Best Heater for 90L tank? Also advise on new fish.

[Madisyn Morris Hill]

Hi guys,

I need a more powerful heater for my 90L tank.... any advise as to which one to purchase?

Also i'm not sure what fish to add next. I currently have:

2 Honey Gourami's
5 neon Tetra's
5 Silver-Tip Tetra's
4 Phantom Tetra's
2 Albino cory's

Advise needed

Thanks in advance.

[jamesh]

any particular reason why you think you need a more powerful heater? is yours not keeping the temp to what you want it to be?

for 90litre a 100 watt heater would be fine.

more corys would look great or some black neons, not too much as you have quite a bit in there already

[Madisyn Morris Hill]

The thermometer says its 22c but the water feels very cool. tested the water and it seems fine but i'm really not convinced the water is warm enough and the heater is on full whack.

[matt1993]

you wont be able to tell by felling the water what you need is a good thermometer

[jamesh]

22'c is nearly half your body temp so it will feel cold to you

get a decent thermomenter and go by that and use the guage on the heater to get the desired temp on your thermometer as often the bi-metalic heaters are out slightly

[mike515]

a tropical tank shouldn't feel cold, but it shouldn't feel warm. Basically if it feels fairly cool to the touch, it's probably about right, but best get a decent thermometer, ideally you want a simple analogue one (the odd mercury jobby). Digital ones are all well and good, but like any electrical equipment they can go wrong.

On a 90l tank you would be best with a 100W (if you can get hold of a 75W one that'll be better). If you live in a warm house then you might get away with a 50W but it'll struggle if you house gets cold sometimes.


If you get one that's too powerful then you won't get a constant temp. Basically it will raise the water temp too quickly in one area and the thermostat will cut out. Then that water will spread gradually and the heater will click back on. So basically you'll get a constant on/off which will knacker the thermostat eventually. If you get one too small, obviously it won't do the job, so it will always be on and the heating element will burn out.

[Trillian]

Most commonly available community species prefer a tank temperature of 24 -26C. I use a 100w AquaOne heater in my 90L tank and it does a great job. It's been in there almost three years and never had a problem with it.

[Lego]

Definitely check the water with a proper thermomiter and then if you need to change your heater have a look at Rena SmartHeaters. I've tried a few different makes but the Rena's have been my favourites by far!

As for the fish suggestion, I'd add some more albino cories as they prefer to be in a larger group than that

[Madisyn Morris Hill]

Thanks for all the advise guys... muchly appriciated.

Ive checked the water several times and it seems fine. I invested in 4 more Albino Cory's today and they all seem to be getting along fine.

[dan51]

As for a 90L tank i would reccomend the Interpet River-Reef, they can be used for tropical or marine and are great tanks all the equipment can be put into rear chambers so it doesnt spoil the view, the only problem is the background is blue which doesnt usually look right on trop tanks :-/ fishwise i would agree with Lego, cories are much more fun to watch when in a larger group (6 is a great size) as they all interact and fool around the tank