Okay one of the things that needs to be mentioned is that if you're going to take the heater out you should leave it unplugged for a while, I have unplugged heaters and then took them straight out and it got really hot quick! Then i made the mistake of putting it right back in the aquarium which cracked it. So I tend to move my heater to the bottom of the tank and possession it horizontally during water changes. So it's submerge the whole time and I've never had a problem since.
Not to mention leaving it plugged in could potentially lead to a drop of water rolling down to your outlet and if you don't have a GFCI outlet which there should be within 4 ft of any water source then it could potentially cause a house fire
1. It does not matter if the heater is 25w or. 100w, if it's on the heater is working at full power IE pedal to the metal 2. a higher wattage heater will cycle on and off more often and it is the on and off cycles that cause the heater to fail in the first place so you actually get less life from a over size heater. 3. Your temperature is actually far more consistent with a small heater than a large heater, why? Because the small heater will slowly reach the set temp then the tank cools down until the heater turns back on, usually 1-2 degrees your oversize heater blasts the heat back into the water quickly and rapidly changes the water temp and that is more stressful to the fish than the temp slowly rising and falling. 4 when heaters fail they fail to turn on or fail to turn off and if it's the latter and you have a oversized heater you cook your fish before you even know there was a problem.
Totally agree with the points you made. I'm running a 100l tank with a 50 watt heater in a cold house in winter and the heater reaches the desired temperature no problem. I also believe that the lifespan on the heater is not solely based on the time the heater is heating but mainly down to the number of times the heater switches from one state to another.
I agree with everything your said about heating aquariums except the room temperature effect on unheated tanks. I've had heaters go out many times over the years and find that my water temp can be down 5-10⁰ lower than my room temp. In summer months we generally want indoor Temps cooler than in winter. Air conditioners take moisture out of the air increasing evaporation from surface agitation and aeration in turn cooling the water lower than surrounding air. I recommend always having a heater, even for cold tolerant species. Just set it to the lower range for that specific fish as a fail safe.
Awesome heater information. One thing I learned also is redundancy in heating bigger tanks is extremely important. Having 2 heaters in case one fails can save your fish! Or splitting you wattage between 2 provides a safe guard and better heat displacement. Nice video
I started a planted tank a month ago. Watching videos from Lisa, John, Cory (Aquarium Co Op), Rachel O'Leary and Chris(Fish For Thought) have helped me a lot. Thank you for your informative and entertaining content! Wish there was a store like yours in my country, because finding stuff for aquariums at reasonable prices (specially meds and water conditioners) has been a real challenge.
I always recommend people situate the heater horizontally towards the bottom tank instead of vertically in a corner. This way it can heat as much water as possible. And agreed with the "more is better" analogy. My 600 litre tank has 3 x 300w heaters. They don't work too hard and if one heater gives up without me knowing, I should be OK until I notice the extinguished power light.
Heater manufacturers also suggest that this will increase the life of the heater, because of how the heater element and the internal thermometer are located within the body.
I once had a 300W heater on my 30g tank. It was way too strong. The tank would fluctuate so much, because the heater was designed for a bigger tank that would take longer to cool
Nice analogy, I’ve heard a similar one, as to why to run 3 watts per gallon. At 3 watts your heater turns on runs for Ltd day an hour. Shuts off for 20 minutes then turns on for an hour. And so on. At five watts per gallon it turns on for say 5 minutes shuts off for five minute turns on for five minutes, and so on. Since the switch is what usually goes out, sticking the heater on or off. The less you use that switch the longer it will last.
I was hoping to read this here!!! Not to mention- it doesn’t matter how many watts per gallon you use- it costs the same amount of energy to heat the water to a specific temperature no matter what size heater you use. Common misconception! but it’s basic specific heat rules :)
Just watching this 8 months later after it came out and he said he used to do HVAC. I've been doing it for 10 years now. I know your pain, but it also makes me kind of happy to see someone like him that used to do it.
that’s why I just put my heater next to the intake of my filter or right behind it so the filter sucks up the heat and disperses it throughout the tank It worked so far
i work for a particular compony that sells fish we have great training program but we always have room for improvement and this channel has made my knowledge ten fold and it will heavily influence my fish sales
Another caution with heaters is electrical leakage. On two occasions I've had heaters continue too work BUT would cause a electrical shock if my hand was in water, heater on, and other hand grounded to my furnace ductwork which I'm standing next too. It wouldn't cause a problem with the fish due to aquarium not being grounded. It does surprise you though! I did verify this with a voltage meter. Both times I received warranty replacement. My aquarium is a 55L using two 150 watt heaters at either end. Controls great at 80deg.
Thank you. This was very informative. I have only one preset heater for my 15 gallon Betta tank. The rest I can set whatever temp I want. I appreciate the 5 watts per gallon info.
My house is always set at 66° even in the cold Canadian winters. I do not like the heat much. All of my aquariums have a heater and of course I’ve a spare of everything just in case. I’ve only had fish 5 years now, but thanks to this channel I know a few things and learn more every visit. Thanks btw 😊
8:50 HEATER PLACEMENT - this was so good to know. i always put in the back corner due to aesthetic reasons, i guess, and because i didn't think it mattered... now i'll make sure the airstone is nearby or that it's near the filter. thank you!! (when i water change i double check the temp with a digital thermometer, and i could potentially be checking a warm or a cool spot. so that could throw off my tank when i add water back in.
In the UK and Europe we tend to measure our water volume in litres rather than US gal so it makes it easier calculating heater wattage. You simply go 1:1 with 1 watt per litre. That said, our tiny Euro of houses can't really fit these 400 US gal tanks as they'd need a whole extension building for them
There's an argument against oversizing your aquarium heater, and for the same reason you mentioned. A larger wattage heater in a smaller tank will cycle on and off more often, possibly wearing out the internal relay more quickly than a lower wattage heater that cycles on and off less often.
Cautionary tail for you guys. I once let an air line get to close to my heater. I had everything hidden behind the same ornament. The airline touched, melted and made my water toxic. . . Never making that mistake again.
Whether you use a heater or not, it is a good idea to have one installed on standby so that you can fight an ich infection immediately if you start seeing ich spots on your fish.
I typically use Oase Thermo filters…the heater sits in the ceramic bio part of the filter, keeping the visible aquarium equipment minimized to glass lily pipes. Works great!
