Your Fish Tank: How to Maintain an Optimal Temperature

Maintaining a stable and balanced aquarium has a profound impact on the overall success of our livestock, while playing out on our psyche. Trying to keep our salinity, alkalinity, pH, nitrates and phosphates in check can be a difficult hurdle to jump. One of the greatest concerns that we tend to overlook, however, is water temperature! Water temperature is a common problem. Water temperature effects many key aspects of our aquariums health and success, and fluctuations in this can prove detrimental! We are finding this to be very real as our reefs are steadily dwindling in size as greenhouse effects are raising our oceans water temperatures. On a smaller scale, this same alarming problem can play out in our fish tanks as well, with the same negative detrimental results. Because of this, it is crucial, for us, to find ways of correcting and maintaining water temperature issues both on a grander scale regarding our oceans of the world right down to our aquariums in our house.

Obviously, when dealing with water temperature, we need to find ways of maintaining stable water temperature that are not too cold or too hot and don't fluctuate either. Deviations from this can cause unhealthy specimens, spur the onslaught of disease that can plague our livestock in due time, decrease the amount of dissolved oxygen in our water, and ultimately, death. So we know now, how important it is to create and maintain a stable temperature in our aquariums and also the oceans of our world.

Some ways of countering the possible ways in which our tanks water temperature can become out of sync, so to speak are: implementing fans, chillers, placement of a tank strategically in the house, tank covers and canopies, incorporating heaters of the optimal size for your particular tank, type of lighting and placement height above your tank right down to the material used to make your tank. All of these variables can produce the results to help you to maintain a stable temperature in your tank!

To lower the temperature of your tank water, care must be used to do this SLOWLY so you reduce the likelihood of stress or other detrimental outcomes becoming evident. Many times we set up a tank in the wrong place, either too close to heaters and windows where the heat from the sun radiating through the windows can elevate the ambient room temperature as well as tank water. A chiller can help to combat this problem. A chiller is nothing more than a small refrigerator, basically, that allows tank water to be drawn into the device where it is chilled and deposited back into your tank on a consistent basis. These work exceptionally well, IF you know how to use this piece of equipment without dropping the tank water too quickly or too much. The major drawback with this form of cooling the initial expense in purchasing the unit and the cost associated with maintaining this unit in terms of electrical usage!

A fan is another viable alternative to this which often provides great results, without the expense of buying an expensive chiller that requires alot of electricity to run. A cheap room or desk top fan for $10.00 could make the difference between a tank that is suffering due to high water temperatures and one that is thriving. A fan provides what is known as evaporational cooling. This is basically air flow that circulates at the water/air surface interface(top of the tank) causing the water to cool down. The fan also helps to disperse heat buildup often associated with intense lighting such as metal halide lighting either enclosed in a canopy or free standing top. The main drawback is for those that have marine aquariums is that as water evaporates, the salinity level increases. As the fan cools the top of the tank, water evaporates as a result therefore the water level of your tank will diminish and need to be replenished. Often times aquarists will incorporate a top-off set up to replenish the water lost through evaporational cooling. One note to be conscientious of is as water is evaporating, the salt will remain, so in essence you are increasing the salinity concentration. Because of this, it is important to add pure freshwater back into your tank, until you add the desired amount to maintain a suitable water level. Obviously, if you have a freshwater aquarium, the salinity issue will not pose a problem.

As I hinted on earlier, intense lighting combined with or without a glass tank cover or enclosed in a canopy will also elevate tank water temperature. Many lighting fixtures come standard with fans built into the unit to aid in heat reduction. Placement of the light fixture on legs, or elevating the light fixture farther away from the water surface, can also help to reduce heat buildup and temperature increase. You may want to refrain from halide lights as they tend to be the hottest bulb, and go with LED's or T5's instead, though the benefits associated with halides should not be underestimated.

The material that your tank is built out of is important as well. Glass or acrylic can make a difference in terms of water temperature. Acrylic tanks are 20% better in insulation properties than glass. Because of this acrylic can reduce temperature fluctuations while saving you money on heating and chilling. Domestic cell cast acrylic is the best you can get if this is the route you plan on taking. Care must be employed which ever way you go in terms of whether you want a glass or acrylic tank as they both have their merits and pitfalls.

Heaters are a big issue and often times a leading misconception. The size of your tank, plus the water volume(IE. refugium and sump) needs to be included in the size of the heater you will need to maintain a stable and optimal temperature in the winter time, or in colder rooms which employ air conditioning ducts directly above the tank especially. Many times you will need to purchase two or more heaters to properly heat your tank water evenly. Their are two styles of heaters, submersible and hang on out of water. The price associated with each is pretty substantial, however. Do your homework to research the features of each and which will be best for your tank. If you have correctly incorporated the right size and number of heaters, your tanks water should remain fairly consistent benefiting your livestock greatly.

So there you have it... ways in which to counter the ever changing water temperature issue and afford your livestock a better lifestyle in a thriving captive environment.