over heating?

[sourapple]

hi, i just noticed that the visi therm in my 46g is a 300w.... lol is that too much for that size of a tank? i was thinking it d just heat the water faster but wanna make sure since my plecos like hanging out around heaters and dont wanna stick them in the tank and end up with edible ones. :icon_hang:
thx.

[Zulaab]

A heater will heat the water quicker the bigger they are.
Using a smaller heater will take time for the water to go over.
The bad part of having a high wattage heater is that if it ever goes bad and decides to boil everything, it takes a long time for a low wattage heater to make the water critical vs a high wattage heater.

[Complexity]

Is there really a need for a heater? I started out buying heaters just because... well... because I thought I was supposed to have one, I guess. But then I noticed that the temperature of the water in my tanks was high enough without a heater. With central air and heat in my house, the temperature never goes low enough for the water in the tank to drop below what's safe for my fish. I then decided that the risks of having a heater fry my tank was greater than the need so I don't have heaters for any of my tanks.

The only time I can see a real need for a heater is for raising the temperature very high to fight disease and parasites (ich, for example).

Possibly, in the winter months, if the house temperature was to drop low enough for a long enough time to actually cause the body of water to lose so much heat that it becomes unsafe for the fish, then a heater may be needed. This will be most likely with tanks of small water volume since large bodies of water tend to retain their temperatures better.

That being said, while a large wattage heater may raise the temperature in the tank faster, larger (and longer) tanks may do better with two heaters of lower wattage with each heater on opposite sides of the tank. This may help disburse the heat more evenly.

[geoff_tropheus]

I dont run heaters in my large tanks except for Jan-Mar.

In my small tanks <55 gallon, I would run a heater because those volumes of water could go up and down based upon the heating and cooling in your home.

I do not run a lot of lighting on a number of my tanks, so if you have a lot of lighting you might want to reconsider what I just said on small tanks.

[luxtralarge]

I unplugged all my heaters since the one on 75 gal boiled all my fishes last two months.

[Zulaab]

My fish would absolutely HATE ME to no end if I didnt run heaters in the tanks
My Betta bowl is year round 69-70 degree's... my Trophs who have been cooled down to that temp are about as lively as a 3 toed sloth, and their color -- yeah dont worry about it.. not pretty.... Yes I run a heater in my tank, because they are much more fun to look at when the tank is 79-80

[Complexity]

I do not run a lot of lighting on a number of my tanks, so if you have a lot of lighting you might want to reconsider what I just said on small tanks.

Lighting definitely can add heat. Even though I run T5HOs, they can keep the water around 80° easily. I'm sure it doesn't help that I like having canopies on my tanks.

In fact, I've kicked myself for getting an Eheim 2128 because it comes with the heater. I have never used it once. However, I must admit that when I saw one fish in poor health and a suspicious spot on another one yesterday, it was a good feeling to know that I do have a heater available to me should I need it.

My Betta bowl is year round 69-70 degree's... my Trophs who have been cooled down to that temp are about as lively as a 3 toed sloth, and their color -- yeah dont worry about it.. not pretty....

How do your tanks get down to 69°-70°? Do you keep the house cold? Not a challenge; just being curious.

Even my little 5g tank with it's stock 8w light never gets that cold. I keep my house at 74° in the summer and 76° in the winter which seems to work well with the tanks. They usually stay around 78°-81°, depending on the lighting over the tank.

I'm actually having an opposite problem in that I stumbled into some beautiful long fin white clouds, completely forgetting that the like cooler water. I'm afraid I'm going to lose them all because the water temp is constantly higher than what they want.

[Zulaab]

I just checked the temp on my betta bowl and used two different thermo's
One showed 71 and one showed 70.

My roomate has lived for years under several people insistence that since he only contributed to the household he could not control the AC.
When he moved into my house with his kids, he DEMANDED that he paid 100&#37; of the electric bill so that he could set the temp on the AC. The AC is set at night to 71 and during the day about 74.

I told him when he moved into the house.. You pay the bills and I will pay for the House (since the house is mine) and I will call it even (he uses three bedrooms, one for him, his son and his daughter)

I went to bed last night and my Thermometer in the master bedroom (which is mine) was 68.9 degree's.

Dont get me wrong.. I love the house being cold and I will never complain. Yes I know he pays a lot of the price of electric bill, but he has said after living with a friend and then his sister for 3 yrs, living in homes that was kept between 78-82 degree's 24/7, all he wanted was a place to live that he could control the AC... This is why the house is cold.

[Complexity]

Wow, excellent reason! Makes perfect sense. I can understand the desire to have it cold if you have been hot for 3 years. Nice that you two could work things out so you're both happy.

[sourapple]

hehe thx for the replies guys. i think im gonna switch out the visi therm when i get more money since my house is kept at 70-75 all year round and my fishes like 79 a lot better. =D

[Zulaab]

Wow, excellent reason! Makes perfect sense. I can understand the desire to have it cold if you have been hot for 3 years. Nice that you two could work things out so you're both happy.

He has been one of my best friends since 1995, so it was not hard to split the responsibilities.. I am the same way. I am Danish and I like it colder than I like it hot.. (something about viking blood etc)

[myjohnson]

hi, i just noticed that the visi therm in my 46g is a 300w.... lol is that too much for that size of a tank? i was thinking it d just heat the water faster but wanna make sure since my plecos like hanging out around heaters and dont wanna stick them in the tank and end up with edible ones. :icon_hang:
thx.

I would keep that heater on there. It will be useful in the colder months as geoff noted.

I also agree with jesper, big heaters will heat the water faster. This means that the water will be more sable. The over heating issue can be than care of with a temp controller.

I would never keep a heater on a tank without a temp controller. In case the heater over heats (which will happen sooner or later) the temp controller will shut the heater off and you will be given notice of the higher temp before it cooks your fishes.

I have a 500w heater on my 6 footer and a 250w heater on my 75g.

[Nickintex]

I am Danish and I like it colder than I like it hot.. (something about viking blood etc)

I'm a hot-blooded Latin, but I like it cooler too!

[aggrocichlidfan]

can you place a heater in sand????

[myjohnson]

can you place a heater in sand????

I'm sure you can but the water movement is going to be almost nothing so I don't know if the heater will still heat up the water the same way.

Personally, I wouldn't do it.