The common failure point of heaters is the thermostat which is used more in heaters that are larger in size. Therefore if you use a smaller heater it will heat the water up slower, causing the thermostat to work less.
In my experience if you have an AIO aquarium it's absolutely critical that your heater be in the main body of the tank where there's good flow. If you're dumb like I was at first and you put your heater in the rear filter compartments your water temp will slowly PLUNGE if you forget to turn your pump back on after feeding your fish! Thankfully I chose hardy fish and corals (mine is a marine reef aquarium,) so everybody was fine but it still freaked me out! Thank goodness for my Inkbird temperature controller as it reliably tells me whenever there is a temperature problem.❤
The heater I have is preset and it just seems to heat the tank some amount and call it good. That’s not great if you live in Michigan where temperature swings of 40 degrees overnight are normal haha. I also don’t have air conditioning. What a pain. I’ve actually found that by putting the heater in a corner the fish can move to where they want to be, which is usually not by the heater. I can’t stop using the heater though because sometimes there are massive temp drops outside while I’m at work all day. Anyway, I’ve found this a useful way to let the fish regulate their temperature
Hi John, happy new year. Thank you very much for this video. I just bought an AQUEON 29 Gallon aquarium that it came with a water heater. Normally I put my hand inside the aquarium to distribute the food better, so every body gets some food. I know is kind of silly, but I was afraid to get electrocutaed by the heater. Thanks God I bought 2 Goldfish and 3 mollies . Thanks to you, I found out they like cool water. When you go to the store to buy a fish, employees don't give you all the information. I don't want to write the name of the store because it is a chain store very popular in the USA. When I bought my Goldfish nobody told me how big was going to grow. That is why I had to upgrade the fish tank. I couldn't buy a bigger one BC I would have to rent one apartment for me and another for my aquarium. I am new to aquariums and fish life. I alleys gave you a like and subscribe to your channel. Thanks.
Yep i kept a low tech tank in the 80s only heat source were 3 X 40watt clear light bulbs on a time switch temp in the morning would be about 22c and climbed once the lights came on
Our house is pretty cold in the winter time, and most of my fish like mid 70s or higher, so I use heaters, but I also had a heater stick on and cook some fish, so I always use heater controllers now. The heater will still fail at some point, but at least it won't kill the fish.
I had the same fear so used inkbird controller which was great till it malfunctioned . The temperature on the inkbird read 25c so as the temperature was set at 26 the heater stayed on. Unfortunately the actual temperature was close to 28 c so the inkbird caused the very thing I'd feared. I emailed inkbird with photos of temperature reading and actual temperature they didn't respond and I now no longer use a controller
So a little thing from somebody who works with electronics. Soooo to the heaters. Its most likely true that your heater will live alot longer if its only run at a part of the capacity. But it wont be more efficient than a different heater. Electric heating is (in theory) 100% efficient. So a 50w and a 1000w will take the same amount of power to heat the same tank. The only thing that might consume more power are fancy leds or displays. ( Alot of the displays i work with easily consume 5w on their own)
I was going to post along the same lines. One nitpick to your post however with regards to terms you used. When you used the example of a 50W and a 1000W heater, what you meant to say is that it takes the same amount of ENERGY to heat the same tank (power is the rate as which energy is added to the tank). So in the video where he says it will be more efficient and consume less power is completely incorrect. Also he has his argument backwards. He thinks that because the 5W/g heater is on less it is "working" less. When in fact it is the 80 miles per hour example he was arguing against. The bigger heater floors it to get to temperature in 3 minutes while the 3W/g heater drives the speed limit and gets there when there in 5 minutes. Note, I am not arguing one number over the other, only pointing out his logic is incorrect.
I didnt hear you mention some people like to have 2 heaters capable of tank heating, just in case 1 has an issue it won't cause immense temperatures fluctuations ( unless it's over heating obviously)
oh you'd hate it here during the summer we have to set our thermostat at 81 (cools to 79 because it had to dehumidify) and we'd love to have it set lower, but even with those settings during the summer you're looking at a 400$ electric bill. so, i wouldn't say we like it at 78F but we have learned to tolerate it haha I also heat my room for my fish tanks (there are 6 of them in my room) So it's probably upwards of 86-87F in here (also where my gaming pc is) but the fish love it :D
I live in the central US where we have cold winters and hot summers. I decided to just heat my bedroom (where I keep my tanks) to give or take 80F because it can get so hot in summer that it's hard to work outside; So I figured maybe if I get myself use to a hot room, it'll help me deal with summer heat a bit better, plus I don't have to worry about heaters going out. My room feels like a sauna to everyone else, but your body does more or less adapt to it. That, and I'm a small guy and don't have a layer of blubber under my skin like so many of these big guys lol.
Love the info, Gramps! LOL!!! I agree with the 5 watts, too. The car analogy was dead on. :-) (I actually run TWO heaters in all of my tanks. It's worth the piece of mind.) However, the only thing you didn't touch on was if heaters get stuck in the "on" position and cooks your fish!!!! This keeps me awake some nights. How often does that happen and how can I prevent it? Thanks in advance!
You can use an external heater controller, like the inkbird. The heater plugs into the controller, which has a temperature probe on it. If the temp goes too high, the controller shuts off the heater
If you have a hang on the back adjustable non submersible heater do not put over your air stones, the popping water droplets will eventually build up and short out your heater when they seep inside happened to me a couple times before I figured it out
Great videos. I’m returning to keeping fish in an aquarium, after a gap of twenty years. This is a super resource, simple and enjoyable to watch. Thank you
Regarding heater sizing: I've heard this before but don't know if it's true. Having a heater that's too powerful for your sized tank can cause issues because when the thermostat triggers it to heat up, it'll blast out a ton of heat compared to your water volume and create excessively hot spots around it, which it will think means it did its job and turn off, but other areas of your tank simply haven't had that heat spread out to them yet, leaving your tank unevenly heated and causing the heater to cycle more often and potentially wear out faster.
I pulled all my heaters out for the summer. Tanks are staying around 77F. Oase heaters, the ones they put in their canisters, are made with a Pyrex type glass and passed a test of going from being hot to being being dipped in ice water without exploding. I’ve used digital thermometers and discovered that the temp displayed on some heaters can be off by as much as 2 degrees 😳
I absolutely love your videos. Watching you two is so much fun and makes learning about fish and aquariums even so funner. A lot of stuff is common sense but here and there I will need help troubleshooting a situation. Fist time fish owner as my mother in-law decided to gift my little a Betta Fish. So far just needed help figuring out what was up with my heater and after watching this video it clarified it for me.
