[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Unheated Tanks
Subject: Non-standard aquarium methods
>Lately, I haven't been spending as much time as I would like reading the
>APD, but I couldn't resist this one. Then I got to read the last few weeks
>of messages and decided to make a few other contributions.
Great post, Neil, I enjoyed it. BUT:
>factor, so cut backs in appliances is considered. This can involve heaters.
>In a home evironment, heaters are NOT generally essential for healthy fish
>or plant tanks (The one caution are the few fish like clown loaches who are
>sensitive to sudden swings in temperature and can succomb to ich.... this
>has happened to me and I now try to make sure that the heaters are working
>in my clown loach tank during the transitional month of Oct when my indoor
>home temperature drops from 80 to 70.
I can tell this is a Southerner speaking.<g> My winter daytime temperature
PEAK at 68F, and in the downstairs area drop to 55F during the night. This
is _not_ unusual for those of us who live in colder climates and must pay
$$$fuel$$$ bills. I don't know _anyone_ in New England who keeps tropical
fish in unheated tanks outside of a heated fish room. In fact, we had
trouble with Robbie's fancy goldfish until we threw a heater in the tank
set to keep the tank from dropping below 68F.
One of the other things that we all have to keep in mind when assessing
whether a particular method will work for us are the ENORMOUS differences
in water chemistry and climate in various areas of North America.
Karen Randall
Aquatic Gardeners Association