Who's Removed Heaters From Their Tropical Tanks

[GSD]

Also living in the north east of england i find its freeeeezing most mornings and my heaters are almost permanantly on (they turn off if the water is warm enough)

I have attempted to keep a betta without a heater but the temperature dropped so much it wasnt possible, wish it could be done though!

 

[minxfishy]

I would love to be able to turn my heaters off, but an old drafty house doesnt permit it, I also dont have any heating on overnight, even in the deathly cold of winter as my heating system is useless and bangs and rattles like nobodies business, which would wake the household, so its just not feasible, its still pretty cold now in the mornings when we get up. The only one who has a heater on in his room is my little boy, who I have a plug in radiator on during the winter.

Obviously once its starts to get warmer, then the heaters just wont kick in and with the summers we've had the last couple of years, its not been a problem with them getting too hot, the highest I think we got last year in one of the tanks in the kitchen was 30, so not too bad.

 

[holidayinn]

yep, if i was to turn my heaters off, i'm absolutely positive the temperature would plummet...this arctic weather means no chance of that!! good idea but guess depends on location and insulation etc

 

[pippoodle]

I wouldn't tell anyone to turn their heaters off if they knew there tanks temps would drop below 20 , i'm luck y(well you know what i mean) with my illness that i have to have my central heating on all day (set to 20 clicks on when needs be - so i have a heater in the house instead of the tanks lol)
that i can turn nearlly all the heaters off - only ones i keep turned on as i said are the kitchen tank and the fry tank - kids tank (kitchen)is located in front of the radiator so rad has to be off all the time and the temp in the kitchen gets really cold at night

Thanks for all the new replys

 

[OldMan47]

My home heating system is set at 64F most of the winter so true tropicals would become quite uncomfortable if there were no heater. I do run all of my goodeid tanks without heaters but the true tropicals get some artificial heat. In the summer, the heaters never come on in any tank because I refuse to cool my house that much. In the spring and fall, the tropical tanks run hotter and cooler depending on the weather and the goodeid tanks run close to outdoors temperatures.

 

[three-fingers]

I keep my heaters set at around 23*C, not at all worried about the actual fluctuations in temperature (in the summer with all the lights on my main tank gets to 30*C), but in the winter my room can go down to 8*C at night (hot water bottle time) due to the fact that out downstairs has no insulation at the moment, and even when it did it would be 10-15*C. Not life threatening, but the heaters don't really need to stay on for long

When I had an old heater stop working on me, I did notice the fish seemed lethargic at around 20*C, which was - quite frankly - boring, and a little unsettling because I wasnt used to seeing them like that.

So I doubt I'll unplug heaters, but I don't set them high.

 

[backtotropical]

I keep my heaters set at around 23*C, not at all worried about the actual fluctuations in temperature (in the summer with all the lights on my main tank gets to 30*C), but in the winter my room can go down to 8*C at night (hot water bottle time) due to the fact that out downstairs has no insulation at the moment, and even when it did it would be 10-15*C. Not life threatening, but the heaters don't really need to stay on for long

When I had an old heater stop working on me, I did notice the fish seemed lethargic at around 20*C, which was - quite frankly - boring, and a little unsettling because I wasnt used to seeing them like that.

So I doubt I'll unplug heaters, but I don't set them high.

We aren't often blessed with sub-tropical temperatures here in Scotland, so my heater will be staying firmly plugged in.

To be honest, I probably wouldn't unplug it anyway, as its a good contingency device. If the temperature is right, the heater won't come on anyway, so I don't see much benefit in having it unplugged.

BTT

 

[StatMan]

Very interesting read, great topic thanks for starting it.

Has anyone seen increased breeding for allowing more temp fluctuations "naturally" (bearing in mind most homes a re heated when needed)?

I am tempted, to try this but my breeding tanks are in a room adjacent to my garage but with a door and warm air heating aligned to the house. The problem is if my son or I leave the door open my accident then the temps could drop to close to soemthing that might not be acceptable. Maybe an auto closing door is the solution. The Room is also "heated" by a server and disK sub system, I am an IT guy!

My gut reaction is to get one of the Min MAx thermometers from the green house and put it in there to monitor the room temperature, and then re evaluate in 12 months.

The one thing I had never considered was the heater going wrong and over heating rather than stopping, and I can see the benefits thi smight bring especially if it makes the fish feel more at home in what is always a slightly alien envrionment whatever we do.