For the those that work in litres it's 1 watt to 1 litre (as pre instruction of auqa one). My 130ltr has a 150 watt heater (alway round up to the closes watt)
Something ive noticed on some fish equipment. They will measures it as "up to". People often look at the larger number and think that it will be enough. Because that larger number is the same size as their tank. Im a big believer in efficiency equals longer life of the product. So what people should do is look at the smaller number when chosing the right size equipment.
It's also important to keep in mind that the temperature of your home will often be higher than the temperature of water in that room. Water is a "heat sink", meaning it is pretty hard to change the temperature of water. This is why when you go for a swim on a hot day, the water is still cool or even cold!
water does have a lot of thermal mass, so it is hard to change its temperature, but water is generally cooler than the room due to evaporation which cools the water unless it is really well covered, and lights are heating it up. if you just had a 1-gallon jug in a room with closed lid it would be same temperature as room where streams and lakes are cooler because of cold ground temperature and cold ground water flowing in as well as evaporation..
I am using a 100 W heater from my 29 gallon the heater is like maybe 6" long. And that's about a quarter of how tall my Aquarium is Do you recommend getting a longer one It's one of those bundle kit aquariums . And should I get a longer Heater . And thank you for all your videos you help me every step of the way I take when I'm doing the fish world. I'm new to it, and thank you and thank you for your help .
Do you have a good tank insulation strategy for glass aquariums? Setting up a new 75 in a house that is cooled by a swamp cooler and heated with a wood stove.
If you're ok with only having one large front panel clear so you can see the fish, the back, sides, and bottom can be covered with an inch or two of styrofoam. Also, the top cover should have an even thicker layer of foam on it because heat rises (which is why your ceilings have twice the insulation as your walls).
THANK YOU!!! I found this information to be very helpful as I am currently thinking about buying fish and I'm glad I came upon this video. I want to make sure I start off right and this was a gold nugget of information 💖💖💖
Thanks for doing this video! Question. Setting up a 5 gallon betta tank for my parents. ** Any reason why an Aqueon 50w adjustable or Aqueon 50wPro adjustable shouldn’t be used? I feel like the mini preset 25w always keep the tank at 82-83.6 (that’s using 3 thermometers). Lol
True. Sometimes it's hard to find what fish can live together because of it (Rams and Discus need warmer water than most), but usually it's better to stick to colder end of the optimum (unless there's Ich or something).
Minor nitpick on the 3watt / 5 watt per gallon heater debate. How much difference there is between your set temp and your house temp matters. If your house is 76 degrees, and your heater is set to 78, you don't need 5 watt/gallon. If you let your house get down to 40 degrees in the winter before turning on any heat, you may need more than 5 watts / gallon in your aquariums.
I dont understand those people either John xD I keep my room at 60 year round hahaha. Always said when I own a house my Heating bill will be next to nothing, but my electric bill in the summer will be extremely high
For anyone starting off watch out if you put like a plastic made decoration and you have your heater set at a certain temperature because the water can get pretty warm with the decoration I think because I recently got this castle decoration so my fish can go in there and I notice the water warmer
bedrooms are 60 degrees here. From a pure hvac approach you do not want to oversize the heater too much either. It will cause them to short cycle and wear out fast. Constant on/off isn't good.
I do have one preset heater. I made that purchase accidentally but it does have a thermostat and a light for activity. I drop it into my 5 gallon buckets when i do my changes. Cant use warm water out of the tap because city water here is 500 tds and 8.5ph lol. So i use the cheapo heater to heat my mineralized rodi water before it goes in. My 20g has a 200w. Right next to the filter intake. I'd drop it to a 150 if it ever dies.
coming from a reptile background, I'd have thought variable temps were a good thing; it lets the fish kind of choose where they want to be/what temp they want to be
I had a heater "blow up" on me the heater was from the 80's and the instructions actually said "pre heat before you add to the water" soooo I did and the second it went into the water it cracked into a million pieces. Now I always make sure to turn my heaters off before I do water changes xD just to be safe. and YES Jon imma comment like its a live stream ;P
Dude, I had 2 heaters explode. They were in the water and exploded over night. Aqueoun professional explosion proof heaters, I might add. They literally blew apart. I had terrible experiences with them. After a while they refused to honor l7fetime warranty even though I only made a few claims out of 12 heaters I bought.
Beginner fish keeper here. Love your channel! I have a 50W Aqueon heater in my 5.5 gallon tank for my Betta with a digital thermostat, reading a constant 77.4 degrees (25.2 C). Can you please my Betta comfortable?
I’m a Mimi to twin boys just over a year old! I keep saying my husband needs to be Pipi too!! Too funny! Great video, I have a 55 gallon with Praecox Rainbows and so confused on the heater situation. Thank you! 🐠
From my experience you're spot on àbout heater watts. I always buy bigger heaters than I need.Well say always, I very seldom need to buy an heater because they last me for year's 😀
The outflow of my aquarium is on the right of the aquarium. Where do I put my heater of 200w in my 40 gallon aquarium? Advice for a Dutch lady? Follow your films with joy and give me a lot of information. Thanks
My wife's 5 gallon nano tank had a nano heater that had no glass exposed and it blew up one day randomly. Of course it went on a weekend when she wasn't in the office. She went in for the night time feeding and the tank was full of black powder and there were bubbles all around the heater. Most of the fish were dead but we did get her betta out and he made it.
Well I found that if you have fish that like room temp water, as long as you keep the room at temperature most of the time you don't even need a heater because the water will match the room temperature. In the wild, temperature isn't the same all the time. Particularly at night time the water cools. A little temperature fluctuation is fine if you can just avoid extremes.
Hi Lisa, this happened to me...I was doing a water change and DIDN'T turn the heater off. Then filled up with clean water and when I looked the next morning!!! the glass tube had "exploded"... Me: Lesson learned...turn off 1/4 hour BEFORE doing water changes etc...
Hi john do all aquarium heater elements glo bright red when heating the water?. I dont notice this when lights are on just when lights are off . By the way its a 200 watt heater
I have 14 fishtanks ranging from 5 gallon to 200 gallon. I followed the advise from Aquarium co up to only use heaters for heat demanding fish. I removed all heaters from my fishtank and I have had very few deaths for two years.
