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

In article ,
says...
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.

OK, you got me. I know what a GFCI (or GFI) is, but what is an RCD?

--
Homo sapiens is a goal, not a description

In article ,
says...

In article ,
says...
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.

OK, you got me. I know what a GFCI (or GFI) is, but what is an RCD?



http://www.acronymfinder.com/ Residual Current Device

--
Jim Anderson
( 8(|) To email me just pull my_finger

In message , Derek Benson
writes
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.

Thanks for this, Derek, I appreciate it. I do wonder though if your
ambient temp might be a bit higher than mine? I'm in the UK and I don't
have the heating on at night or during most of the day during the week,
so from October - April I need a temperature hike of a _minimum_ of 8
degrees C and often more, and I wonder if a 100W heater would be
suitable for this? I'll keep a careful eye on things over the next few
weeks as the weather warms up.

If the weather is warmer (and I have to say it is not for many days a
year that the ambient temp. is close what I want the tank to be) won't
the heater just switch itself off? The original heater I had looked very
dodgy, so I got rid of it and got a (very expensive) Hydor Theo, also
200W... I take it you think this was a mistake ;-) The info on the box
recommends the 200 for the temperature hike I need and suggests the 100
wouldn't be adequate, and the fish-shop man agreed - he's someone I'd
trust, btw.

--
sophie

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