Heaters vs no heaters...

[RunCichlidRun]

While at Aquamania, I heard a couple/few people talking about not having/using heaters on their aquariums (not sure if it was a Cichlid tank or not). I didn't get the opportunity to follow-up with them about not using heaters, but now I am more curious...

Specifically,

1) Who has opted not to use heaters on a African Cichlid tank and what fish (b/c I am assuming some fish may be more hardy than others) are in the tank?

2) What were the factors used to arrive at the decision not to use heaters?

3) How did you make the transition? Did you just remove the heaters? Or, did you gradually turn down the temperature (over days/weeks) on the heater until it was at the low of the room's temperature?

4) What is the high/low temperature of the room where the fish are kept?

5) Have you noticed anything different about the fish? Eating more/less? Breeding more/less? Etc...?

Thank in advance.

 

[cichlidaddicted]

There was a thread about this a few weeks ago. I believe it was concerning mostly new world stuff. I would not recommend ditching a heater for Africans unless room temp is atleast 74. Perhaps others feel differently but ime my Africans thrive at higher temps. My tanks stay at 82 and my fish breed on schedule every month. While they will breed at lower temps I have noticed I get more fry when the temp is warmer and they seem larger/stronger

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[Localzoo]

There was a thread about this a few weeks ago. I believe it was concerning mostly new world stuff. I would not recommend ditching a heater for Africans unless room temp is atleast 74. Perhaps others feel differently but ime my Africans thrive at higher temps. My tanks stay at 82 and my fish breed on schedule every month. While they will breed at lower temps I have noticed I get more fry when the temp is warmer and they seem larger/stronger

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True but I think if the room is heated the tanks should be fine but that will be one hot room lol!


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[cichlidaddicted]

Yes, as I said room must be atleast 74.

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[Localzoo]

Yes, as I said room must be atleast 74.

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I'm agreeing with you Dan lol!
Thinking of how green rooms work the large body of water absorbs the heat energy then releases it slowly...etc etc
temps fluctuate too much unless you have a really well insulated fish room


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[jonclark96]

Most people who keep their tanks in their fishrooms without heaters keep the room warm enough to keep the tanks at a proper temperature. A well insulated room with a space heater can keep tanks at a good temperature with much lower energy consumption. I would not recommend keeping a lone show tank without a heater unless the fish you keep can handle the lower temperatures.

 

[RunCichlidRun]

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far. I am not in a rush to remove all heaters from the tanks, but I did want to learn more on the subject matter.

 

[Localzoo]

Thanks to everyone who has responded so far. I am not in a rush to remove all heaters from the tanks, but I did want to learn more on the subject matter.

Doug & i believe Dan posted somewhere about the cost of heating with a heater vs space heater hopefully someone can pull it up


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[chris_todd]

Know the temp needs of your fish. Africans will need 78-80 degree water, so you either need to heat the room or the tank. If you overheard me talking to Matt Quinn, we were talking about South Americans that need cooler water, like in the 60s or low 70s. For example, I keep Geophagus brasiliensis and Australoheros oblongums in an unheated tank in my basement, and their water temp is about 65 in winter and 72-74 in summer. It just depends on the fish you keep.


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[lkelly]

I would be interested to see a threshold calculation of when it is practical to heat the room vs. a certain number of tanks (or gallons of water). I'm sure there are plenty of variables, but maybe someone who has gone through this exercise. The smaller the volume of the room and having it well insulated would be key.

 

[dogofwar]

More important than absolute temperature is stability of temperature - you want to avoid wild swings, especially with Lake Tang fish.

I've kept and bred Malawi cichlids in the low-mid 70s...aggression and waste production are lower at lower temps as well. A big, warm water change will result in spawning.

My fishroom is in the basement (laundry room) of our house. I heat a couple of the big tanks (with Madagascar and Amazon fish in them) and a couple of the smaller ones (with Westies). Otherwise, the fish are at room temp.

Room temp is mid-70s for the upper rack of tanks...and as low as the 50s on the floor near an external wall.

