3h0ld3r]

The house is at 65 during the day to conserve energy and money because no one is home during the day. That is really the reason for the water not getting warmer despite having a heater? Is 75w the desirable wattage?

[bettafish15]

I would try turning the heater up, and putting some sort of insulation around the tank. I have to, since I'm up in northern canada, but it certainly works.