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I was wondering if there is a heater made that will keep my tank the same temperature regardless of the room temp. My room that my tanks are in varies and sometimes my tank is too cold and othertimes too hot. Is there a heater made with a built in thermostat to where it will kick on and off to keep the water the same temp? If so where can I find it?
Thanks for your time and input

depending on the size of your tank and the degree of variation you might have to get 2 or more heaters to maintain the temp... this will only help in colder weather as it heats up the heaters can do nothing to keep the tanks cool, for that a simple box fan or oscillating fan would do the trick, evaporative cooling can cool a tank as much as 10 degree, the more surface disruption you have the more effective this type of cooling will be

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Adam

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Most heaters have a adjustable thermostat that cut off at the selected temp.
For tanks over 60g I would reccomend a good quality submersible 300 watt heater and if temps drop to extremes in winter, two.This may sound a lot but high wattage ones dont have to work so hard to keep the temp stable.

As adam says this wont help if the room gets too hot so water agitations from filters like the Ac500s or sump/wet dry filters help a lot in keeping the water cooler than outside temps

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TONY
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It is a 29 gallon tall and in the summer it somedays will be too hot and in the winter some days will be too cold. I am going to get a good submersible heater as now i just have a hanging heater on the side of the tank now. Do you think that a 150 watt heater will be sufficient for this tank?
And also do you have any particular brand that you like or any brand to stay away from?
Thanks once again!

[This message has been edited by aaroncain (edited 01-01-2002).]

Buy the biggest baddest heater you can afford... that is pretty much the advice I would give to anyone regarding any piece of equipment... I would recommend a 300 watt heater for a 10 gallon if it would fit... just because the heater is more powerful then you "need" doesnt mean it will heat your water up to boiling... they have thermostats to turn them off when the water reaches the right temp. Usually there is only a few dollars difference between the 150 watt and 300 watt heaters... for example my LFS has the 150 for $10, 250 for $12 and the 300 for $15. If you are worried about massive flux in the temp then go with the biggest heater available and set it a the correct temp for your tank.

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Adam

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Adam@cichlidfish.com
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I will have to go get one bad mother of a heater then. I think that I am going to get a submersible heater for my next one instead of the side hanging type. This would be for the same tank that I am going to be changing into saltwater hopefully soon.

to keep the tanks cool, for that a simple box fan or oscillating fan would do the trick, evaporative cooling can cool a tank as much as 10 degree, the more surface disruption you have the more effective this type of cooling will be
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Adam

Adam,
Can I get a little more information on this?
Is this something you can do with the lid on, such as pointing a fan at the filter returns..??
I set up my tanks this past Sept, right after we shut the A/C off and the average temp of the tanks was about 82.. I'm sure its going to be a problem as I now have my previously contaminated tank up and running (Planning on posting an update on that subject very soon,,, and thank you,very much for your help with that problem.),,on a different level of my house and even with the A/C its going to be tough to keep the temp down in the summer....
I'm sure its not rocket science, and that I will probably figure it out once the weather gets warm....
I've got a fountain on my pool,,,, have used it the past three out of five summers, and it keeps the temp of the pool about 8-9 degrees cooler during late July-Aug...it doesnt sound like much but the difference between 98 or 99 and 90 is quite worth the cost of the fountain.
I dont think thats evaporative cooling as that takes the water out of the pool,, passes it through the cooler night air lowering the temp of the pool water litterally one drop at a time.

Sorry for all the unnecessary information,,, just in a rambling mood I guess...
Also, A very Happy New Year to all that cruise the posts...

Actually your discription of the fountain is exactly what I am talking about As the water passes through the air, or as air is passed over the water it evaporates and cools the temp of the water (much like concept behind sweat and how it cools us down)... the more contact it has with the air ie. a fountain shooting it up increases exposure time dramaticly, the more effective the cooling will be, aiming a fan at the output of the filter if that is above the level of tank surface would have much the same effect as the fountain just much more abreviated since it is not exposed for nearly as long, smaller 4-6" clip on desk fans can be used for harder to reach area's. Tony has a tank hooked up to a wet/dry trickle type filter and it keeps the temp about 6 degrees cooler in the summer... dont underestimate the power of evaporation. The only "drawback" is that for it to work it must evaporate water... and so you must do alittle more work in returning that water to the tank... again using Tony as an example he loses I believe 1-3 liters of water a day which must be replaced... I hope that is clear enough, and what you were looking for

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Adam

Come see my website!
Adam@cichlidfish.com
Got ?'s about HITH? Read this to learn more!

Thanks Adam,

Your reply was very clear.
I'm using AC 500's and 300's, two on each tank, the five's on my larger tank and the three's on my smaller tanks so I think the large surface areas will be very much to my advantage.

I'm really not sure I'm going to have a problem as two of my tanks are in a basement and that room is usually cold in the summer..
Also cutting back on the lights should help..

Thanks Adam.

Jim.