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Hi all

Does anyone know what the avearage duration a 200watt heater in a 90 litre tank stays on for during any given day. And what difference in hours between summer and winter months. Is there any way of recording this. Also is it greatly cheaper to change to led lighting and if so which system would be best for a 90 litre tankk.

It depends.

Obviously if the tank is in a very cold room you are going to need to have the heater running more frequently, also if there is a lot of surface agitation you will lose a bit more water to evaporation and that will also cool the water. Warmer rooms won't need to run the heater as much.

When I had tanks in cold rooms I'd attach styro sheets to the sides and back of the tank in winter. I have no way of knowing if it actually made any difference in how often the heater came on but it did make me feel better about it.

What your fishes temperature needs are will also play a role. I kept fish that could handle a range of temperatures and allowed the tank to gradually warm in summer and cool in winter. This involves changing the thermostat in the heater manually by a degree or half a degree every other day to raise or lower the temperature overall in the tank. One of the biggest causes of ich in a fishtank is a sudden change in temperature stressing the fish.

LED lighting will also depend on your tanks lighting needs. A low light tank doesn't really need all that much lighting and keeping your existing system may be more cost effective than upgrading to save.

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http://www.fnzas.org.nz/uploads/media/Aquarium%20Heatloss%20Calculator.xls

here you go, plug your numbers into this to get your approx heat loss.

"I'd attach styro sheets to the sides and back of the tank in winter" - that is a great idea

The Amazon Nut...

Thanks Da!
Just makes sense to me, any way to insulate the tank a little more will help keep the temp in the right spot, and IMO would reduce chances of cold spots and in the event of a power outage keep the temperature steadier. I used to cover the tank with a thick blanket any time we had power outages due to snow....which in DC was sadly fairly frequent , never lost a fish even though the house temp dropped pretty far (42F).

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