Sandra the fish rookie Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 Good Morning All. Last night I was watching the tank, and noted the fish not as active. I always check the temps in the tanks before I go to bed (as well as the filters and air etc.). My tank dropped from79 to 70 degrees. I went into overdrive, had 2 extra heaters, and put them in, and slowly did water changes to get the water up to at least 72. Its a 40G breeder, with a HOB, and large ACO sponge filter, and a large air stone. Current stocking is 8 pearl danio, 7 panda corydora, 10 pygmy corydora, 10 otto, 2 Plecos, and 3 rabbit snails. I have been up every few hours during the night to check in on everyone, so far so good. Fingers crossed it stays that way. I have an extra temp regulator I am going to install TODAY! My questions to all of you are the following: 1) any diseases I need to watch out for? @Colu?? or anyone 🙂 2) I want to get 2 heaters this time, its a 40G so what size to I need to ensure that should 1 fail, the other can at the very least keep the water from dropping dangerously low or not being able to get too hot and cook the fish? 3) Should I actually have 2 temp regulators 1 for each heater? I am thinking that I will put the temp regulator on the larger heater that if failed, would alarm, and the other could maintain the tank till I get another heater in there. Anyone have experience with this? I would REALLY appreciate all the advise, and even product recommendations (heaters, etc.). PS. all the above and having a very sedated dog recovering from surgery that wanted to be my aquarium assistant. Stressful night 😞 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 with the fish in that tank, i personally wouldnt even run a heater. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted September 21, 2021 Author Share Posted September 21, 2021 @lefty o my house is kept at 68 year round.. so I am afraid they will get too cold??? But I have no idea to be honest.. and I was told that Rabbit snails need it warm..??? Again, I am still a "rookie" LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lefty o Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 i couldnt say about the snails, but the fish will be ok at anything you are comfortable in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted September 21, 2021 Author Share Posted September 21, 2021 @lefty o That is REALLY good to know! I was so worried about the Corydora's.. the Danios and plecos I knew would be okay.. but man was I stressed... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadMax8 Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 @Sandra the fish rookie, at least your heater failed the "right" way! I'll try to answer your questions below. I really don't think you are in major danger of illness. I would imagine the water temp decreased slowly and naturally, so no real risk of temp shock for the fish. If you kept them in suboptimal temps for a long time, they may get stressed, but given how quickly you found the issue I'd say you're ok. Side note, you may want to think about changing the temp to 75-77 degrees, cories typically like the more moderate tropical temps. If kept too high, metabolisms speed up and shorter lifespans can result. I run a single 300W in my 40 gal, so I would assume two 150W would work for you. There's no real hard, fast number, it kind of depends on what temperature your house is. I bought (but don't use yet) an Inkbird Temperature Controller. It has two outlets, so it should run the heaters simultaneously. You should be able to see if one is working or not, and if it breaks the "wrong way" (always on) the controller will keep it from cooking your fish. Seems easy enough to install, I'm just trying to figure out where to route my cables. I'm sure you'll get some more (and maybe better!) advice, but that's just my $0.02. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GameCzar Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 I agree with @lefty o, the stock you have should be fine without a heater. Snails should also be fine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mynameisnobody Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 You’ll be totally fine. Personally, I’d run an experiment. I’d run it with no heater and considering you’d be raising it about 2-4 degrees depending on lights and power equipment, I think you’d be ok. It would save you some money and the stress of figuring out what to do when they eventually break. Good luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 On 9/21/2021 at 2:50 PM, Sandra the fish rookie said: ) any diseases I need to watch out for? @Colu?? or anyone 🙂 It they have been stressed out I would keep an eye for ich if your average room temperature is 68 I would run a heater you could add to two 75 watt heaters on a 40 gallon as pygmy Cory's and