A Guide To Aquarium Hood, Heater, and Pilot Lights

A reflector is usually only 3-1 or 4 inches wide and covers only the front few inches of the aquarium. A hood covers the entire tank. Usually, although not always, the sockets in a hood is set in the center.

The hood, which requires more material and labor to make, is more expensive. It offers the advantage of protecting the tank from dirt and dust and preventing excessive evaporation.

A glass cover and a strip reflector are sufficient for covering and lighting your aquarium.

Commercial full hood is constructed of a light-weight unbreakable plastic. The front piece is hinged so that you can easily feed your fish.

A fish is physiologically suited to living within a certain temperature range. By exercising proper care one can safely bring it to the limit of that range—a limit which varies somewhat with individuals and their condition, as well as with species.

An electrically operated heater equipped with a suitable thermostatic control is the most inexpensive and trouble-free method.

A control unit employing a bimetallic strip which automatically responds to temperature changes and turns the heater on and off.

A pilot light is a small light which is hooked into the heater to indicate whether the current is on or off. It remains lighted as long as current is flowing through the heater. The pilot light may be installed inside the tube which holds a combination heater and thermostat; it may be in a separate tube with either the heater or the thermostat; or it may be the plug-in type that fits.

You should make it a habit to check all thermostats regular highly. If, in checking, you find that the tank temperature is higher than the thermostat setting and that nevertheless the pilot is still on, you have a strong indication that the thermostat has failed to shut off. It is entirely possible for the tank temperature to be higher than the thermostat striking the tank. However, when such external factors are causing the temperature rise, the thermostat connection should be open and the pilot light off.

It is also a sign of trouble when the temperature is lower than normal and the pilot light fails to indicate heating. This condition should be checked and corrected. Cheap heater-thermostat combinations can chill or cook your fishes.

Tips on Choosing an Aquarium Heater

A submergible heater is usually placed flat along the bottom of the tank. The theory is that as the warm water rises it will cause a mild circulation within the tank, insuring a more even distribution of heat. Whether this particularly benefits the fish in most home aquaria is doubtful. However, with the heat source at the surface of a tall tank, and with no aeration or filtration, you will note a considerable disparity in temperature between the upper and lower strata of water. Whether the difference, except in an extreme case, is enough to discomfort the fishes is problematical. In nature, fishes swim with no apparent signs of discomfort between the sun-warmed surface and the cooler depths. They appear quite capable of adjusting to this type of change with no noticeable signs of stress.

By encasing the heater and thermostat in separate tubes, one is enabled to place the heater in one corner and the thermostat in another. This is supposed to insure a more even distribution of heat, since the heat must travel through the entire tank to reach the thermostat. In theory it is all right, but in actual practice it has hardly proven necessary. Water circulation itself distributes the heat readily enough.
For the advanced hobbyist who can afford it, the most practical method for heating all your fish tanks is a tank room. The temperature in the room can then be thermostatically controlled and heated by the use of a commercial space heater, either gas or electric. A small fan can be used to assure an even distribution of heat within the room.

If this method is impractical, you have your choice of either of two methods, or a combination of both. The simplest way is to get a combination heater and thermostat for each tank. There are a number of low-cost combination units on the market which will give very satisfactory service.

An alternative method is to get a high-capacity individual thermostat. This is placed in the smallest tank of the series to be controlled with the single setup. Heaters with wattages proportionate to the size of the tanks they are put into are connected in series with the thermostat. For the average home, allow 5 watts to the gallon. For a 5-gallon tank, use 25 watts; a 10-gallon tank, 50 watts, and so on.

For example: a hobbyist with four tanks, a 5-gallon, a 10-gallon, and two 20-gallon tanks would use the following: a 25-watt heater in the 5-gallon tank, a 50-wa heater in the 10-gallon, and a 100-watt in each of the 20’s The thermostat to which all the heaters are coupled placed in the smallest tank. Why? Because the smaller the amount of water in a tank, the more subject it is to fluctuation. Should the thermostat be placed in the largest tank, the smallest one might show a drop of as much as 5 to 6 degrees before the temperature of the large one would drop sufficiently to activate the thermostat.

Tropical Fish Tanks - What is an Aquarium Heater?

A heater is the apparatus which provides the actual heat as opposed to the thermostat, which is the automatic switch for controlling heat. The majority of heaters made today are fabricated of nichrome resistance wire, which is wound around a ceramic core. Some are of nichrome which is wound on an asbestos backing, and a few have the resistance element imbedded in the ceramic. The tube may or may not be filled with sand.

Heaters are divided into two groups: those which are attached directly to a thermostat, either in the same tube or an adjoining one and those called combination heating unit, thermostatic control, condenser and pilot light. For convenience these items may be housed in the same tube with an attached hanger, or they may be located in two different tubes with a clip joining them and a hanger.

At the present time there is only one combination heater and thermostat that can be completely submerged in water. Most of them are designed to hang vertically on the aquarium, partly in the water. I specify “in the water” because I have found that a good many people, unless told otherwise, hang such heaters on the outside of the tank.

The water level should be one to two inches below the lip of the tube (or tubes) to prevent water from entering I lie heater. Always read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully.

The cover glass (or hood), if used, should be cut away above the heater and/or thermostat to prevent condensed water from dripping into it.

The combination unit may have a knob on the top to adjust the temperature regulator. This is called an “outside-control.” An “inside-control” unit has the mechanism attached to the rubber cork stopper. Removal of the stopper lifts the unit, allowing the adjusting screw to be reached. It is advisable to unplug the unit before is removed for adjustment.

A word of warning: never put a hot heater into the water; it will crack. Always disconnect a heater before removing it from the water.

The heaters which are made independent of a thermostat may be sealed for submersion or may be hung on the side of the tank. These and the other types may be sand-filled.