civais Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Is it possible for me to run my 55 gal without any heater. I have 4 T5's (10 hrs a day), 2 powerheads and a skimmer. Everything I have read says I should be well over 75 degress however I have been at 69.5 - 70 for 2 weeks now. My gut says im fine since everyone seems happy but I am a bit worried about side affects that I may not be aware of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooks Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I'd recommend getting one. We're not out of the cold yet, and they are a good investment. Good heaters that are shatter-proof aren't expensive. 70 is rather cold for a reef environment. I keep mine at 74-76. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubasteve92 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 +1 I would get one, they aren't expensive (compared to everything else in this hobby) and you may want to keep it just a little warmer. I personally keep mine at 77-78. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
civais Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 I have a heater, thats not the problem. I just noticed that my bubble anemone looked better when I forgot to plug my heater back in after working on my tank. Prior to my little experiment I used to run my tank at 78-79. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubasteve92 Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Oh, then idk. Are all your other corals doing good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooks Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I don't think the heater would be causing your Anemone to be doing that. You might be running your tank too hot. Try using the heater, and then running it at a cool 74-76. The little margin does make a huge difference. Also protects you from being TOO hot or TOO cold if outside conditions were to be unfavorable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Do some searches on "heater", this debate has come up many a times. I am now in the "no heater" camp. I had one go haywire on me, so I took it out and never put it back in my 75g. And I have not put one in since (I would have to look when I actually took it out, but feels like about 1.5 years ago). I haven't checked my temp in quite a while, but everything is thriving very well. I think you are on the right track by taking queues from how your tank is actually behaving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wa1tx Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 +1 James. I think there are just as many arguments for having a heater as there are for not having one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaarrrggg Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 Maybe have a heater but set it lower than it is now to protect the tank in case something went wrong -eg if your lights failed to come on(?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bige Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 The only reason I'm currently running a heater is because of temp swings. In the summer its fine. But my tank would go from 64 to 79. Thats huge. If your temp doesn't swing then you will be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard L Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 What are you using to determine your tank temperature? One theory may be that your tank was actually a lot warmer than indicated and now it is has come down into a normal range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
civais Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 Maybe have a heater but set it lower than it is now to protect the tank in case something went wrong -eg if your lights failed to come on(?) very good point... I decided 69-70 was just too low, I am still interested in running without a heater but for now I have put the heater back in and keeping it at 72 for a few days. I think the answer will be to just get a upgraded jager or titanium heater that I trust. This should be a piece of hardware that gets upgraded every year or two. Although I did really enjoy removing one more plug and wire from my system. Since I do not have a sump I really hate having a heater in my tank! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
civais Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 What are you using to determine your tank temperature? One theory may be that your tank was actually a lot warmer than indicated and now it is has come down into a normal range. Using a zilla digital thermometer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 When I kept a heater I had a Titanium one with a digital temp probe, connected to my reefkeeper with its temp probe for dual redundancy. I had the heater on one side of the tank, and the temp probe from the heater about midway down the tank. I then had the temp probe from the ReefKeeper on the opposite side of the tank. The RK was set to turn off that outlet if the tank reached over 78 degrees, the same temp the heater was set at. I've since got rid of the heater and never had any issues that I can contribute to temperature. My tank will get up to 82-84 sometimes in the summer, and when I forget to close my porch door in the winter down to 65-68. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 If you use a heater I would reitterate the suggestions to get a good quality one. Over the years I've seen far more problems caused by heater thermostats sticking closed than tanks running to cold. My experience most tanks run warmer than the rooms they're in and don't need heaters but you need to evaluate your own situation. I have had issues with some corals partially bleaching with temps in the 70 - 71 range. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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