depending on the species of Otto's don't like to go below 72 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tihshho Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 (edited) I'd be mainly concerned about the rabbit snails as they are a species that thrives in higher temps, lower temps can cause issues with their immune systems and in turn you can notice fungal infections. The other fish species will be ok with the drop as it was gradual and not an instant change (like plopping them into a cooler tank directly from their standard temps.) Since this was a short term issue, they will most likely be ok, but if this was something that was a long term exposure then you'd run into the issues I was stating. When running dual heaters, the one thing I noticed from some longterm hobbyists is that they run one with a controller at their standard temp, the other is set a few degrees cooler as a backup. If you're running your tank at 78/79, set the secondary heater at 74/75. It is a big enough gap for most heaters to not have them swing constantly on and off together. If your primary heater fails (in your case you had the ideal off failure) you'll hear your controller alarm screaming, but the tank will only have dropped 4-5 degrees rather than the 8-10 based on your HVAC temps. Edited September 21, 2021 by Tihshho 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 On 9/21/2021 at 9:50 AM, Sandra the fish rookie said: 2) I want to get 2 heaters this time, its a 40G so what size to I need to ensure that should 1 fail, the other can at the very least keep the water from dropping dangerously low or not being able to get too hot and cook the fish? I always run 2-50w on 20longs and 2-100w on 40b. It keeps stable no fluctuations and backs up if one fails until I replace. You could go to2-200 if you want. I use the cheap inkbird non-WiFi on all. 2 plugs for 2 heaters 1 probe shuts off power to heaters if overheat large temp display and high temp display. Easy push button calibration. Have been around quite awhile I have never had one fail me. Hope that helps. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARMYVET Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 Hey @Guppysnail .....Whats a heater? 😂🤣😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 On 9/21/2021 at 10:55 AM, ARMYVET said: Hey @Guppysnail .....Whats a heater? 😂🤣😂 The things you use when your hubby sets the heat and ac at 68 degrees year round 🤪 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted September 21, 2021 Author Share Posted September 21, 2021 @Guppysnail EXACTLY!! my house is 68 year round.. Okay.. so what would be the best temp to keep my community tank at? Should I keep it more cooler than 78? @Guppysnail I also have the cheap inkbird and it has a plug for cool and one for heat.. how do you calibrate it for the cooler side? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 (edited) On 9/21/2021 at 11:35 AM, Sandra the fish rookie said: @Guppysnail EXACTLY!! my house is 68 year round.. Okay.. so what would be the best temp to keep my community tank at? Should I keep it more cooler than 78? @Guppysnail I also have the cheap inkbird and it has a plug for cool and one for heat.. how do you calibrate it for the cooler side? I use only the one with the rubber probe only has a 2 heater one. Mine does not have a cooler setting because if a heater stops working it just shows a drop in temp but can’t make the heater work to heat but will stop it from overheating. I keep CPD panda and Pygmy Cory Bristlenose pleco guppy mystery nerite bladdersnails neocaridina shrimp currently all my tanks run 77-78 so I do not have to acclimate when switching tanks. Edited September 21, 2021 by Guppysnail 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted September 21, 2021 Author Share Posted September 21, 2021 @Guppysnail okay great! I keep all the tanks at the same temp.. 78 ish.. my 20G had guppies, cory's, ottos and mystery snails.. thank you SOOOO much! I will order the inkbird one you showed.. I have the green one.. but it will serve as a good back up. 1 thing I learned being a nurse, is I keep EVERYTHING I need in stock at all times. So I have a bin FULL of heaters, sponge filters, air stones and thanks to @Colu a bin full of a broad spectrum of medications. most LFS are having a hard time getting meds these days.. so I ordered and stock piled to have a range of meds to handle whatever might come my way. I have dropped the temp in the 40 gallon a bit to 77-78 (it is at 78.2 now) and everyone is doing fine! Thank goodness! 