Do Malaysian even need an aquarium heater?!

As a Malaysian who lives in a tropical country with such a warm climate, do we even need an aquarium heater? The answer is, it depends.

Maintaining a consistent water temperature is a critical aspect of keeping a healthy aquarium. Some fish have preference of certain temperature while most tropical fishes are used to, well, the tropical temperature or room temperature at around 26℃ to 32℃.

When do I need a heater?

Heater should be on when your water temperature fluctuates too much. Let’s say during the noon your water temperature is 30℃, while during the night your water temperature is 18℃, then you should have a water heater in your tank. Fluctuation in temperature will lead to fish stress and illness such as white spot disease.

Here, the use of heater is to maintain water temperature at a certain level. For example, you can set the heater to temperature around 26~28℃, so when your tank temperature drop below the pre-set temperature, the thermostat in it will be able to detect the changes and start operating to help you increase the water temperature. Without a water heater, the water temperature will drop drastically, and the fishes might get sick as a result.

Aquarium Heater

Photo from: www.gossupps.com

Can aquarium heater decrease water temperature?

The answer is certainly NO!!! Water heater cannot help to decrease water temperature. It only can help in increasing the temperature of your tank. If you need to lower then temperature, you should us a chiller or aquarium fan.

How do I choose a heater?

Aquarium heater comes with various watts (W), choosing the correct size of a heater can help you increase your tank temperature steadily. To achieve the temperature that you want, you have to choose the correct size of water heater according to your tank volume. For this you can refer the chart provided below:

Tank Size	Heater Size
10l ~ 20l	25W to 50W
20l ~ 40l	50W to 100W
40l ~ 100l	100W
100l ~ 200l	200W
200l ~ 300l	300W

There are also many types of aquarium heater available on market, made of different materials such as glass, stainless steel, some even comes with a cover!