4ft tank, I got the heater in the corner far away from the filter, no fish hover around the heater, they move around the whole tank. Heater is oversized because I don't want it running 24/7 in the winter when I have my house colder I also have my thermometer on the opposite side of the tank from the heater so I can see if the heat is moving across the tank, might be a 1 degree difference but thats fine for me
If you leave on a tropical island like I do you don't need a heater, unless you got a powerful AC in your house or you have a fish on a treatment that needs them ti be on slightly warmer water. Though on the other hand your water will evaporate quicker
Just subbed man! Great video. Quick question. I have a 200 watt submerged heater I have placed in the corner of my 38 gallon saltwater tank. Now after seeing this I will put it in the middle of the tank :). Now when the heater turns on to heat, or shuts off it makes a click type noise. Now is that normal? And is it because I don’t have it totally under water? I have it under water except the top inch of the heater where the temp dial is. I appreciate your help guys.
I do find that my tank get hot quicker if I place the heater in front of a pump or anything with a strong flow so that all the water can get warm evenly and once again quicker especially after I do a water change in winter so just the way I do things
Hey I was just wondering how old your pleco is Bc I got one couple months ago and I just want to see like how fast they grow. And don’t worry I got a 330 gallon pond for him lol
From my own (limited) experience, the first year was an EXPLOSION of growth; I think he was around 6" long on his first birthday! After that, we didn't really *notice* him getting bigger (although he certainly was). When my parents' pleco died (RIP "Harvey Wallsucker") he was 17 years old, and about 13" long. It didn't seem like he grew much his last 2-3 years, I think growth slows down as they age? So, I'd say after the first year, maybe 1/2" a year??? They have a 75 gallon tank and he always seemed perfectly healthy and happy in it.
For the 2 tanks I keep in my first floor and the fish I keep I do not need a heater (74F) for my quarantine tank in the bathroom I do (68F after heater goes up to (75F).
Another great video guys, Keep em coming. I said it before and I'll say it again, that Albino Tiger Oscar, the colours are absolutely incredible. I don't know what your feeding your Oscars??????? The Red Tiger Oscar is nice as well as the Orange Oscar too, but for me the Albino Tiger Oscar is in 1st place, the Red Tiger Oscar is in 2nd and the Orange Oscar is in 3rd. You guys REALLY look after those Oscars, theirs no signs of hole in the head. If their ever was an Oscar show, for best looking and most colourful Oscar, youse should enter that Albino Tiger Oscar, you'll be getting 1st place all day long at ever Oscar show. Keep up the great work you guys do.
I have a Fluval Flex 32.5 Gallon Aquarium and a Fluval E 100-Watt Electronic Heater (A772). I would like to know if it is safe to add a second Fluval E 100-Watt Heater in my aquarium. My idea is that the two heaters will share the work load of heating the water. I would also like to add the second heater as a backup heater, just in case something happens to one of the heaters and I am not at home, at the time.
Great video,, Several years ago I had bad experiences with heaters . Not only have they failed, but they FAILED ON coming home to dead fish and hot water. Are there heaters with over heat failure protection?
Please excuse me. I am new to aquariums. I am guessing a typical heater would switch off if the the water temperature reaches the thermostat setting and then switch on when the the temperature drops by a degree or 2. Effectively the water temperature is not constant. Are there heaters that reduce heating rate (trickle heating) as the water temperature approaches the thermostat setting? Thanks.
My wife has a 10G tank. Heater back left and sponge filter back right. She has a bubble wall along the entire back, should we move the filter to the middle?
I live in the desert my house is regularly 77° and my aquarium water won't budge above about 66° I have purchased at least 10 heaters. One has barely worked. It turns on once in awhile and it will feel warm but it doesn't heat the tank even though it's larger than what my tank requires. Every other heater I've purchased doesn't work.
Unless your heater has a modulating controller, it will always run at 100% when it turns on. I suspect that most heaters on the market have a simple cheap on/off controller built in. This means that when the heater is running it runs at full capacity. I think you can check this by seeing how much current they draw when running. If anyone knows for certain, please let me know.
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Hello KGTROPICALS I think that your channel is the best aquarium channel in the whole world!
Hey do you guys ship to the uk?
So I just purchased what was labeled as a female half-moon betta. I think this could be wrong. Do females ever build bubble nests like the males???
@@richcharlet1856 yes females can lay bubble nest too just like the males
Why is your water heater so dang expensive it round 43 dollars
Okay one of the things that needs to be mentioned is that if you're going to take the heater out you should leave it unplugged for a while, I have unplugged heaters and then took them straight out and it got really hot quick! Then i made the mistake of putting it right back in the aquarium which cracked it. So I tend to move my heater to the bottom of the tank and possession it horizontally during water changes. So it's submerge the whole time and I've never had a problem since.
Not to mention leaving it plugged in could potentially lead to a drop of water rolling down to your outlet and if you don't have a GFCI outlet which there should be within 4 ft of any water source then it could potentially cause a house fire
do you leave it plugged in when you move it horizontally?
I just leave mine there all the time
1. It does not matter if the heater is 25w or. 100w, if it's on the heater is working at full power IE pedal to the metal
2. a higher wattage heater will cycle on and off more often and it is the on and off cycles that cause the heater to fail in the first place so you actually get less life from a over size heater.
3. Your temperature is actually far more consistent with a small heater than a large heater, why? Because the small heater will slowly reach the set temp then the tank cools down until the heater turns back on, usually 1-2 degrees your oversize heater blasts the heat back into the water quickly and rapidly changes the water temp and that is more stressful to the fish than the temp slowly rising and falling.
4 when heaters fail they fail to turn on or fail to turn off and if it's the latter and you have a oversized heater you cook your fish before you even know there was a problem.
Totally agree with the points you made. I'm running a 100l tank with a 50 watt heater in a cold house in winter and the heater reaches the desired temperature no problem. I also believe that the lifespan on the heater is not solely based on the time the heater is heating but mainly down to the number of times the heater switches from one state to another.
From what I have read, placing the heater at an angle, instead of straight up and down has the most to do with lifespan.
I have found that the laser-like focus of my cat constantly watching the fish is good for at least 2°F.
lol
I just spit coffee all over my car thank you 🤣
Where can I buy that cat sir?
