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Heater


hungryemo

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Hey guys - I've got a few tanks set up and I'm really struggling to maintain a good, stable temperature in them. My house can get a bit cold and with the weather being pretty chilly lately, it hasn't helped, but so far none of my tanks have been able to reach beyond 25°C.
I've tried to keep the temperature stable at around 24°C at least but overnight it keeps dropping to as low as 22°C.
What's the best way to keep a stable temperature (other than heating the room, which I'd rather not do as my dogs also sleep in there and they can overheat easily)? Would I need a more powerful heater or multiple heaters?
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water flow ? the heater will switch off once the temp around it reaches 25 were as the rest of the tank may be only 21-22 ?

heater size i think roughly for each watt will heat 1 litre of water so if your using a 55w heater in a 120 litre tank then it would pay to get another one?

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Got appropriate wattage per litre.

150w in the 135 litre.

100w in the 75 litre.

55w in each of the the 30 litres.

Heaters are all set up beside the filter and the water flow is good. The temperature is consistent throughout each tank - it's the tank as a whole that is fluctuating, because of the outside temperature, I guess.

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Personally I would be insulating the tanks as a first step before buying more or larger heaters. Mainly because of the cost both of the heaters and the electricity to run them. Also make sure there is water flowing past the heater do that it is actually going on when the temp drops.

Styrofoam sheets are my first choice for insulation because you can paint it and make it look neat and nice. Bubble wrap can also work but won't look good. You want to insulate the bottom, back and sides. Additionally you can throw a blanket over the tank at night when it will be coldest.

I would do a test with just a bucket of water and thermometer just to try and figure out what the temperature really drops to. What exactly is room temperature at various times of the day? If you know exactly what you're dealing with you can choose an appropriately sized heater.

Check windows and doors for how much cold air is coming through. A well insulated room will make things easier to control. You don't have to heat the room. But it should be possible to strike a balance where it's not too hot for the dogs as not too cold for the tank's heater to work effectively.

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As Raz said - insulate the tanks and check your temps throughout the day and evening...and if you happen to get up during the night for any reason, go ahead and pop in then too :)

Is it your house or a rental? I ask as ceiling insulation is a big thing in keeping your Fishroom warm. Hot air rises and if there's no insulation in the roof, it will escape. Drafts under the door in or through the sides of the windows also needs to be addressed. Glass is a huge heat conductor, so as your room heats up, windows will let it straight out (or in during summer for the reverse problem of over heating). Shades a good, shutters a re better. At a minimum, cut a piece of polystyrene to insulate the window and tape it to block off drafts if need be (and you're not fussed about how it looks).

Then insulate the tanks. Wrapping towels around and over the top of your tanks will quickly let you know if this will fix your fluctuating temp issues. If the towels work, then move to stick polystyrene to your tanks.

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Thanks for the suggestions, guys - with the past few days of nice weather, temperatures in the tanks have all been bang on target, consistently, but I'll definitely need to look at insulation.

Brenton, it's a rental, so unfortunately I can't do too much that would permanently alter the place. Drafts under the floor is likely our main culprit as directly below is our cellar and there's only floorboards between us.

I'll look into how to insulate a part of the room, at least - currently some of my tanks are in a wardrobe... which sounds weird but it looks cool when it's all open (and protects the tanks from over zealous dogs when I'm not here. There may be a way to ensure the wardrobe itself stays insulated.

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Rugs on the floor would help, and you can take them with you if you move. Wardrobe is cool - like a mini room - get some Velcro dots and stick up polystyrene on the inside of the robe. When it comes time to move, no mess left behind :)

And stick some polystyrene to the tanks outside the robe to keep them stable. The insulation will keep the heat in during winter, but you want it to dissipate in summer, so make sure you can remove anything you put on.

Get some snap lock sandwich bags and fill them with treated water and put them in the freezer - you may need them in summer to cool the fellas down when it gets hot. A pedestal fan blowing across the water surface helps as well. Make some tank lids out of flyscreen so you can still cover the tanks (remember these guys jump).

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