Do I REALLY need a heater?

[dundadundun]

fish experience a drop in temp at night and during rain storms in the wild. it doesn't kill them then. as a matter of fact the cleaner cooler water is what triggers spawning in some species. i don't even match the temp of my water when i do w/c's. i just add the water real slow (basically the drip method except the hose end is under water). unless their temp changes quickly or too near the end of their temp range i wouldn't worry about it.

i might want to look into a chiller if i were you though. in case of the off chance your a/c dies for some reason in the summer. unfortunately they are much more expensive than heaters.

 

[LiveMermaid07]

They do make chillers?!
I may just need one of those, there's almost no air conditioning here, luckily I have tropical fish, but it's nearly to hot for her and summer ain't over yet! I really worry about that.

 

[SMinNC]

Yea, they make chillers. They get used more frequent on reef tanks. And they're expensive.

A fan blowing across the water surface does alot of cooling. And only about $10 compare to $200+ for a chiller.

 

[SMinNC]

Oh yea, forgot the OP.

A 100w heater would probably be plenty, to make sure it wouldn't drop too low during the winter.

 

[jpappy789]

Yeah, chillers are a HUGE investment. Much simpler ways to cool down a tank during summer without breaking your budget.

 

[benzjamin13]

During the spring, summer, and early fall, I usually unplug the heaters in my tanks. My tanks are in the garage so the water gets pretty warm in the summer and cold in the winter. That's when I need the heaters the most. Before I moved, my tanks were in the house and I maybe had the heater plugged in 2 months out of the year.

 

[BreezeRuehls]

I live in Hawaii, its like 75-80* here every day of the year, I took the heater out of my 55, dont need it. Why keep it?