Cold homes and aquarium heaters: This ever happen to you?

[pinballqueen]

I have run into a slight (although temporary) problem with the temperature in my fish tank.

I noticed the other night when I got home that my 55 gallon tank was very cool, about 70 degrees. I usually keep it in the neighborhood of 80 or so. I noticed that I had turned my heater down to 76 during the summer because it was so hot in the house, and therefore hot in the tank (it got up around 88 one day....scared me to death, but the fish came through without any damage, thank goodness). So, I turned it up to 82, hoping to heat the thing back up to a managable temp. The next morning it was only at 72 and has hovered there ever since.

Well, I was very worried that my heater was not working properly, so I called the customer support line for the heater. It turns out that the heater is calibrated to heat the water to the temperature on the readout IF the temperature in the surrounding room is about 75 degrees....well, blow me down! My current house doesn't have central heat, and therefore gets down in the 50's during the day when I'm not home (and I won't run the space heater if I'm not there for obvious reasons.) Luckily, I'll be moving into our new house soon, and won't have this problem anymore. For now, the fish are tolerating the temperature drop just fine, they're just a little sluggish.

Just thought I would post this for anyone else having problems keeping their tank at a constant temperature, this might have something to do with it....

 

[Fisher Price]

Yes, It is a good idea to check those heaters once in a while against a real thermometer. I noticed a touch of ich on my swordtails and cory cats and checked the temp. 65 degrees! oops! I had turned back the heater during the summer and forgot to turn it back up in the winter. I cranked up the heat to 80 and the ich soon disappeared.

 

[JeffP]

Out of curiousity, why would you turn your heater down in the summer. It shouldn't operate if the water temp is above your thermostat setpoint. And if you're concerned about the heater malfunctioning and frying your fish, then removing it completely would then make sense.

Heaters have an ability to heat a given mass of water to a certain maximum temperature. This maximum temperature is based on the wattage of the heater (no brainer) and the temperature differential between your desired tank temp and the surrounding room. Maybe this was a factor.

 

[Sumpin'fishy]

I have the same problem. Central Heat is temporarily broken, and I'm using a space heater when home. We bring the heater into our room at night and the tanks are on the other side of the house. My 20 gal has a 150 W heater (Top Fin) and has dropped from about 78 to 74, and it's not even freezing outside yet. I have that heater on max! My other heater is a Proquatics 300 W from Petsmart. I use two in my 55 gal and they have been keeping a steady 77 degrees the entire time....no fluctuations. I like these heaters alot. I set the temp; they keep it.

 

[JamisonBWolsh]

you can add more than one heater to bring the water temp up to the level you want.
also, you can throw a blanket over the tank during the day...

 

[wetmanNY]

In the summer's heat, turning the thermostat down to 74o doesn't have any cooling effect on the tank.

In the winter, turning the thermostat up all the way doesn't make the water get warmer faster.

A temperature drop to 70o doesn't cause an outbreak of Ichthyophthirius. If anything, low temps slow the life cycle of any Ich that may be there. In fact, not all tropical fishes need steamy heat to thrive. That's whywilliam Innes chose as his title Exotic Aquarium Fishes in 1935, to counter that misapprehension.

Many aquarium fishes lead longer healthier lives if the temperature can drop a little in winter, with a few exceptions like Discus and some dwarf cichlids.

 

[TheCichlidMan1]

PinballQueen, what type of heater was it??? In my 55gal, I take my heater out of the tank completely in the summer, usually, but in the winter my heater is almost always on. My heater fluctuates quite a bit sometimes, but is usually around 80 degrees.

Well, hopefully your problem will ben solved once you move into your new house. =)

damn heaters can be quite a pain the the @$$ sometimes huh?

 

[JSchmidt]

We keep our house cool at night in the winter (about 60 or lower) and about 70 during the day. I also found, when I first started keeping fish, that the heater wasn't keeping the water warm enough as the house cooled at night. The clue is that the heater will be on constantly (most have an indicator light to show when it's actually heating) when the house is cold but the tank temp won't be what it's supposed to be.

It's not a fault of the heater; it's just like if you had a furnace that was too small for your house. You just need to add another heater to pick up the load when the first is insufficient to keep your tank warm.

I don't think keeping fish in water that's a few degrees cooler than their native water is a problem. I don't think it's too good for them to be in water that regularly changes 10 degrees. Heaters, even good ones, are pretty cheap. I'd invest in another.

HTH,
Jim