I hear u we have cats 1 loves to lay by the aquarium and watch em they fall asleep watching too.
Them crazy cichlits of ours, chase each other so hard, must be we dont need a cat after all.
I agree with everything your said about heating aquariums except the room temperature effect on unheated tanks. I've had heaters go out many times over the years and find that my water temp can be down 5-10⁰ lower than my room temp. In summer months we generally want indoor Temps cooler than in winter. Air conditioners take moisture out of the air increasing evaporation from surface agitation and aeration in turn cooling the water lower than surrounding air.
I recommend always having a heater, even for cold tolerant species. Just set it to the lower range for that specific fish as a fail safe.
Awesome heater information. One thing I learned also is redundancy in heating bigger tanks is extremely important. Having 2 heaters in case one fails can save your fish! Or splitting you wattage between 2 provides a safe guard and better heat displacement. Nice video
I really enjoy the "True or False" videos. They are entertaining and informing. Thank You.
Trouble is he lies about the information when it is convenient to selling his inventory....
I started a planted tank a month ago. Watching videos from Lisa, John, Cory (Aquarium Co Op), Rachel O'Leary and Chris(Fish For Thought) have helped me a lot. Thank you for your informative and entertaining content! Wish there was a store like yours in my country, because finding stuff for aquariums at reasonable prices (specially meds and water conditioners) has been a real challenge.
lol same, I just bought my second tank today tho with some fluval stratum to boot.
I always recommend people situate the heater horizontally towards the bottom tank instead of vertically in a corner. This way it can heat as much water as possible.
And agreed with the "more is better" analogy. My 600 litre tank has 3 x 300w heaters. They don't work too hard and if one heater gives up without me knowing, I should be OK until I notice the extinguished power light.
Heater manufacturers also suggest that this will increase the life of the heater, because of how the heater element and the internal thermometer are located within the body.
The heater Car analogy is not great. In a heater, it’s the gas the runs out first. Three watts per gallon.
I once had a 300W heater on my 30g tank. It was way too strong. The tank would fluctuate so much, because the heater was designed for a bigger tank that would take longer to cool
Nice analogy, I’ve heard a similar one, as to why to run 3 watts per gallon. At 3 watts your heater turns on runs for Ltd day an hour. Shuts off for 20 minutes then turns on for an hour. And so on. At five watts per gallon it turns on for say 5 minutes shuts off for five minute turns on for five minutes, and so on. Since the switch is what usually goes out, sticking the heater on or off. The less you use that switch the longer it will last.
I was hoping to read this here!!! Not to mention- it doesn’t matter how many watts per gallon you use- it costs the same amount of energy to heat the water to a specific temperature no matter what size heater you use. Common misconception! but it’s basic specific heat rules :)
@@Hyphessobrycon Yep since heaters work is heat we literally have almost 100% efficiency.
3:40
Youch!!
I always keep my tanks on power strips and flip the switch before a water change.
Easy way to remember that heater!
Just watching this 8 months later after it came out and he said he used to do HVAC. I've been doing it for 10 years now. I know your pain, but it also makes me kind of happy to see someone like him that used to do it.
that’s why I just put my heater next to the intake of my filter or right behind it so the filter sucks up the heat and disperses it throughout the tank It worked so far
i work for a particular compony that sells fish we have great training program but we always have room for improvement and this channel has made my knowledge ten fold and it will heavily influence my fish sales
correction company lol
Another caution with heaters is electrical leakage. On two occasions I've had heaters continue too work BUT would cause a electrical shock if my hand was in water, heater on, and other hand grounded to my furnace ductwork which I'm standing next too. It wouldn't cause a problem with the fish due to aquarium not being grounded. It does surprise you though! I did verify this with a voltage meter. Both times I received warranty replacement. My aquarium is a 55L using two 150 watt heaters at either end. Controls great at 80deg.
Good info, Tom.
Thank you. This was very informative. I have only one preset heater for my 15 gallon Betta tank. The rest I can set whatever temp I want. I appreciate the 5 watts per gallon info.
My house is always set at 66° even in the cold Canadian winters. I do not like the heat much. All of my aquariums have a heater and of course I’ve a spare of everything just in case. I’ve only had fish 5 years now, but thanks to this channel I know a few things and learn more every visit. Thanks btw 😊
8:50 HEATER PLACEMENT - this was so good to know. i always put in the back corner due to aesthetic reasons, i guess, and because i didn't think it mattered... now i'll make sure the airstone is nearby or that it's near the filter. thank you!! (when i water change i double check the temp with a digital thermometer, and i could potentially be checking a warm or a cool spot. so that could throw off my tank when i add water back in.
In the UK and Europe we tend to measure our water volume in litres rather than US gal so it makes it easier calculating heater wattage. You simply go 1:1 with 1 watt per litre.
That said, our tiny Euro of houses can't really fit these 400 US gal tanks as they'd need a whole extension building for them
There's an argument against oversizing your aquarium heater, and for the same reason you mentioned. A larger wattage heater in a smaller tank will cycle on and off more often, possibly wearing out the internal relay more quickly than a lower wattage heater that cycles on and off less often.
Good information, guys, and love your sense of humor.
Cautionary tail for you guys. I once let an air line get to close to my heater. I had everything hidden behind the same ornament. The airline touched, melted and made my water toxic. . . Never making that mistake again.
I'm gunna move my airline now. My snails always climbing up it and now I really don't wanna risk it getting moved . Didn't even think of this
Whether you use a heater or not, it is a good idea to have one installed on standby so that you can fight an ich infection immediately if you start seeing ich spots on your fish.
I typically use Oase Thermo filters…the heater sits in the ceramic bio part of the filter, keeping the visible aquarium equipment minimized to glass lily pipes. Works great!
The common failure point of heaters is the thermostat which is used more in heaters that are larger in size. Therefore if you use a smaller heater it will heat the water up slower, causing the thermostat to work less.
