Penn-Plax Guardian heater question

White.Lightning · 12/22/2012, 06:49 AM

Hey all. I'm new to this forum, but have been learning a great deal about aquarium life in general, even though I don't have a reef tank. I have a friend on here who does, and he pointed me to this site. This topic should cover any aquarium habitat. Anyways......

We are still improving our turtle habitat for our 6" female northern DB turtle. I had a question about heaters. We were looking into the Penn-Plax Guardian G14150 14" 150w heater, for 30 gallon tanks (which is what we have). I've read that you should unplug the heater before removing it from the water to avoid burning the element up. My question is, if we only fill our tank say 2/3 of the way, and only ~7" (of the 14") is covered with water, is that an issue??? I couldn't seem to find any manuals/guidelines online.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

thegrun · 12/22/2012, 07:33 AM

I'm not sure for your specific heater but generally yes that is a problem. Most heaters have their sensors near the top so if it isn't submerged it will not read the temperature correctly and any exposed heating elements above the water line will overheat. Can you set the heater on an angle to keep it submerged?

White.Lightning · 12/22/2012, 09:10 AM

I haven't purchased the heater yet, that is just what was recommended. I just went to PetSmart and they had a bunch of submersible heaters, like the one I am looking into. They were sold out of a 'turtle heater' which is apparently different than the submersible kind.

The woman agreed that you shouldn't have a submersible one with any portion exposed. So I think at this point I will wait until I build a basking area over the tank with lexan, and increase the water depth. Then we can choose an appropriately sized heater.

12/22/2012, 06:49 AM	#1
White.Lightning Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 4	Penn-Plax Guardian heater question Hey all. I'm new to this forum, but have been learning a great deal about aquarium life in general, even though I don't have a reef tank. I have a friend on here who does, and he pointed me to this site. This topic should cover any aquarium habitat. Anyways...... We are still improving our turtle habitat for our 6" female northern DB turtle. I had a question about heaters. We were looking into the Penn-Plax Guardian G14150 14" 150w heater, for 30 gallon tanks (which is what we have). I've read that you should unplug the heater before removing it from the water to avoid burning the element up. My question is, if we only fill our tank say 2/3 of the way, and only ~7" (of the 14") is covered with water, is that an issue??? I couldn't seem to find any manuals/guidelines online. Any help is appreciated. Thanks. __________________ Andrew 30gallon tank, Rena XP2 filter Northern Diamondback Terrapin- female

12/22/2012, 09:10 AM	#3
White.Lightning Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Posts: 4	I haven't purchased the heater yet, that is just what was recommended. I just went to PetSmart and they had a bunch of submersible heaters, like the one I am looking into. They were sold out of a 'turtle heater' which is apparently different than the submersible kind. The woman agreed that you shouldn't have a submersible one with any portion exposed. So I think at this point I will wait until I build a basking area over the tank with lexan, and increase the water depth. Then we can choose an appropriately sized heater. __________________ Andrew 30gallon tank, Rena XP2 filter Northern Diamondback Terrapin- female

12/22/2012, 07:33 AM	#2
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	I'm not sure for your specific heater but generally yes that is a problem. Most heaters have their sensors near the top so if it isn't submerged it will not read the temperature correctly and any exposed heating elements above the water line will overheat. Can you set the heater on an angle to keep it submerged?