Question about Room Temperature Tanks

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troublesum

Aimara
MFK Member
Dec 28, 2007
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Astoria, NY
I have a 600 sq foot apartment in NYC and a 125 gallon tank, my electric bill this month was $344 while doing a WC last night i noticed my water seemed a little to warm, i went to adjust my heater and its old and i couldn't see where the numbers are to adjust so i just unplugged it.
My question is my apartment usually in the summer stays around 80 degrees i would like to know how much temperature drops in the tank if the apartment stays at 80 I'm sure there is i figured at least a 5 degree difference from actually temperature and water temp in the tank.
If anyone knows the science behind this please let me know.
Would it be ok to keep the heater unplugged thru out the summer?
I have a 10in male Midas and a 8in female Red terror in the tank no other fish
 
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troublesum said:
I have a 600 sq foot apartment in NYC and a 125 gallon tank, my electric bill this month was $344 while doing a WC last night i noticed my water seemed a little to warm, i went to adjust my heater and its old and i couldn't see where the numbers are to adjust so i just unplugged it.
My question is my apartment usually in the summer stays around 80 degrees i would like to know how much temperature drops in the tank if the apartment stays at 80 I'm sure there is i figured at least a 5 degree difference from actually temperature and water temp in the tank.
If anyone knows the science behind this please let me know.
Would it be ok to keep the heater unplugged thru out the summer?
I have a 10in male Midas and a 8in female Red terror in the tank no other fish
Click to expand...
You have a thermometer? just test the water temperature. The water should'nt get under 70, I wouldn't think.. My house stays around 86'f throughout the summer( i like to be warm), and the water in almost all the tanks is between 78-80'f with no heater, but I have one in just incase the temperature drops for some reason.. During the winter I keep my house at 73, but still a heater is necessary, due to most of my fish and my being tropicals.
 
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The average water temp in Lake Nicaraugua where Midas cichlids come from, is in the mid 70sF,
and average average water temp in the Rio Tumbes in Peru where Mesoheros festae come from, is 77"F in summer, down to 70"F in winter.

When I lived in WI, I always unplugged my heaters late May thru late Sept
And I kept both these species
 
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It is one of the basic laws of thermodynamics. Hot water will eventually cool down to the room temperature, and cool water will eventually warm up to the room temperature.

So yes, your aquarium water will, in time, reach the same temperature as the room your aquarium is in.

I'd put a thermometer near your tank and record the temps at different times of the day, night time especially when the temp drops.

If you end up with quite a narrow range, and that range fits nicely into your fishes recommended range, then you could probably leave your heater off.

From a seasonal perspective you'd obviously have to do more temp checks when summer turns into autumn and autumn turns into winter.

Then it would be a choice between aquarium heater or central heating.
 
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Thanks mates for your responses i guess i need to stop being cheap and lazy and buy a thermometer i have unplugged it before for a few days but the water seemed to get real cool so i plugged it back in but i have learned lately by going to the beach they said the water temp was 70 but it felt really cool for me but i guess for a lot of cichlids 70 is nice.
What would good recommendations for a good thermometer be.?
 
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First off...you live in 600 square feet and have a 15-gallon tank? Bravo! :) Now rip open the velcro and undo the chain on that wallet...because you need a thermometer.

I'm not quite the physicist that Esox is, but I agree that the water should be the same as the air in temperature...but it never quite works out that way. A given volume of water can absorb far more heat energy before actually changing in temperature than an equivalent volume of air. The air in your apartment would need to remain at that high level 24/7 with no nighttime drops in order for the water to achieve that temp. And of course there is always a degree of evaporation that provides at least some cooling.

My tanks tend to settle at maybe 2C degrees cooler than the air temperature. They will "feel" cooler than that to a finger test, but that's simply because your body temp is always much higher than the water temp, and the water is sucking the heat energy from your finger many times faster than the surrounding air. That's why you can walk around all day comfortably at 18-20C, but if you were in water that temp you would start to feel a chill after a much shorter time (like at the beach).

