heater?

my new (secondhand) tank came with a heater, which looks to be about the
right wattage for a cold winter's night, but rather overdone for the
summer... 35 (US) gallon; heater = 200W.

Is this a problem?
--
sophie

www.freewebs.com/fishstuff
(under construction. ish.)

"sophiefishstuff" wrote in
message ...

my new (secondhand) tank came with a heater, which looks to be about
the right wattage for a cold winter's night, but rather overdone for
the summer... 35 (US) gallon; heater = 200W.

Is this a problem?
--
sophie

www.freewebs.com/fishstuff
(under construction. ish.)


I don't think so. They are all a problem if they get stuck in the ON
mode, and the more powerful, the higher and faster the temperature will
go. If you don't trust the heater, buy a new one, otherwise the wattage
is fine. The recommended size for a 35g is 175W, so round that to the
nearest value, 200W.
--
www.NetMax.tk

On Sun, 1 May 2005 15:02:38 +0100, sophiefishstuff
wrote:


my new (secondhand) tank came with a heater, which looks to be about the
right wattage for a cold winter's night, but rather overdone for the
summer... 35 (US) gallon; heater = 200W.

Is this a problem?

What I've usually seen on the spec sheet that comes inside the box
with a new heater is that the manufacturer recommends 3-5 watts per
gallon. This can also be found in various books and probably on the
Net. In my personal experience 5 watts per gallon is too much,
particularly in smaller tanks; and I'm talking about the heater
functioning correctly, I'm not thinking of a situation where the
heater gets stuck. Just for general use, these 5 watts are too
powerful.

I would never use anything stronger than a 100 watt heater in a 35
gallon tank.

-Derek

I have a good experience to tell.
Last friday when I got up I had some cabombas plants floating.
(is there a way to have them stick to the bottom definatly?)

Before I touch the water I always unplug the heater.
For some reason I forgot to plug it back in.

I have my 33Gal tank set up at 24C.

When I got home roughly ten hours later, my tank temp had dropped 2C
and it was at sitting at 22C.

So it does take awhile to lose alot of temp to affect the fish.

I am glad to say that no fish seemed affected by the temp drop.

wrote:

I have a good experience to tell.
Last friday when I got up I had some cabombas plants floating.
(is there a way to have them stick to the bottom definatly?)

I make a bunch of plants and wrap the stems with a lead weight.

Before I touch the water I always unplug the heater.

I've never done this in my life. But I do have an RCD on my fusebox.

For some reason I forgot to plug it back in.

Maybe you should buy a timer and put it on an hour setting to remind
you? I can never remember anything like needing to switch back on stuff.
So that's what I use. By brother left his 3 gallon aquarium switched off
for 2 weeks accidentally. The two guppies survived the 16 degrees C in
that period. Moreover, they survived with no filter.

I have my 33Gal tank set up at 24C.

When I got home roughly ten hours later, my tank temp had dropped 2C
and it was at sitting at 22C.

So it does take awhile to lose alot of temp to affect the fish.

It depends on the ambient temperature of the air around the tank.

I am glad to say that no fish seemed affected by the temp drop.

2 degrees? I shouldn't think so. It's a negligible change. My tanks
fluctuate naturally more than 2 degrees in the summer.

Nikki

Nikki Casali wrote:
wrote:

I have a good experience to tell.
Last friday when I got up I had some cabombas plants floating.
(is there a way to have them stick to the bottom definatly?)

I make a bunch of plants and wrap the stems with a lead weight.

Good tip, but do you bury it or just leave it hanging at the bottom?

wrote:

Nikki Casali wrote:

wrote:


I have a good experience to tell.
Last friday when I got up I had some cabombas plants floating.
(is there a way to have them stick to the bottom definatly?)

I make a bunch of plants and wrap the stems with a lead weight.


Good tip, but do you bury it or just leave it hanging at the bottom?


Woops, sorry. Yes, I still bury the stems in most cases. I think Cabomba
does better when planted, not that I've ever had any lucky with this
fastidious plant.

Nikki

I know what you mean.
I am doing alright with it, but it just doesnt make any roots at the
bottom.
I usually bury it in the gravel to hold, but it either rots or the fish
suck too much on it, and I have it flooting in the water.

I really want that plant to develop, it is beautiful.

wrote in message
oups.com...
I know what you mean.
I am doing alright with it, but it just doesnt make any roots at the
bottom.
I usually bury it in the gravel to hold, but it either rots or the fish
suck too much on it, and I have it flooting in the water.

I really want that plant to develop, it is beautiful.


I wrap them in lead weight as well, but in groups of about 4 to 5 (less
is too thin, more and they lose their bottom leaves), but I found that it
was difficult to not damage the stems with the lead, so I first wrap the
stems in a pinch of thin sponge, and then put the lead over that. Other
tricks are to snip off the ends of each stem (unless they already have
roots), and to be very careful to not damage the ends when planting
(place them in a depression and then push substrate in to fill the hole).
You can also put a small piece of fertilizer near the roots. I've seen
these mentioned http://www.petmeister.com/item801.htm and Elaine is using
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Root Tabs plus Iron laterite pellets. hth
--
www.NetMax.tk

NetMax wrote:
wrote in message
oups.com...

I know what you mean.
I am doing alright with it, but it just doesnt make any roots at the
bottom.
I usually bury it in the gravel to hold, but it either rots or the fish
suck too much on it, and I have it flooting in the water.

I really want that plant to develop, it is beautiful.



I wrap them in lead weight as well, but in groups of about 4 to 5 (less
is too thin, more and they lose their bottom leaves), but I found that it
was difficult to not damage the stems with the lead, so I first wrap the
stems in a pinch of thin sponge, and then put the lead over that. Other
tricks are to snip off the ends of each stem (unless they already have
roots), and to be very careful to not damage the ends when planting
(place them in a depression and then push substrate in to fill the hole).
You can also put a small piece of fertilizer near the roots. I've seen
these mentioned http://www.petmeister.com/item801.htm and Elaine is using
Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Root Tabs plus Iron laterite pellets. hth

There's another good product for a few dollars by Aquarium
Pharmaceuticals called Plant Plugs. They're rockwool with a stretchy
netting to hold stems against the rockwool. You put the stems between
the netting and rockwool or into slits in the rockwool and then you bury
the whole thing in the gravel. The rockwool has fertilizer for the
first couple of months to help root development and then you start using
the fertilizer tabs NetMax mentioned. (Good memory, BTW!) They're the
best product I've ever found to help difficult stem plants stay
submerged and root - saved my otherwise impossible Rotala macrantha many
years ago.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com