It's currently 55f in my house, I have tropicals, sooooo....yes.
Do you use a heater?
- Thread starter rayoddballfish
- Start date
I live in NJ too. If your fish room does not have AC, unplugging the heater is safer than plugged in. If the ambient temp is say 85F, fairly common in Jersey during heat wave, it doesnt take much for a stuck heater to raise the temp to 90+ fatal level.
I've been using Fluval M heaters for years, they're not hard to find online. For me they've been very reliable, they're also accurate ime. But then I don't have fish that like to break heaters. 
I have 4 tanks in PA, 2 in main floor, 2 in basement. I won't be plugging-in the heaters again until September-October. Water changes are made with almost fully tap water, room temp (73-76F).
It doesn't really matter what the outdoor temps are; the deciding factor is the room temperature you maintain in your fish room. If you keep the central air cranked down to the mid-60's, then, yeah, you likely need your heaters. Otherwise, you should be fine.
That's the modern era. We live in houses that we heat during cold weather...and then we use more electricity to refrigerate our foods inside those heated homes. In summer we use equipment to cool our homes...but then we drop heaters into our tropical fish tanks to get the temps back up where we think they need to be.
I don't even want to think about the relationship between my septic system and the well that supplies my water..
That's the modern era. We live in houses that we heat during cold weather...and then we use more electricity to refrigerate our foods inside those heated homes. In summer we use equipment to cool our homes...but then we drop heaters into our tropical fish tanks to get the temps back up where we think they need to be.
I don't even want to think about the relationship between my septic system and the well that supplies my water..
duanes
, Nandopsis haitiensus (Haitian cichlid?) is specifically high-temperature? Are they from specific sea-level ponds/rivers? I ask as I don't think there's a river on Jamaica that stays above 25C year 'round; they come out of the ground at 65F and don't get much chance to warm up unless there's a drought. I also ask as I don't use a heater unless I really have to: IE ich infestation during a winter storm, though this might change for this year & new house. We also don't get much access to better, higher-dollar brands.
There is an article by Alf Stalsberg called Hispaniola Oh Island in the Sun, or Dominican Republic Oh Island....Cant remember for sure.
I also ask as I don't use a heater unless I really have to: IE ich infestation during a winter storm, though this might change for this year & new house. We also don't get much access to better, higher-dollar brands.
Ibelive its available on the Cichlid Room Companion web site (cichlidae.com)
Where Alf and Patrick de Rham went to Hispaniola to collect them. In most areas where they found haitiensus water temps were in the upper 80s into the 90s F.
I found mine did best in those temps.
