Unplug your heaters

[jjohnwm]

Why unplug them? That is the whole point of a thermostat. You set it to what ever temp you want. Why run the risk of forgetting to plug it back it?

Absolutely! I have heaters in almost all my tanks, simply because the temperature in my basement fishroom can be quite frosty in the winter. The tanks down there are allowed to drop down to the 60's during the winter, and up to the 70's in the summer. I have moved towards fish that not only allow this but in some cases actually demand it for proper long-term maintenance.

The heaters are there mostly for a back-up emergency measure. They are always plugged in but very rarely "on". The exception is in the late fall and early spring; I want the tanks to have a "cool-down" period of only 2-3 months, but if I rely on ambient basement temperatures they will be in that range for probably 6 months. Using the heaters allows me to start the spring-time warm-up a bit earlier and to extend the summer warmth a bit later into the fall. I now set them at 68F for the summer and at their lowest setting for the winter (I think it reads 60F but they actually don't seem to come on until around 58F or so, which is perfect for me).

I like using 2 heaters per tank, sized very small for the tank volume, so if one fails "on" it won't cook my fish. Getting everything set up is a bit of a job, but once it's done...it's done. If I were to buy or build a new house (ain't gonna happen...) I would make sure I had a fishroom that was completely temperature-controlled and I'd never mess around with individual heaters. Of course, I'd not mess around with fish having vastly differing temperature requirement either.

I like RD. 's approach; observe the fish and see what it likes. People need to do that more, and spend less time fretting about the fact that the internet says they need 78.359 degrees F but they only have 77.523F and think it's a problem.

 

[dogofwar]

Heaters are the Achilles heel of the hobby - I regulate the temperature of my fishroom vs. heat each tank.

 

[RD.]

People need to do that more, and spend less time fretting about the fact that the internet says they need 78.359 degrees F but they only have 77.523F and think it's a problem.

Agreed. Lots of bad internet info posted over the years.


[/QUOTE]

Heaters are the Achilles heel of the hobby - I regulate the temperature of my fishroom vs. heat each tank.

That was always my goal, until I started sleeping in the fish room when I am on-call for work. The fish lost out to my personal comfort.

 

[C. Breeze]

I think fish are way tougher than we give credit for - and even tropical species can handle some (a lot) of fluctuation if it happens in a context that the fish can handle. If you cold crash a tank like it’s a beer that’s done fermenting you’ll have issues. If it happens more gradually and in conjunction with natural day/night/precipitation patterns and Occurrences. My Costa Rican andinoacara Corueleopunctatus for instance… I lost a pair when my outdoor vats had a high of 56 over a 3 day period this spring during the last cold front. I lost a spawn of rainbow cichlids that were just free swimming a spawn of Dempseys that was a couple weeks old. Everything else was fine. Cutteri, Dempseys, Rainbows, 4 other pairs of Corue, and my Uruguay fish (who see water in the upper 40s plenty ) of course were all fine.


Now all of that comes with the caveat that I have tried to avoid “aquarium strain” “per store strain” or fish linbred for color like some many dwarf cichlids are. I don’t own any fish that have ever been to Europe or Asia. And most were collected or bred by the people who collected the parents (or me)


I think if you want to keep fish “naturally” and let the temp vary a few degrees day to night, and a few more than that seasonally- you probably will have better luck with fish that are closer to nature and further from the pet trade, and you’ll be rewarded with hardier fish with better health color etc - than If you have pet trade fish and probably need to set that heater at 76 and only bump it to 80 for spawning, And otherwise keep thing s stable steady etc. because those are some fragile fish.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

While I don't wish my house was any warmer, I do wish that I could get away from heaters, but only if I could do so without causing a negative affect on my fish.
The following is a repost from a past discussion on Amphilophus, a very common CA genus. While I won't go so far as to describe that fish as more "happy" at higher temps, I have been a student of animal behavior for 50+ yrs, and this particular fish, when kept in water at cooler temps, reacted by what I can only describe as a state of depression. I've been observing this fish daily for the better part of a decade, and he is pretty easy to read. He's also proven to be very intelligent, as far as pet fish go. My grandkids call him BIG Brain. lol

As you mentioned earlier Neil, it's not a one size fits all for everyone. Personally I wish my house was cooler most of the time. In the summer the water in my tanks never drops below 72ish and in the winter my mrs has not got the ability to layer up in a warm jumper and persists in having the heating on full blast. It's been the topic of many a domestic row over the years. If I could get her to switch off lights and keep the heating at sensible levels, I would have cheaper bills and a near perfect Mrs.
At least I can keep uaru without a heater in December. Every cloud.

 

[Tj203]

Ok I'm sorry but this just makes no sense to me. There is no reason to unplug a heater to lower the temperature. For $40 you can get a wifi controller and change the temp anywhere in the world. Or adjust the thermostat on your heater. Unplugging it is just asking for trouble unless you have a low temp alarm. I have to run a chiller in the summer and I still leave my heaters plugged in.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Ok I'm sorry but this just makes no sense to me. There is no reason to unplug a heater to lower the temperature. For $40 you can get a wifi controller and change the temp anywhere in the world. Or adjust the thermostat on your heater. Unplugging it is just asking for trouble unless you have a low temp alarm. I have to run a chiller in the summer and I still leave my heaters plugged in.

It's not an issue if you can safely rely on ambient room temps.
I think it just depends on the fish and the circumstance in how they are kept.

 

[Tj203]

It's not an issue if you can safely rely on ambient room temps.
I think it just depends on the fish and the circumstance in how they are kept.

I'm not talking about the temperature in the tank I don't understand why you would unplug a heater there's no reason to unplug it.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

I'm not talking about the temperature in the tank I don't understand why you would unplug a heater there's no reason to unplug it.

Just to get rid of them for a bit as they are ugly? To not have to worry about them cracking during water changes maybe?

 

[Tj203]

Just to get rid of them for a bit as they are ugly? To not have to worry about them cracking during water changes maybe?

Those would be great reasons to do an inline heater. Or a sump. But in my opinion unplugging a heater is just asking for a problem. Maybe my memory just sucks from all the dabs lol but I would never remember to plug it back.