How long before aquarium heater is supposed to work?

I just bought a Tetra Aquatic Reptile heater for my turtle’s 20 gallon tank but it’s not seeming to heat the tank at all. It’s been plugged in and in there for almost 5 hrs and it doesn’t seem to be working yet. Has anyone had one of these before? And how quick did it start to work?

Water takes alot longer to change temperature than air. And though evaporation can lose some of the heat produced. Give the heater time to overcome these factors it may take a day or two especially if you add more water.

water splashes up on my aquarium heater, just on the top, just little splashes, but I dont want to kill my fis


3 Responses to “How long before aquarium heater is supposed to work?”

  1. Hard K says:

    Trust me it isnt gonna work i had one of those if its the one that you put the suction cups to the bottom of the tank and it has something that you open it isnt gonna work. Go get another one or get 2 heat lamps with 60 watt bulbs. I traded the heater back to the petstore and they gave me a heat lamp for it with a crayfish. Sorry for your lose!
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  2. orisha9999 says:

    I hope you dont expect to see bubbles, cuz then it’d be boiling. Have you been checking it with a themometer? Because even just room temp water seems colder then the room temp around u if u just take a wild guess only using your skin to determine. plus, it takes long enough to boil a pot of water. so I imagine it to take a while, probably over night, give it a good ten hrs before coming back. If it doesnt heat up by then, I suggest you to take it back and get a new one.
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  3. Robert A says:

    Water takes alot longer to change temperature than air. And though evaporation can lose some of the heat produced. Give the heater time to overcome these factors it may take a day or two especially if you add more water.
    References :

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