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 On 9/21/2021 at 11:59 AM, Sandra the fish rookie said: @Guppysnail okay great! I keep all the tanks at the same temp.. 78 ish.. my 20G had guppies, cory's, ottos and mystery snails.. thank you SOOOO much! I will order the inkbird one you showed.. I have the green one.. but it will serve as a good back up. 1 thing I learned being a nurse, is I keep EVERYTHING I need in stock at all times. So I have a bin FULL of heaters, sponge filters, air stones and thanks to @Colu a bin full of a broad spectrum of medications. most LFS are having a hard time getting meds these days.. so I ordered and stock piled to have a range of meds to handle whatever might come my way. I have dropped the temp in the 40 gallon a bit to 77-78 (it is at 78.2 now) and everyone is doing fine! Thank goodness! I’m the same I keep tons of extras..hubby said if I were a guy I would wear suspenders and a belt 🤣 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARMYVET Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 On 9/21/2021 at 12:12 PM, Guppysnail said: I were a guy I would wear suspenders and a belt 🤣 WAIT WAIT WAIT.....YOUR NOT A GUY?!?!? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARMYVET Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 On 9/21/2021 at 11:46 AM, Guppysnail said: I use only the one with the rubber probe only has a 2 heater one. Mine does not have a cooler setting because if a heater stops working it just shows a drop in temp but can’t make the heater work to heat but will stop it from overheating. I keep CPD panda and Pygmy Cory Bristlenose pleco guppy mystery nerite bladdersnails neocaridina shrimp currently all my tanks run 77-78 so I do not have to acclimate when switching tanks. I love inkbird stuff. I have multiple temp probes that monitor my pond temps and temps in the fish room. They are wifi so I can see what going on anywhere I am and take action if necessary. I believe there is a wifi model of that controller that adds monitoring and alarm from anywhere and you can adjust it from anywhere as well. I dont remember it being that much more expensive. Let me see if I can find it. This was it... https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X1JT372/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It has 2 probes to put on opposite sides of the tank so you get more accurate total reading of of your tanks temps and can control a dual heater setup. Just for consideration...again I love inkbird stuff including their BBQ monitors 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted September 21, 2021 Author Share Posted September 21, 2021 What brand of heaters do you guys use? I mean there is only 1000 of them out there! The reviews are all over the place! My LFS is having a hard time getting stock of heaters. They sell Eheim Jager heaters. Do any of you have recommendations for brands you have tried and like.. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ARMYVET Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 On 9/21/2021 at 12:36 PM, Sandra the fish rookie said: What brand of heaters do you guys use? On 9/21/2021 at 12:36 PM, Sandra the fish rookie said: Do any of you have recommendations for brands you have tried and like.. ? Sitting back with my popcorn......wait for it........ 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tihshho Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 I'm currently sticking with the Aqua Top heaters. They fail in the off position (like what you had happen.) Eheims IME either fail on and keep going (need controller) or seem to creep up in temps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 At the moment use Juwel aquarium heaters what I have found no matter what brand you get they will eventually fail some just least longer than other my juwel heaters I use usually least 2-3 years that why the ink bird controller offer piece of mine I had I heater nearly cook my fish about 7years ago lucky I court it in time 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guppysnail Posted September 21, 2021 Share Posted September 21, 2021 On 9/21/2021 at 12:36 PM, Sandra the fish rookie said: What brand of heaters do you guys use? I mean there is only 1000 of them out there! The reviews are all over the place! My LFS is having a hard time getting stock of heaters. They sell Eheim Jager heaters. Do any of you have recommendations for brands you have tried and like.. ? As of last year started moving away from glass heaters. Went with aquatop for awhile but they were same as all other glass heaters for me so went with the Aqueon pro now trying vivosun with external temp control and digital display recommended by @Atitagain I hope the vivosun holds up only had it two weeks but the external adjuster and digital display I’m in love with. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra the fish rookie Posted September 21, 2021 Author Share Posted September 21, 2021 @ARMYVET I am looking at the Inkbirds now.. do you recommend the single probe or the dual probe for my 40G?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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