Heater?

So I live in Florida and we just got our first cold snap of the season, which means it got down to the low 70s. My fish tank dropped a few degrees, but noone seems stressed and the tank hasn't gone below 74ish degrees. So still in the green. My question is, how vital is it that I get a heater? Well be getting more cold fronts I'm sure but if it gets below 70 you better believe that heat will be on, so the house will never go below mid 60s. What do you guys think? And how affordable are heaters?

 

Well, I thik that the general rulefor heaters is about 5 watts per gallons. I have seen heaters priced anywhere from $20-60 depending on wattage and brand. Also many people here would recommend you get TWO heaters just in case one goes down for the count, the other is there as back up.

Hope this helps.

 

I guess I figured the Florida was hot enough that I wouldn't need a heater but I'm thinkin it might be a good investment since I plan on having a tank for a while...

 

A heater is a must with a SW tank. You should never rely on the house temp to keep the tank stable. Get a Titanium heater and if you never need it then that is fine but you want that insurance if it gets cold.

 

I just got a 400 watt Hydor heater the other day. I found the previous heater I had was not working poperly so I tossed it. I will be getting another one for a back up very soon. I got it for just over 20 bucks off the internet.

 

OMG a 70 degree cold snap! Just wanted say I got a low priced Hydor submersible heater that is great. You don't have to spend a lot for the cool inline heater if it's not that big of a deal to you. This one you can put in your sump or hide it in the tank.

example:
Hydor Submersible Heater 300 Watt - 15.5" - 247PetShop.com

 

I'm running a titanium heater with a temp controller, safest way you can go, actually the safest way is to have 2 of these setups lol