Keeping Temp Up

[alex1]

Hello all, I am not strictly a 'newbie' to fish keeping, but have not been keeping a high tech tank until recently.
I have changed from my small 60l tank to a 160l and am using my smaller one for a quarantine tank.
My problem is that I have put the small tank in the cellar where the temp is a bit colder than in the main living rooms. I am having great trouble keeping the temperature up in the tank . I have now insulated the whole tank(top, bottom ,sides, front and back) with insulating foam, but still struggle to keep the temp above 22 degrees. I thought I had it cracked and got some fish yesterday but now have to resort to adding hot water about 3-4 times a day to stop them freezing!
The fish seem really stressed whenever the light is on, maybe because it is really dark when it is off due to the insulation - will I lose the lot, should I just move them to my main tank and risk it?
I now have 2 heaters in the tank which are on constantly - to no avail - any ideas?

 

[bogwood]

Hope that hot water you are adding 3-4 times a day is dechlorinated!... Just move the tank elsewhere if you can... will save you (and the fish) a lot of hassle... It seems a bit pointless/cruel to keep them in a cold cellar... completely insulated in total darkness... then blasting them with full on light. Fish don't have eyelids (I think that's correct!)... it must be like some kinda Gestapo torture chamber for them... can you even see inside the tank because of the insulation??... if not, it kinda defeats the whole idea...

 

[rdd1952]

First, hello and welcome to the forum.

What wattage are the 2 heaters you are running in the 60l? Also, what type fish do you have in that tank? If they are tropicals, you really need the temp to be around 25 to 26.

That tank's only about 16 gallons so a 100W heater should easily keep that tank around 25 to 26. The general rule of thumb is 5w per gallon. The wattage may need to be higher than the norm if the room temp down there is considerably lower than 25 (something in the 10 to 15 range). If you've got enough wattage then I'd be leaning toward the heaters being bad.

Edit: Also be careful adding hot water to the tank. Sudden or large temp changes can be very bad for fish. Rather than adding the hot water directly, try floating a hot water bottle or jug of hot water in the tank to raise the temp slowly (or keep it more steady).

 

[alex1]

I do ensure that any water added is dechlorinated and I do it very slowly, to avoid sudden changes.My cellar is really more like proper rooms than the typical 'cellar'
When turning on the lights I first open the front insulation and turn on the room light, then slowly raise the light levels.
I was really upset to be compared to a 'Gestapo torture chamber' I live in Germany and am well aware of the horrors that went on. I feel really sad that a reply to a simple question be replied to in such a way.
I feel for any animals in my care and am horrified to think that I may be that thoughtless. I only intend to keep them in quarantine for a week to ensure they are fit. I have now solved the problem and the fish are swimming well and eating, I will ensure that no further 'torture' takes place. and will think carefully before asking any more silly questions

 

[Waterloo Kid]

Don't worry yourself about the tortue thing. It was probably a throw away remark. If you want to try to prevent these sort of remarks I'd put your location on your profile so people can see where you are and adjust their replies accordingly. Also, putting your location in helps people aim their replies to you better, especially the 'Where can I get so-and-so from?' type questions. The remark was just trying to state that the conditions the fish were being kept in were not ideal, and could have caused a degree of stress.
Just mark the problem down to experience. Everybody makes mistakes, it can't be helped and aids in the learning process. Doesn't sound like this was a mistake as such (unless you set the heaters too low or they were defective and weren't checked first). Out of interest, what was the cause of the problem? I'd be interested to know.

WK

 

[bogwood]

I was really upset to be compared to a 'Gestapo torture chamber' I live in Germany and am well aware of the horrors that went on. I feel really sad that a reply to a simple question be replied to in such a way.

... my apologies... bad analogy... really - no offence meant!

 

[alex1]

Thank you for your kind comments.
I did not add where I lived as I was not aware that I could - I am new to this forum thing and probably missed the relevant bits when I filled in the forms.
I do not really know what went wrong with the heating, the room temp is still the same but the temp is now staying up OK - and without so much insulation either. I just panicked when the temp fell and I did not want the fish getting too cold so did all I could to protect them from stress.
I will now try and find out where I can finish my personal details in the forum.
Onward and upward - I live and learn.

 

[rdd1952]

You can click on "My Controls" at the top and it will have options there to change/add your birthday, location tank info, etc. Some people, for different reasons, don't like to list thier location but even if you just put UK or US (we now know you are in Germany but probably won't remember that for long), that will help as some products that we can get here in the states aren't available overseas and vice versa.