My basement fishroom has three rows of tanks (top, middle and bottom) and also some tanks directly on the floor. I only heat a few large tanks but the furnace is in the same room.
The cool water species from Uruguay are generally on the bottom and floor, which gets to mid to low 60s in the winter.
The middle row is where I keep most of my Central Americans. It stays 72 or so in the winter and gets to 76-78 in the winter. There's no shortage of spawning in the spring and summer but it slows in the winter.
I primarily keep West Africans and South Americans on the top, where it stays 74 plus in the winter and gets up to 80-82 in the summer. I heat a few of these tanks with heaters.
With increased heat comes increased aggression, metabolism and electricity consumption. This means more dead or beat up fish (and shorter lifespans), the need for more water changes / tank maintenance and higher energy bills (and ultimately more coal burned).
Since I've gotten away from using heaters in most of my tanks, I've had no less (probably more) spawning activity, no health issues (probably fewer) and lower energy bills.
I know that many people want to get huge, hyper-aggressiver fish in the minimum time by cranking up temps, powerfeeding, etc. but sometimes less is more!
Matt
The cool water species from Uruguay are generally on the bottom and floor, which gets to mid to low 60s in the winter.
The middle row is where I keep most of my Central Americans. It stays 72 or so in the winter and gets to 76-78 in the winter. There's no shortage of spawning in the spring and summer but it slows in the winter.
I primarily keep West Africans and South Americans on the top, where it stays 74 plus in the winter and gets up to 80-82 in the summer. I heat a few of these tanks with heaters.
With increased heat comes increased aggression, metabolism and electricity consumption. This means more dead or beat up fish (and shorter lifespans), the need for more water changes / tank maintenance and higher energy bills (and ultimately more coal burned).
Since I've gotten away from using heaters in most of my tanks, I've had no less (probably more) spawning activity, no health issues (probably fewer) and lower energy bills.
I know that many people want to get huge, hyper-aggressiver fish in the minimum time by cranking up temps, powerfeeding, etc. but sometimes less is more!
Matt
