Saturday 2 January 2010

The Basics of Aquarium Water Heater

By Jeffry Johnston

An aquarium water heater is a device that keeps your tank warm for your fish. Different species of fish require different temperatures. For example, tropical fish are used to much warmer temperatures than fish types that thrive in colder regions. An aquarium water heater is responsible for keeping the temperature constant in your tank, and this is very important for corals which tend to do badly in constantly changing temperatures.

A heater converts electrical energy into heat that is dispersed evenly all throughout the tank. It is typically composed of a ceramic core wrapped in nichrome resistance wire. It comes with temperature controls that allow you to set a low and high limit in temperature which tells the heater to start and stop working. When the temperature in the tank is too low, the heater kicks in. When the temperature exceeds the limit, this tells the heater to stop.

Each heater is composed of a ceramic core covered by nichrome resistance wire. They often come sold with accompanying thermostats that you place on the other side of the tank. In most cases, you place the thermostat on the other side of the tank so that the heat will have to travel to the other side of the tank to reach the thermostat, facilitating an even dispersion of heat.

The three main types of heaters for your aquarium water

The three most common types of aquariums are the submersible water heater, the hang-on tank style water heater, and the heating cable system. The submersible water heater provides an even heating for the tank because it is submerged in the tank water. The hang-on tank style, on the other hand, may not be too good with offering even heating because it is only partially submerged in the water. The third kind of aquarium water heater is the heating cable system, which is submerged under the gravel and is operated by a heating control unit. This model is the ideal for saltwater tanks, but it is good for freshwater aquariums as well.

Factors to consider

When buying an aquarium water heater, you need to consider a few things such as the kind of fish you have, the room temperature, and the kind of warranty your heater has. Knowing the ideal temperature conditions for your fish is the most important thing you should know when buying a heater so that you will know what temperature to set the heater to. The room temperature will also affect the temperature of your tank, so you need to factor this in as well when setting the heater temperature. Finally, make sure that you only buy heaters with good reliable warranties to avoid paying too much in repairs in the event that your heater breaks down.

Tips for buying aquarium heaters

When buying aquarium heaters, make sure you buy a spare in case your heater breaks down. This is not a necessity but experts advice that you use multiple heaters in your aquarium so that you can maintain an even temperature even if one of the heaters break down. The extra heater can carry the load of heating the tank long enough for you to replace the broken heater with a spare heater.

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