Is Your Tank First Glass?

There’s no way around it- glass is a pretty terrible insulator. Yet, any avid aquarium enthusiasts will tell you, it’s also the primary and logical choice for your tank, allowing you to clearly see your inhabitants and maintain the tank accordingly.

There are a few things to bear in mind whilst trying to overcome these meagre thermal qualities. For one, due to their cold-blooded nature, fish are not capable of independently regulating their own body temperature meaning that without the right warmth, your fish are in danger of sickness or worse. Secondly, depending on the type of fish you have, your heating solution is going to have to cater specifically for them. For instance, a goldfish thrives at temperatures of 68-72 °F, whereas a tropical fish’s water must be around 75-79 °F. Similarly, most aquatic plants roughly fit into this range, preferring temperatures of 70-80 °F. In other words, alone your tank cannot do the job. This is where appropriate heating solutions take over.

Break the Glass Ceiling

With fully functional and suitable aquarium heating solutions, there’s no reason that the tank itself has got to be a hindrance to your inhabitants. There’s a clever universal rule that can insure against damaging fluctuations in water temperature: for every gallon of your aquarium, provide a 5 watt heater. Sticking to this helpful guide, you’ll find the solution most suited to your tank requirements.

If you’re housing a mansion of an aquarium, then you’ll need a heating solution that isn’t impaired by the size of the tank. For the sake of efficiency, it’s recommended that you invest in two reliable heaters, strategically placed to evenly distributing the heat throughout the water. What’s more, doing this means you have a back-up should one of them fail. As consistent water temperature is vital for your inhabitants’ survival, this ‘Plan B’ approach is useful even for smaller tanks, simply replacing the defunct heater with the spare. With these fixes, you can break through the limitations of the glass tank.

Options Galore

From submersible heaters to heating cable systems, you needn’t worry about glass’s thermal properties any longer for keeping your aquatic friends happy. For more information on this topic, make the most of our Live Chat functionality online and quiz our experts today!