why do people put their heater sticks at an angle?

[karanit]

I have mine vertically to be less obtrusive but does putting it at 45° make it heat more evenly or something?

(I had a goldfish for a long time so I'm not used to this tropical fish stuff!)

[AtomicSunfish]

On 9/22/2024 at 7:06 AM, karanit said:

I have mine vertically to be less obtrusive but does putting it at 45° make it heat more evenly or something?

(I had a goldfish for a long time so I'm not used to this tropical fish stuff!)

I actually keep my heaters completely horizontal. Whatever the angle, the reason is this: when your heater is completely vertical, the hot water coming up from the heating element trips the detector at the top to turn off the heater. In other words, the thermostat “thinks” the tank is warmer than it really is. So, soon the heating element will have to come on again, gradually heating up the tank. So, this poses 2 problems:

1) It takes longer to reach the correct temperature.

2) It increases the wear and tear on the thermostat, by making it turn on and off more.

By keeping your heater slanted, you’re allowing the warmer water convecting upward from the heating element to flow away from the detector. Then the detector will just keep heating the tank uninterrupted until the water is overall warmer in the tank. In other words, it makes the thermostat more efficient.

Edited September 22 by AtomicSunfish

[Tony s]

On 9/22/2024 at 8:06 AM, karanit said:

have mine vertically to be less obtrusive

I put mine horizontally for 2 reasons. I keep the heating end in the water flow. That way the heat is distributed very quickly from the filter. Also keep it very near the bottom. That way if I’m actually cleaning the back glass, I can do 90% of it without moving the heater. And yes, the heater is not constantly putting warm water on the sensor 

There really isn’t a correct way to put it, could go upside down for all it matters. Just personal preference.

Also a bit less visible, horizontal on the bottom 

[quikv6]

People also keep it low and horizontal as it can still remain fully submerged during a large water change, and therefore doesn't need to be unplugged.

[Odd Duck]

I’ve done heaters at any angle you can think of over my decades of fishkeeping and which I do now depends on multiple factors.  In my rack I have mostly 10 G’s and they aren’t “display” tanks so I put the heaters at an angle to keep them low enough I can do water changes without unplugging the heater (if I have it plugged in for somebody that needs it).  The back wall (the short side of the 10) isn’t long enough to do the heater horizontal so I usually have it angled on the side wall (long side) so I can still see if the indicator light is on.  If I have it horizontal, I can’t see the indicator light.  For the same reason, I sometimes angle the heaters on my smaller “display” tanks so the bulk of it is still hidden behind plants or hardscape but I can still easily see the indicator light.  For my bigger display tanks the heaters have a separate sensor so they can go vertical without throwing off an in-tube temp sensor like @AtomicSunfish described.  I have a few smaller display tanks that have tiny heaters that don’t have an in tube indicator light.  I feel the outside of the glass on those daily at feeding and only check the thermometer if they feel too warm or too cool.  Those are in a row of 5 tanks, 4 are heated, and there’s no way every heater in the row would go out at the same time so I always have a handy comparison between them and have thermometers in the 4 with heaters.