Thanks everyone! Wow! Who would have thought getting a heater could be so complicated! Everyone has pointed out a lot of things I had not considered and I appreciate that. The last thing I want to do is kill off my fish. I'll take everyone's advice and do some research and make a decision. Meanwhile my fish will have to be content to stay in their 10 gallon tank for a while longer. I'd like to get the heater and get it regulated first!
I do agree with looking at Petco before Petsmart. I have had better results with buying equipment from them then Petsmart. And I had never thought to look at Amazon and other on-line and catalog companies! Thank you for all your help! Rachell
--- In AquaticLife@yahoogroups.com, sevenspringss@... wrote:
>
> Hi Rachell,
>
> The aquarium heater is the one apparatus which the fish are totally
> dependent upon to stay alive, as it's essential that the fish remain within the
> temperature range they need. All others, as lights, filters and aeration
> devices, are really not needed for them to live as long as regular water
> maintenance procedures are followed. As such, the heater (or heating system) is the
> sole item that should never be scrimped on when purchased.
>
> It has long been established, that 2 Watts per gallon is needed to raise
> the temperature 5 degrees above the ambient (room) temperature in which the
> aquarium is being kept. So, as an example, if the room is kept at 68 o during
> the Winter, and you want to keep the water temperature at 78 o, this 10
> degree difference will require 4 Watts per gallon to raise and keep the water
> at that temperature -- or, 80 Watts for a 20 gallon tank.. As a 20 gallon
> tank is never kept completely filled to the very top, and as the substrate and
> rock (and driftwood, etc.) will also displace water, a 75 Watt heater is
> sufficient -- provided it's of good quality. Much more than 75 Watts can cook
> your fish if the heater ever malfunctions in sticking on.
>
> I also notice that in Winter, you keep the room warm, and while you haven't
> stated this very important information needed to figure the size of your
> heater, if you do keep the room at 73 o to 74 o, I certainly would recommend
> you get a heater any larger than this -- but again, I must stress that you
> should get a quality heater as cheaper ones can be inferior in not maintaining
> the proper temperature.
>
> I you feel you need to use 100 Watts of heating, I'd definitely recommend
> that you get two 50 Watt heaters to share the work load. In this way, if one
> sticks on, it can't cook the fish by itself and the other one will remain
> off since it will be set to do so when the right temperature is reached (or
> exceeded). Likewise, if one heater fails to come on, the other one will
> ensure the temperature remains above the bottom line for the fishes' temperature
> requirements.
>
> Today's best heater technology seems to be in the submersible heaters, and
> Eheim Jagor heaters are one of the best. A very close runner-up for a
> quality heater is Marineland's Visi-Therm heater. Two heaters will naturally be
> more of an expense than first anticipated, but it's cheap insurance when
> considering losing a tank of fish if using a single heater cooks or doesn't
> provide any heat at all. Best prices are often found on the more reputable
> on-line supply houses.
>
> Ray</HTML>
>
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