bevans@td2cad.intel.com (Beth Evans) (05/05/88)
In several recent postings, the subject of whether to use an aquarium
heater or not has been discussed. I am a fairly new tropical fish
hobbyist (about 2 years). Everything I have ever read or heard indicates
that a heater IS highly reccommended for the majority of fish that are
commonly kept by hobbyists. I HAVE read that if you have many tanks,
then keeping the room they are in heated may be easier or more economical
than trying to heat each tank individually, but the net result is the
same -- you are trying to maintain ideal conditions for the sake and health
of your fish.
Although it is probably true that in the wild, temperatures do fluctuate
quite a bit, not all of the common fish are caught in the wild or are
used to such extremes. And I would assume that if the fish are really
tropical fish, then the temperatures probably don't actually fluctuate
by as much as 20 degrees, probably half that or less, and very gradually.
A real life experience --- the aquarium heater breaks. The temperature
drops by about 6 or 8 degrees. Most of the fish get ich.
Fish are cold-blooded, so they are generally more active and therefore
more enjoyable to the aquarist when kept in warmer water.
If you want to try breeding fish, many species require higher temperatures
to induce spawning.
As far as types of heaters go, these are my (and a friend of mine's)
collective experiences:
- one with an absolute scale for the thermostat had two problems
1) the absolute scale wasn't right - it was off a few degrees
2) it seemed touchy to adjust - turning the nob slightly had
dramatic effect
- I find the submersibles annoying, because they are hard to get
adjusted. Well, they are hard to get at to adjust. Once set,
they are ok. And an advantage is that you can stick them anywhere
in the tank, at angles, etc. I have a compact submersible that
seems to be working pretty well.
- I think I am happiest with the plain old kind that has to stick out
of the top of the tank, though. Just because it is easy access, for
adjusting. Plus there are holes in ok spots in both my 10-gallon and
40-gallon plex tanks for the heaters to fit in. Some people complain
that their heaters will float up too much in this setup. I don't
notice a big problem, but I generally drape the light cord over the
top of the heater to make sure that it stays down.
Beth