In my experience if you have an AIO aquarium it's absolutely critical that your heater be in the main body of the tank where there's good flow. If you're dumb like I was at first and you put your heater in the rear filter compartments your water temp will slowly PLUNGE if you forget to turn your pump back on after feeding your fish! Thankfully I chose hardy fish and corals (mine is a marine reef aquarium,) so everybody was fine but it still freaked me out! Thank goodness for my Inkbird temperature controller as it reliably tells me whenever there is a temperature problem.❤
The heater I have is preset and it just seems to heat the tank some amount and call it good. That’s not great if you live in Michigan where temperature swings of 40 degrees overnight are normal haha. I also don’t have air conditioning. What a pain. I’ve actually found that by putting the heater in a corner the fish can move to where they want to be, which is usually not by the heater. I can’t stop using the heater though because sometimes there are massive temp drops outside while I’m at work all day. Anyway, I’ve found this a useful way to let the fish regulate their temperature
Hi John, happy new year. Thank you very much for this video. I just bought an AQUEON 29 Gallon aquarium that it came with a water heater. Normally I put my hand inside the aquarium to distribute the food better, so every body gets some food. I know is kind of silly, but I was afraid to get electrocutaed by the heater. Thanks God I bought 2 Goldfish and 3 mollies . Thanks to you, I found out they like cool water. When you go to the store to buy a fish, employees don't give you all the information. I don't want to write the name of the store because it is a chain store very popular in the USA. When I bought my Goldfish nobody told me how big was going to grow. That is why I had to upgrade the fish tank. I couldn't buy a bigger one BC I would have to rent one apartment for me and another for my aquarium. I am new to aquariums and fish life. I alleys gave you a like and subscribe to your channel. Thanks.
Thank you for the information. Specially the information about location of the heater. Bless you guys.
Yep i kept a low tech tank in the 80s only heat source were 3 X 40watt clear light bulbs on a time switch temp in the morning would be about 22c and climbed once the lights came on
Our house is pretty cold in the winter time, and most of my fish like mid 70s or higher, so I use heaters, but I also had a heater stick on and cook some fish, so I always use heater controllers now. The heater will still fail at some point, but at least it won't kill the fish.
I had the same fear so used inkbird controller which was great till it malfunctioned . The temperature on the inkbird read 25c so as the temperature was set at 26 the heater stayed on. Unfortunately the actual temperature was close to 28 c so the inkbird caused the very thing I'd feared. I emailed inkbird with photos of temperature reading and actual temperature they didn't respond and I now no longer use a controller
I didn't know if the video was about heaters or about John and Lisa roasting each other 😂😂,fine by me it was fun and informative👍👍
Couples banter with a dose of sexism is always not why i watch the videos.
So a little thing from somebody who works with electronics. Soooo to the heaters. Its most likely true that your heater will live alot longer if its only run at a part of the capacity. But it wont be more efficient than a different heater. Electric heating is (in theory) 100% efficient. So a 50w and a 1000w will take the same amount of power to heat the same tank. The only thing that might consume more power are fancy leds or displays. ( Alot of the displays i work with easily consume 5w on their own)
I was going to post along the same lines. One nitpick to your post however with regards to terms you used. When you used the example of a 50W and a 1000W heater, what you meant to say is that it takes the same amount of ENERGY to heat the same tank (power is the rate as which energy is added to the tank). So in the video where he says it will be more efficient and consume less power is completely incorrect. Also he has his argument backwards. He thinks that because the 5W/g heater is on less it is "working" less. When in fact it is the 80 miles per hour example he was arguing against. The bigger heater floors it to get to temperature in 3 minutes while the 3W/g heater drives the speed limit and gets there when there in 5 minutes. Note, I am not arguing one number over the other, only pointing out his logic is incorrect.
I didnt hear you mention some people like to have 2 heaters capable of tank heating, just in case 1 has an issue it won't cause immense temperatures fluctuations ( unless it's over heating obviously)
oh you'd hate it here
during the summer we have to set our thermostat at 81 (cools to 79 because it had to dehumidify)
and we'd love to have it set lower, but even with those settings during the summer you're looking at a 400$ electric bill.
so, i wouldn't say we like it at 78F
but we have learned to tolerate it haha
I also heat my room for my fish tanks (there are 6 of them in my room)
So it's probably upwards of 86-87F in here (also where my gaming pc is)
but the fish love it :D
I live in the central US where we have cold winters and hot summers. I decided to just heat my bedroom (where I keep my tanks) to give or take 80F because it can get so hot in summer that it's hard to work outside; So I figured maybe if I get myself use to a hot room, it'll help me deal with summer heat a bit better, plus I don't have to worry about heaters going out. My room feels like a sauna to everyone else, but your body does more or less adapt to it. That, and I'm a small guy and don't have a layer of blubber under my skin like so many of these big guys lol.
Love the info, Gramps! LOL!!! I agree with the 5 watts, too. The car analogy was dead on. :-) (I actually run TWO heaters in all of my tanks. It's worth the piece of mind.) However, the only thing you didn't touch on was if heaters get stuck in the "on" position and cooks your fish!!!! This keeps me awake some nights. How often does that happen and how can I prevent it? Thanks in advance!
You can use an external heater controller, like the inkbird. The heater plugs into the controller, which has a temperature probe on it. If the temp goes too high, the controller shuts off the heater
If you have a hang on the back adjustable non submersible heater do not put over your air stones, the popping water droplets will eventually build up and short out your heater when they seep inside happened to me a couple times before I figured it out
Great videos. I’m returning to keeping fish in an aquarium, after a gap of twenty years. This is a super resource, simple and enjoyable to watch. Thank you
Regarding heater sizing: I've heard this before but don't know if it's true. Having a heater that's too powerful for your sized tank can cause issues because when the thermostat triggers it to heat up, it'll blast out a ton of heat compared to your water volume and create excessively hot spots around it, which it will think means it did its job and turn off, but other areas of your tank simply haven't had that heat spread out to them yet, leaving your tank unevenly heated and causing the heater to cycle more often and potentially wear out faster.
I pulled all my heaters out for the summer. Tanks are staying around 77F.
Oase heaters, the ones they put in their canisters, are made with a Pyrex type glass and passed a test of going from being hot to being being dipped in ice water without exploding.
I’ve used digital thermometers and discovered that the temp displayed on some heaters can be off by as much as 2 degrees 😳
I absolutely love your videos. Watching you two is so much fun and makes learning about fish and aquariums even so funner. A lot of stuff is common sense but here and there I will need help troubleshooting a situation. Fist time fish owner as my mother in-law decided to gift my little a Betta Fish. So far just needed help figuring out what was up with my heater and after watching this video it clarified it for me.
