Heating Room With Gas Heater

[australia]

i am running 14 heaters in my tanks and the power bill is realy high, i have them running on around 25degree`s

does it hurt the fish if the tanks change temperture over a period of time? becuase i am thinking of running my tank heaters set at 23degree`s and having a gas heater on also becuase of a night it gets very cold and i keep my fish room worm with the heater,now becuase i am having a gas heater run over night the tanks get upto about 28degrees, what do u guys think about it? do u think having the heat in the room drop and rise and few degrees will hurt the fish? any advice please!

 

[cuprajake]

my fish shed is heated by a convector heater, 2 kw. in the morning the tank temp will be about 72 by evening it will be close to 78/79 thats with the suns heat, my fish are fine. i read some where that the lake malawi actually fluctuates quite a lot in heat,

the min mine ever gets to is 72 as its on a theremostat, i do have heaters in the lower tanks also on thermostats, but a fan helps to circulate the warm air.

btw mine cost £6 a week in electric lol

jake

 

[Colin_T]

It is fine to set the heaters on 23C as long as you don't have discus or angelfish. They prefer the warmer water.
If your fishroom is well insulated it shouldn't change temperature rapidly and the heaters shouldn't be coming on that much. Check for leaks around the floor and doors. Use rubber strips and silicon/no more gaps, to seal the gaps.
It is preferable not to let the temperature fluctuate if possible, however if it does change by a couple of degrees it shouldn't cause too many problems to most fish. Some of the more sensitive species might have problems but most should be fine.
Gas heaters are fine to use but if they aren't flued then you need to open the doors every day to get rid of the carbon monoxide that will build up in the room.
Having a fan circulating the air around the room will definitely help stabilise the temperature.
If you have a concrete floor you can put a false floor in and this will help reduce temperature fluctuations. You can use a rubber mat or something similar to cover the floor and this will also help a bit.

 

[australia]

cheers, i only have african cichlid species, i do have tropheus, are they sensitive to the temp?

and running the heaters at 23degrees will they still breed as good? as i am breeding alot.

 

[Colin_T]

The cooler water will actually slow the breeding down, as will the fluctuating temperatures.

If you have lots of fry in the room then make sure you get plenty of fresh air in there everyday. If you don't a low oxygen level in the room (caused by an unflued gas heater) can cause fry to develop gill deformities. Having a couple of house plants in the fishroom will help keep the O2 levels high during the day and this can reduce the deformities.

 

[australia]

The cooler water will actually slow the breeding down, as will the fluctuating temperatures.

If you have lots of fry in the room then make sure you get plenty of fresh air in there everyday. If you don't a low oxygen level in the room (caused by an unflued gas heater) can cause fry to develop gill deformities. Having a couple of house plants in the fishroom will help keep the O2 levels high during the day and this can reduce the deformities.

cheers