turn heater off?

[tetramoon13]

I was wondering if I should turn the heater off in my aquarium during the next few days, and perhaps put it back on at night, we are supposed to have a heat wave over the weekend, and I noticed the temp has been reaching 82 once or twice....don't want it to reach unsafe levels......any advice?

Thanks in advance
Christine

[Hannys_Papa]

Are you sure it's the heater ? They are supposed to shut off when they reach their set temperature.
If it gets very warm however (ambient temperature higher than tank temperature) then the aquarium might warm up past that point.

I have a heavily planted tank and the lights create a lot of heat - so i have fans turning on simultaneously with the lights. One blows across the lights/ ballasts to remove heat - the other across the filter (HOB with open front) to help with evaporation (cooling the water).
That way (so far) the tank temp has never passed 81 degrees even when it was 85-86 in the livingroom (when i didn't turn the AC on to see what would happen to the tank).
If you have a little fan give it a try. And just keep your heater plugged in.

[wolf22t]

Also buy a thermometer to make sure you are at the right temp all the time, the one i have hangs on the tank so at any time i know what temp it is.

[tetramoon13]

That must be it...because the heater indicator light is not on...so that makes sense. I don't have a small fan, but I'm sure they're cheap enough, so I'll go out and get one today. Thank you so much, I'll give it a try!!

[tetramoon13]

yeah, I do have a thermometer, it's the kind that sticks right on, would you recommend a different one? Or do you think this one is accurate enough?

[psilo]

Very interesting about the fans. LAst week in the UK we had a heat wave (not a common occurance) and my temps were reaching 82 degrees and I didnt know what to do though i did turn off the luights at the hottest times of the day and closed the curtains in the rooms they were in to keep them cooler.Luckily they didnt go any higher!

[wolf22t]

I personally have not used the "stick on" thermometer but that shouldnt be an issue, maybe someone else has used one.
I think you should consider where you placed your heater in regards to your water flow (if any) and your thermometer and what type of heater u have try and be specific

[webcricket]

I have both the in tank hang on thermometer and the stick on thermometer on my tanks. Generally, the stick on ones seems to be pretty accurate compared to the in tank. Mine are glass tanks, so I don't know if the accuracy extends to acrylic or plexiglass tanks as well.

[psilo]

In my 40 gallon tank I have the filter in the back right hand cornor, the heater going across the middle of the back glass half way down and the thermometre stuck to the front left hand cornor (opposite side to filter)

[tetramoon13]

ok...this is a 10 gal. aquarium (I do hope to upgrade in the not so far future!), but anyway, I have a whisper 10 power filter, and 50w submersible hydor heater, two 25 w incandescent bulbs for light.(these were all included together when I bought the tank). As instructed, I installed the heater near the outflow of the filter, so the "heated water will circulate", and it hangs in a vertical position, both heater and filter are in the back. The thermometer is positioned at the opposite end of the heater, on the front of the tank. I put a fan in the window, located about 8 feet away from the tank, and it seems to be helping the ambient temperature stabilize, at least for now.

And another question.......where is the best position for an airstone, and should it hang freely, or be covered with gravel?

Thanks alot, you guys have been helpful :)

[webcricket]

You may want to consider switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs - they run a lot cooler than incandescent. The hood with my 10 gallon came with the incandescent 15 watt bulbs and the heat they produced was ridiculous. I couldn't regulate the tank temperature at all using my heater with the lights on. I can only imagine the 25 watt bulbs run much hotter.

[tetramoon13]

I was thinking about switching to fluorescent light, too, since I would like to start using live plants, are there universal ones that will be compatible with my hood, do you think? I'd hate to have to buy another hood.

Thanks

[Hannys_Papa]

Sounds like you have a standard 10G incandescent hood.
Any "normal" household lightbulb will fit (except if the bulb part is too big then it will touch the hood or splash cover).

Here is a little "hint" - if you have a walmart close by check out their "screw in" flourescent light section (energy saving bulbs).
Most aren't very useful for aquaria - because their colour is too yellow (2500-2700K) BUT many walmarts are now carrying "Lights of america Sunlight/ Daylight bulbs". They are marketed for the people with winter depression etc because they are 6500K and because of that close to natural sunlight.

They look awesome over a fishtank. You probably won't believe the difference once you replace those incandescent (also very yellowish) lights.

Depending on what live plants you want to keep you can buy either 10, 15 or 20W of those screw in PC flourescents. They are something like $8.44 for a 2pack which is way cheaper than ordering the screw in flourescents from Bigals or DrsFS.

Their socket part (where the ballast is) is also fairly slim so they fit fine into the 10G standard hood.

P.S.: I forgot to mention i am using the 2x 20W of those lights over my 10G and everything is growing great. You have to make sure though that you have enough live plants to take advantage of all that light. If you only have a few plants or low light/ slow growing plants you are probably better off getting just the 10W or 15W. (too much light + no plants to consume nutrients by utilizing all that light = algea hell)

[TheZoo]

Ive been wanting to get some of those screw in flourecents, but am wondeinrg if their circumfrance is too large to fit in the splash guard? They (the lights) seem big. Also havent been able to find any with a low enough wattage for my hood, but Ihavent checked wallyworld!

[tetramoon13]

that is a great tip, Hannys papa, I have a wal-mart about 5 mins. from here! Better than wasting my money on bulbs at Petsmart....I also need a bucket for doing water changes...I am currently using converted Rubbermaid containers, I just can't see spending 10 bucks for a plastic bucket at the petstore...seems silly, but I just may have to.

As far as the plants go, I will definitely be adding some in the near future...lots of reading to do.....

Thanks everyone, wish me luck

[Hannys_Papa]

Ive been wanting to get some of those screw in flourecents, but am wondeinrg if their circumfrance is too large to fit in the splash guard? They (the lights) seem big. Also havent been able to find any with a low enough wattage for my hood, but Ihavent checked wallyworld!

As mentioned - the "lights of america" bulbs mentioned fit perfectly fine into my hood. They have been in there for... probably 4-5 months now.
Just give them a try - even if they don't fit - you know walmart always takes anything back. ;)

[joylynn]

As far as buckets for water changes go, I use the 5 gallon all-purpose buckets from Home Depot, they are great and only $4-5 each. I just had to threaten my husband within an inch of his life if he used them for anything else!

[twig]

I got my 5 gallon buckets at a dollarstore for a dollar each =D

[tetramoon13]

ok, I'm a sucker, I bought a bucket that cost me more than it should have....but I saved on the bulbs I think....The lights of America bulbs are sold in the aquarium section at WalMart, they were 4.80 a piece, I did see them in the electrical section, too, but they were different bulbs. they do run cooler, and the neon tetras seem to burst with color! very pretty fishes.

[plah831]

I have the same problem with my tanks overheating during the summer. This problem is especially bad for the smallest tank (10 gal). I just put a big standup fan in the fish room during the day, and that helps quite a bit.

As for airstone positioning, either in the water column or under gravel is fine. Putting it under gravel may result in bigger bubbles and, consequently, less effective aeration (as oxygen and other gases diffuse better into the water with more surface area). Do whatever you think your tank needs or is more aesthetically-pleasing to you. Keep in mind that with higher temperatures, as you are expecting, less oxygen is able to dissolve in the water, so you may need maximum aeration.

I also use the aeration to help circulation. For instance, I might put the airstone under the heater, so it helps distribute heat evenly throughout the tank. Or I'll put it in a corner far away from the filter to help get that part of the tank's water moving.

Let me know if that's helpful :)