Heaters

[badmeowth]

My tank is in the basement of the house, and in the winter the average room temperature can dip as low as 45 degrees, AFTER sealing out the windows and doors for drafts. So as you can see, its pretty chilly. I filled up the tank once without a heater and it sat around 52 degrees while the room was 45, probably due to powerhead heat, water movement, etc.

I have a 65 gallon DT with a 20 gallon sump, and currently have a single 250 watt heater in there, rated for 75 gallons. I think I should get another heater for safety and what not, but not sure how much wattage to get. I just got a 250x2 sunpod HQI which will probably create a lot of heat. The basement is very warm in the summer, around 75 avg. I was wondering if its possible to get another heater thats rated 200 watts rather than 250. Is it safe to mix two different wattages of the same brand heater? If so, Im thinking about getting a 150 or 200 watt supplementary heater.

 

[Bifferwine]

You can definitely get heaters of different wattages. It's a good idea to have more than one heater anyways, that way if one fails it won't spell disaster for your tank.

 

[reeffreak]

Get any wattage heater you feel will keep the water at the correct temp.So the temperature can be 45 degree in the winter to 75 in the summer.You may need three for that extreme temperature change.

 

[badmeowth]

i heard larger tanks only need 3 watts per gallon rather than 5 due to ability to insulate heat better. i have a 65 gallon DT with 20 gallon sump, with about a 30 degree temp change in the winter months