Ecosystem Tank Advice

[yes_i_like_pie]

Hi, 

About 6 months ago I set up a 10g fishbowl as an ecosystem tank. No heater or filter. It has shrimp, endlers, snails, and some minnow. I love this tank and it's by far my favorite. Pic attached. 

I want to set up one of my other tanks similarly but it has some tropical fish that need warmer temperatures and heating the room isn't an option. Does anyone have advice on how to heat this tank with minimal added equipment? My understanding is that if the tank has a heater it also needs a filter, or at least something to move the water around. My goal truly is to limit tech as much as possible. The tank is a 12g long bookshelf tank. 

I welcome all advice and suggestions. 

[TOtrees]

What’s the size of the tank you want to change up?

[Chris]

Beautiful tank.

If you're truly wanting it to be as low tech as possible, one option would be to get an under-tank heater and to allow the natural process of rising heat to prevent stratification of the water. It'll still happen, but the tank should be more evenly heated than if you heated it from in the tank or from the top with a light.

[Comradovich]

Looking at your bowl setup, it reminds me that there's a source of heat you may not be considering: your light. Every light is to some extent inefficient, we consider this energy inefficiency the production of heat instead of light. An LED is pretty efficient, but if I put my hand on my Hygger full spectrum, it's still warm to hot.

For your eco-tank, try a no-fish test with various types of lighting. See how hot you can get it without actually installing a heater first, then consider other options to give you that extra boost to your desired temp range. Incandescent bulbs were pretty darn effective at heating all those EZ-Bake ovens we played with as kids.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I would argue against “if heater then filter”. I have a 6 gallon Walstad cube that has a heater, but no filter. The plants are the filter for that tank. 
 

In tanks without an actual “filter” (sponge, HOB, canister, etc) your plants are the filter. 
 

I also agree that whatever light you use will give off heat, essentially being a heater, just not a submersible one. 

Edited October 16, 2022 by AllFishNoBrakes

[yes_i_like_pie]

On 10/16/2022 at 11:56 AM, TOtrees said:

What’s the size of the tank you want to change up?

It’ll be a 12 g long! 

@Comradovich I had no considered that. Thank you for suggesting it. I’ll experiment with that a bit. 

@AllFishNoBrakes oh that’s good to hear. I heard someone say that if there’s no flow around the heater it could overheat and be a problem. I’m glad to hear you’ve tried it without issues. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

@yes_i_like_pie For me, in this one tank, it hasn’t been an issue. The tank is stable and holds right where I want it to. 

[TOtrees]

What kind of “tropical” fish are you hoping to keep in this tank?

12 long is a good size, but a possible drawback is that if you do have to resort to a heater, you’ll probably end up with warmer and colder areas. I like the suggestion above of a heat mat under the tank. The source of heat would be significantly more distributed. To avoid/reduce heating the table or stand more than the tank, I like to put a cut piece of a thin yoga mat, sleeping pad or some other insulation between the heat mat and the stand, along with a sheet of crisp aluminum foil below the insulation, shiny side up. I don’t know if this actually helps, but my brain wants to think it does. 

[kevincanada]

I use reptile heater pads underneath my 10 gallons and it works perfectly. They are on a reostat so you just adjust how much heat you need and your off. They are cheap on Amazon.

Cheers