The Uruguayan fish LOVE cooler temps in the winter. Central Americans also seem to enjoy the seasonal fluctuation.

I believe that keeping cichlids at the high end of the temp spectrum all of the time burns them out and shortens their lifespans. If they're always being given the environmental signals that it's time to breed, they will...constantly. Keeping everything very warm also uses electricity, results in more food eaten/waste production and dirtier water in a shorter amount of time (necessitating larger and more frequent water changes).

So, long story short: I only use a few heaters in a 50+ tank fishroom

Matt

 

[Andrewtfw]

At the PVAS meeting today, The Aqua-Pharm owner gave a talk on foods. He mentioned that temperature of the tank water plays a role in the fish being able to utilize all nutrients in the food.

 

[Localzoo]

Yep I've know this from helping my neighbor and her koi pond I had to teach her low temps (winter) less protein more greens etc.



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[DougGosnell]

All my tanks heat my room

 

[Localzoo]

All my tanks heat my room

But you have one large pool heater, right?


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[AndyNarwhal]

The threshold for when it is better to use a space heater vs. individual heaters can be calculated if you follow a rule of thumb for sizing which heater to your tank.

Here is an example based on my fish room:

If my fish room was uninsulated and I need to maintain a temperature 10 degrees above ambient I would use the 5 watts per gallon rule. That means that I would be able to heat 140 gallons with 700 watts of power.

If my fish room was insulated or I only needed to maintain a temperature 5 degrees above ambient I would use the 3 watts per gallon rule. That works out to 233.3 gallons of water with 700 watts.

*Important note. I am basing the rules on heating multiple smaller volume aquariums and not one large aquarium. A single larger volume of water does not require that much energy as once it heats up it will conserve heat and not require as much energy to maintain. Hence the reason that a single 300 watt heater can heat a 200 gallon adequately and it doesn't require multiples.

My space heater uses 700 watts and is capable of heating the room up 10 degrees above ambient. My fish room is also well insulated.

So if I had a volume of water greater than 233.3 gallons it makes more sense to use the space heater than individual heaters.

Currently my fish room is at 731 gallons so the space heater is the logical choice.

I also use a Ranco controller to keep my tanks at a set temperature to avoid temperature swings. I just put the sensor in one of the tanks in my central system and plug the space heater into it. I can maintain the tanks at a very constant 81 degrees all the time that way.

Andy

 

[frankoq]

I'm sticking to heaters in the tank and temp set to 80.

 

[RunCichlidRun]

Thanks for this...

The threshold for when it is better to use a space heater vs. individual heaters can be calculated if you follow a rule of thumb for sizing which heater to your tank.

Here is an example based on my fish room:

If my fish room was uninsulated and I need to maintain a temperature 10 degrees above ambient I would use the 5 watts per gallon rule. That means that I would be able to heat 140 gallons with 700 watts of power.

If my fish room was insulated or I only needed to maintain a temperature 5 degrees above ambient I would use the 3 watts per gallon rule. That works out to 233.3 gallons of water with 700 watts.

*Important note. I am basing the rules on heating multiple smaller volume aquariums and not one large aquarium. A single larger volume of water does not require that much energy as once it heats up it will conserve heat and not require as much energy to maintain. Hence the reason that a single 300 watt heater can heat a 200 gallon adequately and it doesn't require multiples.

My space heater uses 700 watts and is capable of heating the room up 10 degrees above ambient. My fish room is also well insulated.

So if I had a volume of water greater than 233.3 gallons it makes more sense to use the space heater than individual heaters.

Currently my fish room is at 731 gallons so the space heater is the logical choice.

I also use a Ranco controller to keep my tanks at a set temperature to avoid temperature swings. I just put the sensor in one of the tanks in my central system and plug the space heater into it. I can maintain the tanks at a very constant 81 degrees all the time that way.

Andy

Your explanation is very detailed and seems to be easy to deploy. This may be the happy medium (heaters vs no heaters) that I am looking for.