StatMan

 

[DebiNga]

I'm new so forgive me...so what you all are saying its safe to not use the heaters? I have a 20 gallon tank that I am re-establishing it only has a mollie and platy in it at the moment..I would love to do away with the heater...thanks for any help

 

[JustKia]

It's safer to use 2 heaters that are smaller than required for your tank. That way if one fails in the "on" position it won't get hot enough to cook your fish, or if one fails in the "off" position then the other will keep the water warm enough to stop your fish from freezing until you can replace the failed heater.
Although that's not why I've turned my heater off - it's just because our flat is kept warm anyway.

 

[petertr]

To be honest, I probably wouldn't unplug it anyway, as its a good contingency device. If the temperature is right, the heater won't come on anyway, so I don't see much benefit in having it unplugged.

I think a LOT of people are missing this point.

If the water is warm enough, the heater won't come on - so there's no benefit in unplugging it.

(Except the very small chance that it malfunctions)

 

[Inchworm]

Has anyone seen increased breeding for allowing more temp fluctuations "naturally" (bearing in mind most homes a re heated when needed)?

This would probably vary depending on the kind of fish you keep. My corydoras are from a natural environment that has a warm dry season and a cooler rainy season. They spawn when the rainy season comes and cool water fills the streams they live in. Temperature is a factor, but so is the dilution of chemicals in the water. This can be simulated at home by doing water changes with cooler water and cleaning the filter media and substrate.

This year, since my home is always quite warm, there is relatively little spontaneous spawning in my tanks. I'm pretty sure this would increase if I lowered the thermostat at night and continued my normal routine of weekly water changes. One of our members, a well known cory breeder, has reported great success with breeding his fish while keeping them at a cooler temperature than what we would consider normal for most of the species.

The most important thing to do, IMHO, is to look at the fish you want to breed and see how much of a factor temperature usually is in the spawning process. Then you can manipulate the other factors (food, water changes, etc.) to go along with it.

 

[bitteraspects]

i dont keep heaters in most of my tanks

 

[JustKia]

I think a LOT of people are missing this point.
If the water is warm enough, the heater won't come on - so there's no benefit in unplugging it.

When my heater was plugged in and set at 23C it would go on and off during the day and night.
I do now get minor temp fluctuations - ie the temp goes up when the main lights are on and drops a little during the night - but nothing that bothers the type of fish we have.
Should our heating fail we have cover that ensures it is fixed within 24 hours and should I be concerned that the tank temp may drop I can simply plug the heater back in in the meantime.
While the savings might be minimal, the point is it's still savings.

However, I don't think the discussion was about the benefits of unplugging your heater, and more about who has or hasn't - seems there's quite a few have, even in the cooler climes of the UK.

 

[StatMan]

Has anyone seen increased breeding for allowing more temp fluctuations "naturally" (bearing in mind most homes a re heated when needed)?

This would probably vary depending on the kind of fish you keep. My corydoras are from a natural environment that has a warm dry season and a cooler rainy season. They spawn when the rainy season comes and cool water fills the streams they live in. Temperature is a factor, but so is the dilution of chemicals in the water. This can be simulated at home by doing water changes with cooler water and cleaning the filter media and substrate.

This year, since my home is always quite warm, there is relatively little spontaneous spawning in my tanks. I'm pretty sure this would increase if I lowered the thermostat at night and continued my normal routine of weekly water changes. One of our members, a well known cory breeder, has reported great success with breeding his fish while keeping them at a cooler temperature than what we would consider normal for most of the species.

The most important thing to do, IMHO, is to look at the fish you want to breed and see how much of a factor temperature usually is in the spawning process. Then you can manipulate the other factors (food, water changes, etc.) to go along with it.

Inch

Thanks for that, had guessed it would depend on the fish and the natural habit but it is good to know that it is something to investigate.

Was thinking about this again today and a lot of my tanks are in a room "office" with a door that can be shut next to my garage, this has double glazing and also an outlet from the warm air heating system. If the door is not shut then obviously this causes problems but last week we had a power cut from 7:30pm to 14:30 pm the next day. when I checked the tanks in the morning, covered in duvet and a "blanket" the temperature was below 20, not sure what the minimum was as tank thermometers don't do this, or not the ones I have. But then the heat that normally fills that room (warm air and servers!) was not present.

Wondering if it would have caused any of the fish to get "Jiggy" have danios, and platties in there plus male guppies ( but if they start getting it on then I guees it would have to get extremely cold!)

I do like the idea that if you can survive without a heater then the risks are on the upside as if it stops you can hopefully react in time where as the frying effect could happen over night and you have lost them before you can re-act.

I guess major risk is long holiday periods but if you have some one feeding then maybe they could read a thermoeter to.

StatMan