Aquarium Heater Guide

Aquarium heater guide

Most pet Tropical fish and Marine fish come from tropical regions of the globe, where the water temperature is around 75 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. 

Maintaining a consistently warm water temperature for your fish is essential to their well-being.
You can maintain an ideal temperature in your tank by adjusting the thermostat on your aquarium heater. 

It’s a good idea to put a separate thermometer (independent from the heater) in your tank so you can monitor water temperature on an ongoing basis and make adjustments in your thermostat, since environmental conditions in and around your aquarium are always changing.

Make sure you place your thermometer away from the heater, we prefer to have the thermometer at the other end of the tank that way you get a true reading rather than a possible inflated readings due to the thermometer being too close to the heater.

Thermometers come in varied types, we would suggest using a digital thermometer for accuracy.

A wide variety of heaters are available at Holiday Aquatics, made by Tetra, TMC, Juwell and Superfish.

The size of your heater should match the size of  your tank.

Generally, you’ll want to provide at least 3 watts of heater power -- and preferably 5 watts -- for every gallon of tank capacity.

This formula provides us with the following general recommendations:

10 gallon tank = 50 watt heater
20 gallon tank = 100 watt heater  
30 gallon tank = 150 watt heater
40 gallon tank = 200 watt heater

For tanks that are 50 gallons or smaller, it’s usually best to use one heater.  In tanks with more than a 50-gallon capacity, you should reach the recommended wattage by using two smaller heaters rather than one larger model.

For example, one 200 watt heater and one 100 watt heater instead of a single 300-watt unit, this way you avoid the issue of overheating if theres an issue with the thermastate and also you have a backup if one heater should fail.

Your aquarium heater should be positioned in an area where there is lots of water movement to ensure that heat is circulated adequately throughout the tank.

For safety, always unplug a heater and allow it to sit in the tank for 10-15 minutes to cool down before it is handled.  A submersible unit should never be kept above the water surface as this could shatter the heater. The heater should be unplugged before water is removed from your tank during water changes. This will protect against the hazards that can arise when an active water heater is exposed to air.  You should also inspect your heater on a regular basis to make sure there are no cracks in its glass tubing. 

We also advise to always have a backup heater handy, just incase you do get a failed heater as it's suprising how quickly water tempratures can drop, especially through the winter months.

If your unsure which heater you should use then just contact us and we will guide you in the right direction.

Happy Fishkeeping

Holiday Aquatics