Unplugging your heater? Aquarium heaters are thermostatically controlled; if the temp is high enough, they do nothing, do not operate and cost nothing to run. If for whatever reason the temp drops, then they can still kick in and save the day. There is no benefit to be had from unplugging them.

Before someone says that they might malfunction and stick in the "on" position, killing your fish...if they're gonna do that, then they're gonna do that. You might as well find out now rather than later. It's just another good reason to spring for that thermometer we were talking about earlier. :)
 
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jjohnwm said:
First off...you live in 600 square feet and have a 15-gallon tank? Bravo! :) Now rip open the velcro and undo the chain on that wallet...because you need a thermometer.

I'm not quite the physicist that Esox is, but I agree that the water should be the same as the air in temperature...but it never quite works out that way. A given volume of water can absorb far more heat energy before actually changing in temperature than an equivalent volume of air. The air in your apartment would need to remain at that high level 24/7 with no nighttime drops in order for the water to achieve that temp. And of course there is always a degree of evaporation that provides at least some cooling.

My tanks tend to settle at maybe 2C degrees cooler than the air temperature. They will "feel" cooler than that to a finger test, but that's simply because your body temp is always much higher than the water temp, and the water is sucking the heat energy from your finger many times faster than the surrounding air. That's why you can walk around all day comfortably at 18-20C, but if you were in water that temp you would start to feel a chill after a much shorter time (like at the beach).

Unplugging your heater? Aquarium heaters are thermostatically controlled; if the temp is high enough, they do nothing, do not operate and cost nothing to run. If for whatever reason the temp drops, then they can still kick in and save the day. There is no benefit to be had from unplugging them.

Before someone says that they might malfunction and stick in the "on" position, killing your fish...if they're gonna do that, then they're gonna do that. You might as well find out now rather than later. It's just another good reason to spring for that thermometer we were talking about earlier. :)
Click to expand...
15 gallon tank??? its a 125 gallon!! and i have a feeling you was trying to be a D*^K with that comment. But you actually explained it better then what i was trying to ask that's why i panicked when i stuck my finger in the tank the water felt really cool but you explained it so that i understood it.
Can anyone recommend a thermometer that wont break the bank but is also reliable
 
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troublesum said:
15 gallon tank??? its a 125 gallon!! and i have a feeling you was trying to be a D*^K with that comment. But you actually explained it better then what i was trying to ask that's why i panicked when i stuck my finger in the tank the water felt really cool but you explained it so that i understood it.
Can anyone recommend a thermometer that wont break the bank but is also reliable
Click to expand...

Lol, if I were trying to be a D**K it wouldn't be that subtle (for example, the velcro-wallet crack...). No, it was just a dumb typo on my part, I knew your tank was 125. That's what I meant by my comment; anybody with that size tank in a 600 sq ft living space is well on his way to MFK-level craziness, so...well done! :)

Even the absolute cheapest, floating glass thermometer is worlds better than none at all. I still have probably a dozen of those floating around my fishroom. But...my favourite is a handheld laser thermometer. Point it at the tank (or whatever...) press the button, read the temperature. The laser dot also serves to drive some fish crazy as they chase it around. I usually laser from the top, directly through the water surface onto something in the tank, because there can sometimes be a few degrees of difference between the water and the outside of the thick glass on a big tank, but if you just want a quick check then you can do it from across the room right onto the glass.
 
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troublesum said:
i would like to know how much temperature drops in the tank if the apartment stays at 80 I'm sure there is i figured at least a 5 degree difference from actually temperature and water temp in the tank.
Click to expand...
I suppose we could calculate it given enough information like heat input from your equipment, lighting, relative humidity, airflow effecting evaporation and cooling.
Realistically, it could be anywhere around 5 degrees F warmer or cooler.

I've found my tanks tend to be a few degrees warmer than the average room temperature. But room temps vary widely so the tank is a bit cooler during the day a bit warmer at night.
 
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