Need a heater?

[Raechal]

The person at my LPS said I wouldn't need a heater as my room temp is always never below 75 degress. My water is at 22 C right now and I just filled my tank up with the hose from outside. I was atleast thinking I would have to get ONE heater to keep things a little warmer for tropicals. What do you think?

 

[Raechal]

The temp is at about 23-24 C now.

 

[nshockeyplaya]

Yea, i beleive that having a heater is a must. You just cant risk having the temp change quickly as it can kill your fish, cause ick, etc. Heaters arnt very expensive so i would go pick one up for 20 or so bucks. You should probably follow the 5 watts per gallon rule. I dont what your size of your tank is but just calculate it and go get a heater. Jut my 2 cents

 

[Raechal]

Yea, i beleive that having a heater is a must. You just cant risk having the temp change quickly as it can kill your fish, cause ick, etc. Heaters arnt very expensive so i would go pick one up for 20 or so bucks. You should probably follow the 5 watts per gallon rule. I dont what your size of your tank is but just calculate it and go get a heater. Jut my 2 cents

My tank is a 120 gallon. I was thinking about getting just one good heater to keep things warm if the temp does drop (which it probably never will. I live in Florida and it never gets cold here ) I have a heater in the 29 gallon and a heater in the 10 gallon and I never turned them on. The water stays warm.

 

[LoachLover]

Yeah you got to have a heater, because if you heat in your room fails then the tank would be in trouble too. Besides the fish I keep like it more like 80 degrees anyway.

 

[FrAnK3333]

every tank needs a heater espcially if its such a large tank.

 

[Raechal]

Yeah you got to have a heater, because if you heat in your room fails then the tank would be in trouble too. Besides the fish I keep like it more like 80 degrees anyway.

But I don't use heat in my room. My room is naturally warm from living in Florida. I know what you mean though. Just in case anything happens. Florida has snowed once....I think. But more up north. Anyways I will pick up one or two next week or after my tank cycles.

 

[snowyangel]

A heater doesn't just heat your tank, it keeps it at a stable temperature. If you have no heater, your temp will go down at night, then up again during the day and will stress your fish out. You should buy the heater to keep a constant temperature balance in your tank. Fish don't like change too much, sharks can even die from the stress of it.

 

[Raechal]

A heater doesn't just heat your tank, it keeps it at a stable temperature. If you have no heater, your temp will go down at night, then up again during the day and will stress your fish out. You should buy the heater to keep a constant temperature balance in your tank. Fish don't like change too much, sharks can even die from the stress of it.

I agree. I am picking one up once my tank cycles.

 

[Def]

2 more reasons. Fishless cycling a tank occurs quicker at 80+ degrees than it does at 70+ degrees. And if you have an ich outbreak, you can assist the healing process by increasing the temp.

 

[Raechal]

2 more reasons. Fishless cycling a tank occurs quicker at 80+ degrees than it does at 70+ degrees. And if you have an ich outbreak, you can assist the healing process by increasing the temp.

I have a heater in there now.

 

[FrAnK3333]

What filters did you get? Sorry Ive been reading since yo got the tank and have gottne interested.

 

[Raechal]

What filters did you get? Sorry Ive been reading since yo got the tank and have gottne interested.

I got two aquatech filters for up to 55-75 gallons each. They work pretty good. I decided to go with those because that is what I used on the 10 gallon and the 29 gallon. I tried exchanging the filter pad in the 29 gallon for the one that came in mine to get some bacteria in the filter. I let it go in there for a couple of hours then returned it to the 29 gallon.

 

[FrAnK3333]

Post a picture of your tank Im curoius to see what it looks like.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Raechal

Even though your room temperature is warm now, what about in the summertime? If you have an air conditioner running you should consider getting a heater.

I have some tanks that I am running now without heaters because my apartment is over the furnaces and is very warm, but in the summer I know I will have to buy heaters for them.

It's important to keep the water temperature fairly consistent. With a large tank, such as yours, it will change slowly, but I wouldn't want to take a chance, especially if you run air conditioning some times and shut it off at others.