"Mary E. Hill" wrote:
I'm new to tropical fish - only had goldfish before.

I bought a heater and it's just a cheapie. I'm having big trouble getting it
set to the right temp! Very frustrating when you don't have hour after hour
to check it and adjust accordingly.

Is there any other type of heater where you can just set it to the degrees
you want & go? This one just has notches...

Poor fish woke up in an 85 degree tank this morning! I felt awful I
turned it down 2 notches and left for work this morning - now they're
probably freezing. You see my problem?? Any solutions out there other than
patience, probably killing them, and lots of time?

Thanks for any guidance...

BTW, as a follow-up...I think you may have too big of a heater for your tank --
that big of a jump overnight would make me a bit nervous. Someday your heater
is going to stick in the "on" position, and too big of a heater will cook the
tank before you have a chance to notice the problem. 3W/gallon is usually
enough, unless you have a very cold room (I've seen folks go as high as
5W/gallon, but that would make me nervous unless it was a dual-heater setup).