New to this: room temp saltwater aqariums?

[kegunder]

Hi All,

I want to investigate running a room-temp saltwater tank. I've come across the supplies second-hand, but I have no heater or chiller. It seemed to me that it should be possible to find a few tidal invertebrates that could handle that environment. But, the subject seems to be unknown to my LFS and everywhere else for that matter.

Could any suggest some interesting invertebrate species for a 30 gal. tank? My LFS said he'd be willing to work with me to find what I need, but had no species to recommend.

(BTW, I'm in Iowa.)

[CarrieB]

I don't think a chiller is required unless you run metal halide lights and heaters are about the cheapest piece of equipment in the hobby.

IMO, just buy a heater. If you can't afford that, you can't afford the rest of the stuff you are going to need just to keep the tank going.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[morpheas]

Originally Posted by CarrieB

I don't think a chiller is required unless you run metal halide lights and heaters are about the cheapest piece of equipment in the hobby.

IMO, just buy a heater. If you can't afford that, you can't afford the rest of the stuff you are going to need just to keep the tank going.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Agreed. Chiller in most simple tank cases like yours is not necessary and you can buy a heater for less than the price of some inverts that you're looking at...

EDIT: Unless your house does not have cooling during the summer and your room temperature goes above 83-85 °F which I find hard to believe...

[Jeff4777]

Why don't you want to buy a heater? Look on amazon

[username in use]

I actually run a 14g nano in my daughters room with no heater or chiller. It runs completely dependent on the room temperature, a single powerhead and a hang on back filter. I keep Leathers, Photosynthetic Gorgonians, mushrooms, xenia and a pair of clowns and everything is fine. Ambient temp stays around 65-75 depending on the season and the tank probably sits around 3-5 degrees warmer with the pumps running.

[bashment]

heater is cheap and easy enough. I have one, but only plug it when the weather dips down. I keep my temp at 79 degrees

[cincyjim]

I ran my 75g tank for four years without a heater and the tank got about 72 at night and up to about 75 during the day. The advantage was the tank was in the basement where the temp stays pretty constant. In January though I did install a heater as I received an Apex for Christmas. Otherwise, I would still be running without a heater.

[CarrieB]

I'm thinking Iowa is pretty cold in the winter, but of course it depends on what you keep your thermostat at.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[kegunder]

Thanks everyone. Very helpful to hear your thoughts.

I have no problem buying a heater. What I don't want to be doing is running it 24x7x365. It makes no sense not to have one... so thanks for clearing that up.

I've got the tank positioned almost directly under my home thermostat, so there shouldn't be much variations while the thermostat is working.

Now about the species recommendations? I'd assume its pretty straightforward to buy an invert. and put it in my tank when the water is 79. And then gradually drop the temp over a few days?

[heathlindner25]

You're setting yourself up for headaches in my opinion ,just buy a heater and use it.

[Jerett83]

Ya you could run a 50 watt heater in a 30 gallon tank. It wouldn't be any different than leaving a light bulb on all day. Speaking of lights if your worried about a heater what about your light on the tank??

[morpheas]

A lot of times the people that walk astray on the "path less traveled by" are the ones that open new horizons. I'm not sure why not using a heater is so imperative to you but I'll take that as a given.

A quick search shows me that recommended temperatures for a lot of the common fish and inverts is 72-78 so you should be OK. Moreover it has already been stated that it has and can be done. I don't think it would take more than floating your bag in the tank...

Having said that, i would suspect that the potentially colder temperatures might cause the fish stress which in turn might increase the risk for deceases. On the other hand I'm just guessing here...

One other thing is that your house temperature fluctuates at least 2 degrees while controlling which is not noticeable to you... So it's not gonna be very stable but again from what i read that might not be a problem...

[kmbyrnes]

Do what works for you.
My tanks may have an odd day at 82 in the summer and maybe a 75 in the winter, but I don't run either heaters or chillers.
As long as you keep things from swinging to quickly, your tank should be OK.

[AquaAdam]

I'm currently testing this out myself. feel free to message me in the future for an update

[Dmorty217]

my 625g in my basement stays at a steady 72 without the heaters on, the only reason I have heaters is because for some reason I want my tank at 74 instead of 72

[snorklr]

putting the tank under the thermostat isnt a wonderful idea either as the tank temperature will fool the thermostat....the heater isnt the only source of heat in your tank...pumps put out heat, lights put out heat...and believe me the heater will not be running 24/7...so the tank will be higher than room temperature, and the heat for the house wont come on....when i lived in n.y. i kept "cold water" stuff i caught myself...hermits,seahorses, baby flounders, killies ,small brown gobies...just stuff that swam into the killie trap...and it was interesting, most didnt survive very long (probably because the tank actually needed a chiller....i think those fish would actually need 60 degree water,not 70....) the livestock was free, but it wasnt colorfull at all...so essentially it was just a tank full of live bait...not exactly something a fish store could make big money selling

[ryeguyy84]

Just ran a log of my heater through my apex. It runs about 10min an hour during the night and about 5min an hour during the day. Just saying

[BrianKC]

I'm assuming your desire to run without a heater is based upon wanting a challenge. If that's not the case, and you're dodging the minimal cost of having a heater, scroll on (and maybe find another hobby like rock polishing, because a heater is almost literally the cheapest part of this hobby). If that is the case, look into jellyfish. Many jellies prefer the water temp right around what we humans like our air to be (72ish degrees). Be forewarned...jellies are an extreme challenge but fun and rewarding.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[sde1500]

I'd say challenges are for people that have mastered their respective hobby/job/skill first. Starting off with a new already challenging hobby and trying to make it harder is a recipe for disaster. I'd agree with most here, buy a heater. Also, I wouldn't keep the tank near the thermostat either, as someone else said, lights and other things on your tank are a source of heat, you'll probably screw with the temp in the rest of the house.

[bat21]

I don't use a heater or chiller, but I have an all in one Red Sea Max that has a complete hood covering, so it traps all the heat inside the tank. I actually have the exhaust fan running 24/7 just to keep the tank 76-78, which it remains at incredibly stable. But this is a unique tank design, and most tank setups dissipate A LOT more heat than mine does. I have to use a heater in my QT.

A heater is pretty much the cheapest piece of equipment you can buy. It's also the easiest to use. You set the temp and then don't do anything ever. A chiller is both expensive and loud. So you only want to go that route if absolutely necessary.

[Sk8r]

The need for a heater is nearly universal; need for a chiller zero in most of the US: exception would be the hottest areas of the country. A fan array on the sump rim can lower tank temperatures about 10 degrees. You want the tank to be a pretty steady 78-80 degrees. 85 is the edge of death from heat; 62 is the edge of death from cold, but since chemical processes including life run faster in heat than in cold, the trip to heat death is (timewise) much faster than that to death by cold.