For the those that work in litres it's 1 watt to 1 litre (as pre instruction of auqa one). My 130ltr has a 150 watt heater
(alway round up to the closes watt)
Something ive noticed on some fish equipment. They will measures it as "up to". People often look at the larger number and think that it will be enough. Because that larger number is the same size as their tank. Im a big believer in efficiency equals longer life of the product. So what people should do is look at the smaller number when chosing the right size equipment.
It's also important to keep in mind that the temperature of your home will often be higher than the temperature of water in that room. Water is a "heat sink", meaning it is pretty hard to change the temperature of water. This is why when you go for a swim on a hot day, the water is still cool or even cold!
Certainly not for a tropical tank. My home never goes above 65 in the winter and rarely above 80 in the summer. Both my tropical tanks stay at 78
This would change depending on the time of day. At night, when air temp cools, the water will be warmer than the air. During the day, you are correct.
@@soota6083
Got his science degree at Trustmebro university.
water does have a lot of thermal mass, so it is hard to change its temperature, but water is generally cooler than the room due to evaporation which cools the water unless it is really well covered, and lights are heating it up. if you just had a 1-gallon jug in a room with closed lid it would be same temperature as room where streams and lakes are cooler because of cold ground temperature and cold ground water flowing in as well as evaporation..
I am using a 100 W heater from my 29 gallon the heater is like maybe 6" long. And that's about a quarter of how tall my Aquarium is Do you recommend getting a longer one It's one of those bundle kit aquariums . And should I get a longer Heater . And thank you for all your videos you help me every step of the way I take when I'm doing the fish world. I'm new to it, and thank you and thank you for your help .
Do you have a good tank insulation strategy for glass aquariums?
Setting up a new 75 in a house that is cooled by a swamp cooler and heated with a wood stove.
If you're ok with only having one large front panel clear so you can see the fish, the back, sides, and bottom can be covered with an inch or two of styrofoam. Also, the top cover should have an even thicker layer of foam on it because heat rises (which is why your ceilings have twice the insulation as your walls).
It's a good morning when you wake up to a to a new KGTeopicals video, it's like a fresh cup of coffee.
THANK YOU!!! I found this information to be very helpful as I am currently thinking about buying fish and I'm glad I came upon this video. I want to make sure I start off right and this was a gold nugget of information 💖💖💖
Thanks for doing this video!
Question. Setting up a 5 gallon betta tank for my parents.
** Any reason why an Aqueon 50w adjustable or Aqueon 50wPro adjustable shouldn’t be used?
I feel like the mini preset 25w always keep the tank at 82-83.6 (that’s using 3 thermometers). Lol
Bulls eye John, completely depends on the fish. Will also help in getting more longevity, in general lower aggression, good for plants
exactly friend
True. Sometimes it's hard to find what fish can live together because of it (Rams and Discus need warmer water than most), but usually it's better to stick to colder end of the optimum (unless there's Ich or something).
Thank you for the information, this is very useful 😄😄
Glad we could help 🙂
Adjustable heaters are necessary for treatment of illnesses like Ich when adjusting water temp is helpful.
Minor nitpick on the 3watt / 5 watt per gallon heater debate. How much difference there is between your set temp and your house temp matters. If your house is 76 degrees, and your heater is set to 78, you don't need 5 watt/gallon. If you let your house get down to 40 degrees in the winter before turning on any heat, you may need more than 5 watts / gallon in your aquariums.
I run a couple of 1000w heaters I find that works well the heating less time and 4 filters so plenty of water flow ty
I dont understand those people either John xD I keep my room at 60 year round hahaha. Always said when I own a house my Heating bill will be next to nothing, but my electric bill in the summer will be extremely high
For anyone starting off watch out if you put like a plastic made decoration and you have your heater set at a certain temperature because the water can get pretty warm with the decoration I think because I recently got this castle decoration so my fish can go in there and I notice the water warmer
bedrooms are 60 degrees here. From a pure hvac approach you do not want to oversize the heater too much either. It will cause them to short cycle and wear out fast. Constant on/off isn't good.
I do have one preset heater. I made that purchase accidentally but it does have a thermostat and a light for activity.
I drop it into my 5 gallon buckets when i do my changes. Cant use warm water out of the tap because city water here is 500 tds and 8.5ph lol. So i use the cheapo heater to heat my mineralized rodi water before it goes in.
My 20g has a 200w. Right next to the filter intake. I'd drop it to a 150 if it ever dies.
Thanks nice vids.... i have planning to buy heater for my oranda..... now i know my fish love cold water.. .😅😅😅
This was really helpful for me! Thank you!
coming from a reptile background, I'd have thought variable temps were a good thing; it lets the fish kind of choose where they want to be/what temp they want to be
Most likely this is true; However, most aquarists prefer to have their animals moving all around the tank for aesthetics.
I agree with you on having a heater that can handle a little more.
I had a heater "blow up" on me the heater was from the 80's and the instructions actually said "pre heat before you add to the water" soooo I did and the second it went into the water it cracked into a million pieces. Now I always make sure to turn my heaters off before I do water changes xD just to be safe. and YES Jon imma comment like its a live stream ;P
Dude, I had 2 heaters explode. They were in the water and exploded over night. Aqueoun professional explosion proof heaters, I might add. They literally blew apart. I had terrible experiences with them. After a while they refused to honor l7fetime warranty even though I only made a few claims out of 12 heaters I bought.
@@crazy4color869 ya Im kinda done with them for heaters xD
Beginner fish keeper here. Love your channel! I have a 50W Aqueon heater in my 5.5 gallon tank for my Betta with a digital thermostat, reading a constant 77.4 degrees (25.2 C). Can you please my Betta comfortable?
I’m a Mimi to twin boys just over a year old! I keep saying my husband needs to be Pipi too!! Too funny! Great video, I have a 55 gallon with Praecox Rainbows and so confused on the heater situation. Thank you! 🐠
From my experience you're spot on àbout heater watts. I always buy bigger heaters than I need.Well say always, I very seldom need to buy an heater because they last me for year's 😀
Excellent video. I like to go with two heaters in my tanks for backup and preserving the lifespan.
The outflow of my aquarium is on the right of the aquarium. Where do I put my heater of 200w in my 40 gallon aquarium? Advice for a Dutch lady? Follow your films with joy and give me a lot of information. Thanks
I live off grid it’s 58-60F in my house unless I have the Woodstove on 24-7. We have convicts and we just bought a heater today.
