heater recomendations

[dannyboy]

Hi again, my main tank is a 125, fump fuge built from a 75. I currently run 3 heaters, all 300 watts I believe. 2 in main tank, 1 in over flow section of sump. My water temp fluctuates a lot. I's cold here and sometimes the room gets cold over night and this morning tank was @ 73.8! I'd kinda like to ditch the 3 "cheap" heaters and replace w/ maybe 2 really good ones. Any recommendations on a brand? Would 2 500 watt heaters be enough? Thanks

 

[bjohanson1234]

I have had good luck with Finnex brand. I freccomend titanium heaters with external controls. The control circuitry is not submerged in the water so failure rate is lower than for standard glass heaters.

As for the wattage, I have a 150 watt in my 30 gallon tank which kept it steady until I moved the tank to the basement and winter rolled in. I had to suppliment it with a 50 watt heater I had laying around. I have a 10 gallon sump also. I would think 1000 might be barely enough. You can always suppliment it with one of your 300 watt heaters if it isn't.

 

[recliner]

Wow, I have my 150 tank and sump in my basement and only need one 200 watt heater to keep it at 79 degrees. How cold are the rooms you guys have your tanks in?
I use a submersible return pump and a 250 watt MH light so I get heat from them I guess.

 

[d2mini]

I have a Finnex Titanium TH-800 Plus and seems very well made. Needs a controller since it doesn't have it's own thermostat. It's not uncommon for heaters to fail in the on position so you really should run a heater on a controller even if it does have its own temp control.

 

[Reefrookie]

I run two 300 watt submersible Jager heaters in my sump using a Ranco control. Temps fluctuate between 78 and 80 with no problems. Two 500s would be plenty.

I would look into getting a control.That's one less thing you have to worry about if one of your heaters fail to turn off

 

[emily120289]

+1 on the finnex heaters

 

[bjohanson1234]

Wow, I have my 150 tank and sump in my basement and only need one 200 watt heater to keep it at 79 degrees. How cold are the rooms you guys have your tanks in?
I use a submersible return pump and a 250 watt MH light so I get heat from them I guess.

We are warm blooded in this household. The temp in the house is upper 60s lower70s. Basement is unfinished so it is colder too. We rent so don't want to ruin someone elsewhere hardwood floors with a tanks spill. Also I run LED so it doesn't heat up the tank at all.

 

[wontonflip]

Wow, I have my 150 tank and sump in my basement and only need one 200 watt heater to keep it at 79 degrees

Most of us run 2 heaters as a fail-safe thing. If one heater fails, the other one picks up the slack. I run 2 myself.

I have a pair of Via Aqua for my 125g.

 

[dannyboy]

hmmm, what are these controllers everyone talking about? I'll do some research now.

 

[dannyboy]

the finnex I'm looking at says, "hang on" fully submersible right? also says comes w/ sleek analog controller, still need a controller w/ that or thats good? wish I didn't waste money on crappy heaters when this ting isn't that much more, ebay here i come

 

[d2mini]

That heater will work for you.

The controllers like ReefKeeper, Apex, Profilux, etc can control many aspects of your tank. Definitely worth the research. Even with that particular heater having its own thermostat control, having a real controller that would shut down power to your heater if the water temp reached X degrees would be a failsafe.