Habitat - Indoor :: Heater help

[kmichael55]

My brother just gave me a Penn Plax Therma-Flow PC plus 100 watt heater.





It clamps onto the rim of the tank, and I can't for the life of me figure out what to do. The water fill line is about 1/2 a centimeter below that black part on top. I tried filling my tank up to the rim... like seriously I thought it was going to overflow, and the water still does not reach the water fill line, not to mention my turtles could swim right out of the tank and their dock won't work. I really want to use this heater, and maybe I'm just not setting it up correctly. My brother suggested not clamping it to the tank, partially submerging the black part on top, but then the glass tube floats...and I can almost get the water line to be half an inch below the fill line, how dangerous would it be to leave 1/2 an inch of heater exposed?? I'm at a loss, thanks for any help![/img]

[DavidY]

I think those heaters are for smaller tanks only. I wouldn't risk it since the top of it isn't water tight so if it got submerged it would short out and cause electrocution and/or fire. If the water go too low the glass could overheat and shatter causing the same problem again. You're much better off sticking with a submersible heater.

[adam85491]

I agree, basically the only non-submersible heat you could use is the one by All-Glass in which it suction cups to the side of the tank but the very top can still be exposed-this still is a poor option since it can be knocked in the tank and broke. I'de just go ahead and get a Visi-therm Stealth for about $20.