My wife's 5 gallon nano tank had a nano heater that had no glass exposed and it blew up one day randomly. Of course it went on a weekend when she wasn't in the office. She went in for the night time feeding and the tank was full of black powder and there were bubbles all around the heater. Most of the fish were dead but we did get her betta out and he made it.
Well I found that if you have fish that like room temp water, as long as you keep the room at temperature most of the time you don't even need a heater because the water will match the room temperature. In the wild, temperature isn't the same all the time. Particularly at night time the water cools. A little temperature fluctuation is fine if you can just avoid extremes.
fish tanks can be several degrees below room temp from evaporation if your room air is dry and you have areas open to air
Hi Lisa, this happened to me...I was doing a water change and DIDN'T turn the heater off. Then filled up with clean water and when I looked the next morning!!! the glass tube had "exploded"...
Me: Lesson learned...turn off 1/4 hour BEFORE doing water changes etc...
Heaters are not a one size fits all. I agree totally with you all. Thanks
I don’t use huge heaters. I cooked some fish w/ a 250 watt in a 55 gallon. Now I only use 100 watt heaters because my house is pretty warm.
Thanks for then informative vid!!
I need no heater tho, tank temps are between 25-28 (some tanks I cooldown, other I run ambient)
Hi john do all aquarium heater elements glo bright red when heating the water?. I dont notice this when lights are on just when lights are off . By the way its a 200 watt heater
I have 14 fishtanks ranging from 5 gallon to 200 gallon. I followed the advise from Aquarium co up to only use heaters for heat demanding fish. I removed all heaters from my fishtank and I have had very few deaths for two years.
great video many thanks.
all the best from England
Great video, keep it up 😄im lucky i never need a heater since i live in tropical climate and it is always hot out
4ft tank, I got the heater in the corner far away from the filter, no fish hover around the heater, they move around the whole tank. Heater is oversized because I don't want it running 24/7 in the winter when I have my house colder
I also have my thermometer on the opposite side of the tank from the heater so I can see if the heat is moving across the tank, might be a 1 degree difference but thats fine for me
If you leave on a tropical island like I do you don't need a heater, unless you got a powerful AC in your house or you have a fish on a treatment that needs them ti be on slightly warmer water.
Though on the other hand your water will evaporate quicker
I unplug my heater during water change a good 30 min before hand agree about the watts totally
Good video Mimi and Pipi. Thanks.
Just subbed man! Great video. Quick question. I have a 200 watt submerged heater I have placed in the corner of my 38 gallon saltwater tank. Now after seeing this I will put it in the middle of the tank :). Now when the heater turns on to heat, or shuts off it makes a click type noise. Now is that normal? And is it because I don’t have it totally under water? I have it under water except the top inch of the heater where the temp dial is. I appreciate your help guys.
I do find that my tank get hot quicker if I place the heater in front of a pump or anything with a strong flow so that all the water can get warm evenly and once again quicker especially after I do a water change in winter so just the way I do things
Hey I was just wondering how old your pleco is Bc I got one couple months ago and I just want to see like how fast they grow. And don’t worry I got a 330 gallon pond for him lol
From my own (limited) experience, the first year was an EXPLOSION of growth; I think he was around 6" long on his first birthday! After that, we didn't really *notice* him getting bigger (although he certainly was). When my parents' pleco died (RIP "Harvey Wallsucker") he was 17 years old, and about 13" long. It didn't seem like he grew much his last 2-3 years, I think growth slows down as they age? So, I'd say after the first year, maybe 1/2" a year??? They have a 75 gallon tank and he always seemed perfectly healthy and happy in it.
is a 250 watt Eheim okay for a 35 gallon? Or I already have a preset heater, should I get a manual heater and use the two heaters for the same tank?
For the 2 tanks I keep in my first floor and the fish I keep I do not need a heater (74F) for my quarantine tank in the bathroom I do (68F after heater goes up to (75F).
Another great video guys,
Keep em coming.
I said it before and I'll say it again, that Albino Tiger Oscar, the colours are absolutely incredible.
I don't know what your feeding your Oscars???????
The Red Tiger Oscar is nice as well as the Orange Oscar too, but for me the Albino Tiger Oscar is in 1st place, the Red Tiger Oscar is in 2nd and the Orange Oscar is in 3rd.
You guys REALLY look after those Oscars, theirs no signs of hole in the head.
If their ever was an Oscar show, for best looking and most colourful Oscar, youse should enter that Albino Tiger Oscar, you'll be getting 1st place all day long at ever Oscar show.
Keep up the great work you guys do.
I have a Fluval Flex 32.5 Gallon Aquarium and a Fluval E 100-Watt Electronic Heater (A772).
I would like to know if it is safe to add a second Fluval E 100-Watt Heater in my aquarium. My idea is that the two heaters will share the work load of heating the water. I would also like to add the second heater as a backup heater, just in case something happens to one of the heaters and I am not at home, at the time.
Great video,,
Several years ago I had bad experiences with heaters . Not only have they failed, but they FAILED ON coming home to dead fish and hot water. Are there heaters with over heat failure protection?
Inkbird tempreture controller Google them. 👍
@@cardude5323 inkbird controller can also fail with same result
Please excuse me. I am new to aquariums. I am guessing a typical heater would switch off if the the water temperature reaches the thermostat setting and then switch on when the the temperature drops by a degree or 2. Effectively the water temperature is not constant. Are there heaters that reduce heating rate (trickle heating) as the water temperature approaches the thermostat setting? Thanks.
My wife has a 10G tank. Heater back left and sponge filter back right. She has a bubble wall along the entire back, should we move the filter to the middle?
I wouldn't have thought you guys were grandparents, congratulations!
I've had a 300watt Eheim heater in my 500 Litre tank for 7 years, still going strong, just make sure the tank has a cover/hood.
I live in the desert my house is regularly 77° and my aquarium water won't budge above about 66° I have purchased at least 10 heaters. One has barely worked. It turns on once in awhile and it will feel warm but it doesn't heat the tank even though it's larger than what my tank requires. Every other heater I've purchased doesn't work.
Do you have a video on the best aquarium thermometer?
Is there a thermometer you recommend ?
Unless your heater has a modulating controller, it will always run at 100% when it turns on. I suspect that most heaters on the market have a simple cheap on/off controller built in. This means that when the heater is running it runs at full capacity. I think you can check this by seeing how much current they draw when running. If anyone knows for certain, please let me know.
PP you make everything easy to understand
🤣