Low Range Heaters: Do They Exist, and Where Can I Get One?

[Kittiee Katt]

As the title suggests I'm looking for a heater that I can set below 18°c, preferably around 7-10°c. Do they exist? Am I looking in all the wrong places?

My reasoning for wanting such a heater is for my goldfish, I don't plan to heat their tank this winter, but don't want my goldfish in 3°c water if it can be helped. Winter technically doesn't start until next month and for the last week their tank has been on roughly 10°c, so in mid July it wouldn't surprise me if it gets down to single digits.

For anyone who also read my "musical tanks" thread, if I can find such heaters my plan is to buy two, and a long weather proof extension cord so that the pond can also be not freezing.

 

[Frank Castle]

As the title suggests I'm looking for a heater that I can set below 18°c, preferably around 7-10°c. Do they exist? Am I looking in all the wrong places?

My reasoning for wanting such a heater is for my goldfish, I don't plan to heat their tank this winter, but don't want my goldfish in 3°c water if it can be helped. Winter technically doesn't start until next month and for the last week their tank has been on roughly 10°c, so in mid July it wouldn't surprise me if it gets down to single digits.

For anyone who also read my "musical tanks" thread, if I can find such heaters my plan is to buy two, and a long weather proof extension cord so that the pond can also be not freezing.

I don't think u need it for Goldfish tbh....here in the U.S. a lot of people keep them in outdoor ponds that freeze over for the winter

 

[Kittiee Katt]

I don't think u need it for Goldfish tbh....here in the U.S. a lot of people keep them in outdoor ponds that freeze over for the winter

That may be so but my goldfish have never been through that. Its only been recently (when my hubby said no to buying them plants to eat) that they've been without a heater, last winter their tank was at 18°c, its currently at the lowest temperature its EVER been, and I don't want to shock them with 3°c water if I can help it.


Also, for the inevitable feeding question: since their tank has been so cold I've cut their feedings to once a day, and half the amount of food per feeding. They get NLS, assorted fruit n veg and I've added frozen brine shrimp to their diet as well while its been cold.

 

[Fat Homer]

Never personally seen heaters with such settings myself, but anyway to keep the rooms ambient temprature a little warmer to hopefull keep the tanks temp from dropping too low?

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

You could probably get a heater and pair it with an external controller that is able to get the temp in the range you want. The thermostat on the heater itself will want to stay on but the external controller will turn it off at the lower range that you want.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

Never personally seen heaters with such settings myself, but anyway to keep the rooms ambient temprature a little warmer to hopefull keep the tanks temp from dropping too low?

Our (house) heater is bodgy. It works enough that the realestate isn't required to fix it, and it costs a fortune to run so we just rug up. That's why I was hoping to find a heater that could do the job.

You could probably get a heater and pair it with an external controller that is able to get the temp in the range you want. The thermostat on the heater itself will want to stay on but the external controller will turn it off at the lower range that you want.

Can you please explain this in more detail? I'm intrigued...

 

[duanes]

In winter I kept mine in a kiddy pool, on the floor of an unheated basement in Milwaukee (temps there drop to -20'F), along with Urugayuan cichlids, where temps easily came close enough for thin ice to form without a problem. As soon as the water dropped below 50'F (10'C) I stopped feeding altogether, and did't start again until mid-spring.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

In winter I kept mine in a kiddy pool, on the floor of an unheated basement in Milwaukee (temps there drop to -20'F), along with Urugayuan cichlids, where temps easily came close enough for thin ice to form without a problem. As soon as the water dropped below 50'F (10'C) I stopped feeding altogether, and did't start again until mid-spring.

Thank you, I appreciate your input. Would it make a difference if the fish in question had been kept at no less than 18°c for (basically) their entire lives? I would think that after being "conditioned" to live in warm water that they would of adapted to the warmer temperature being a constant part of their lives, am I wrong to think this or could there be a shred of truth to it? I ask you this specifically because you've got more experience than I could wish to have, and a large knowledge base to suit.

 

[duanes]

Since goldfish are temperate water fish originating in China, they have evolved to tolerate a wide ange of temps, and I doubt that a few years in a tank will erase a million years of evolution.
And I would "not" expect temps in your house to fluctuate wildly.

 

[Kittiee Katt]

That all makes sense. I'm just worried about unnecessarily stressing my fish