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What is the temp in your planted tank?

Entirely livestock dependent for me. Farm tank with just Neocaridina shrimp is heater free, so around 20-21 with a bit of heat being added by the pump I suspect.

Tanks with fish set at 23.
 
It is interesting but if you asked the same question on a mainly fish, rather than plants, forum you would likely get 24-25c as the average.
 
It is interesting but if you asked the same question on a mainly fish, rather than plants, forum you would likely get 24-25c as the average.

Yes, I suspect many of us go on Seriously Fish and pick the minimum temperature in the quoted range for the fish species we are keeping, so that we can keep temps as low as possible for the plant based considerations.
 
It's always a bit of a balancing act as most don't run biotope tanks and therefore we shoehorn plants and animals from all around the world into the same environment.
 
22c, I don’t think I keep any fish which have natural waters above that 👍
 
21.7 - 22.0 with an Inkbird. Of course different people have different livestock (or arent in UK), but I was't expecting a good proportion are >=25
Yeah, it seams more stay sub 25C, the ones with temp control at least, as most pre-set heaters for tropical fish are factory set to 25.5C(78F).
 
I did accidentally forget to switch the heater on after a water change, so one of my tanks was at 19/20oC for a week or so - they weren't acting any different (ember tetras) but I wouldn't leave it that chilly usually.
 
Hi all,
I'll assume everyone has checked the accuracy of their measuring device.
I use a <"fool-proof method">.
I press the back of my hand onto the tank glass every morning, it tells you whether you have a stuck-on or failed heater, and it is more sensitive than you might imagine to smaller changes in water temperature.

cheers Darrel
 
Hi Folks,

In her book, Aquarium Plants, Christel Kasselmann includes an extensive list of native habitats and their corresponding water temperature. So, if the native habitat of a plant is known, then its native water temperature can be determined. Would anyone care to suggest a plant (including native habitat) to put this to the test? It's worth a try but comes with no guarantees! If this doesn't work, I'll gladly declare it a resounding flop!

JPC
 
Usually around 26~27ºC. During some warmer days it climbs to 29ºC. On the rare cold days, it may drop to 24ºC.

I would like to average it at a lower temperature, but my cooling device is a simple computer cooler, with limited efficacy. I set my heater at 25ºC because even when our nights get cold around here, we still get warm days, so to prevent >5ºC daily swings, given how hard it is to keep the tank cold during the day, I rather keep the minimum temperature higher.
 
I keep mine at around 23 degrees, as do a lot of scapers especially in open topped tanks. It keeps most tropicals happy, fish plants and critters, whilst reducing evaporation. Some cite other reasons as well, like it helps reduce algal growth, helps to maintain O2 levels etc.

But either way, like Darrel @dw1305 mentions, it's a good idea to get into the habit of touching the glass with the back of your hand on a regular basis to detect freak temperature changes.
 
Would anyone care to suggest a plant (including native habitat) to put this to the test? It's worth a try but comes with no guarantees! If this doesn't work, I'll gladly declare it a resounding flop!
Vallisneria spiralis, lake Malawi. (East Africa)
26 to 28 ⁰c....
Are you doing the test?
 
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Usually around 26~27ºC. During some warmer days it climbs to 29ºC. On the rare cold days, it may drop to 24ºC.

I would like to average it at a lower temperature, but my cooling device is a simple computer cooler, with limited efficacy. I set my heater at 25ºC because even when our nights get cold around here, we still get warm days, so to prevent >5ºC daily swings, given how hard it is to keep the tank cold during the day, I rather keep the minimum temperature higher.
That's interesting, I'd have been inclined to let it drop lower at night on the grounds that it would take longer to warm up so stay lower for longer in the day time.

I sometimes wonder about how much fluctuation there is between night/day in the wild, and would the fish actually prefer a temperature drop at night?
 
I sometimes wonder about how much fluctuation there is between night/day in the wild, and would the fish actually prefer a temperature drop at night?
In undisturbed rainforest the water temp holds remarkably steady throughout the day. There are seasonal changes (rain season vs. dry season) that can be quite wide actually (several degrees). Sadly, in massively deforested areas even the daytime/nighttime variations can be quite wide as well regardsless of season 😟

Cheers,
Michael
 
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