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Low temperatures
Characteristics: Higher
oxygen levels, higher carbon dioxide levels. Decreased rate of
metabolism and aggression, considerably longer carrying times
for the females (especially for mouthbrooding females), lethargy,
fish close to the bottom. In extreme cases death will occur.
Heaters.
Ok, I am sure everybody thought of that. This is the best solution
because a) it heats the water gradually, b) the heat is distributed
evenly if the heaters are correctly positioned and c) they can keep
the water temperature constant. Other advantages are that they are
cheap, you can place them anywhere you like (I prefer my filter
compartments) and they are practically maintenance- free (although
removing accumulated salts or algae will help). Disadvantages:
consumes too much electricity (it is usually the unit that consumes
more than half of the total energy needed to run your tank). Relies
on electricity.
Air conditioners.
The same as above is true in this case, the only difference being
that now the air conditioner will be used in its “heating” mode.
Relies on electricity.
Power blackouts.
As already mentioned low temperatures can be accompanied by power
blackouts. Although the two methods already mentioned are the ideal
ones to keep your water warm, they need electricity. The use of a
UPS is not recommended, since a 200 W heater will drain the battery
within 45 minutes alone. And of course, you can’t plug your air
conditioner on a UPS, it will not even start.
Fireplace – warm the place.
An alternative (in the case of a blackout) is to use natural heating
resources, like a fireplace. Of course, the tanks should be in the
same place with the tanks (neither the fireplace not the tanks are
“mobile”) and a working chimney is absolutely essential. Never
try to heat a place with an open fire. Apart from the danger of
setting the place in fire, the place will be soon saturated with
carbon monoxide and dioxide, two [extremely] poisonous gases both
for the fish and you. Bear in mind that these two gases do not smell
and they will gradually suffocate you.
Fireplace – heat stones / water.
Another option is to use your fireplace to heat some water (or
rocks) and then add it to your tanks. This option can only be used
as an emergency for a small number of small tanks. Heating water is
always preferable because of its huge heat capacity.
Gas – boil water. If your place
has a supply of natural gas you can use it to heat water, which you
will have to transfer and add to your tanks. Again of limited use
since this will only be feasible for a small number of small tanks.
As said above, you need to add too much hot water to warm a big
tank. Surely carrying it in buckets was not your idea of enjoying
fish keeping.
Calculations – Do it Yourself
As
a general rule (to calculate the amount of hot water you need), you
have to make some very simple calculations. Each ml of water needs
to give or take 1 cal in order to change its temperature by 1 degree
Celsius.
First
step: How much water do I have in my tank? Each liter is 1000
ml.
What
is the temperature of this water? Let’s say 20oC.
How
much do I want to heat it? Let’s say you want to raise the
temperature by 5oC.
In
this case, every ml of your water needs 5 cal, or 5000 cals in all
for each liter.
If
you heated water to 100oC (boiling water) then, each ml
of the boiling water will give you 75 cal before reaching the
temperature of 25oC where no more heat exchange can
occur. Thus, in order to get the 5000 cals you will need 67 ml of
boiling water for each liter in your tank. For an 100 liter tank you
will need 6,7 liters of boiling water. The result will be 106,7
liters of water with a temperature of 25oC.
The formula goes like that …
Vadd = Vinitial
* (ΔT1 / ΔT2 )
Ok,
don’t panic – not yet.. It is really very easy.
Vadd
is the volume you have to add. You want to find it isn’t it?
Vinitial
is the volume of the water you want to heat (your tank).
Surely you already know that, isn’t it? Both volumes should be
expressed in the same units; both should be expressed
either in ml or in gallons, liters or whatever. Up to now there is
nothing you can’t do.
ΔΤ1
is the difference in degrees (F or C) between the temperature of
your water in the tank and the temperature you want it to reach. If
your water has a temperature of 20oC and you want it to
reach 25oC then this ΔΤ1
is 5. Simple, isn’t it? Even if you want to cool your water (from
25o to 20oC) the result is still 5 (not –5;
it is the difference that matters not whether it is up or down).
ΔΤ2
is the difference between the temperature of the water you
heated and the temperature you want your tank water to reach. If
you heated your water to 100oC and you want your tank
water to reach 25oC then this number is 75. Then you just
do the calculations. It doesn’t matter if you use oF
instead. Again you have to use either oC or oF
in the formula, not both.
This article (as with
all my “fishy” articles) is rather simplified. The aim is to
allow the maximum number of hobbyists to have an insight in these
matters. In many cases simplifications have been made which –
hopefully – will not annoy those who know. The author always
welcomes comments, corrections and/or amendments. It is my belief
that no article is ever “finished”. |
