heaters

[Ourfish]

For choosing the right wattage of heater, I've been referring to this chart:


Aquarium Heater Size Guide

Tank Size Heat 5ºC/9ºF Heat 10ºC/18ºF Heat 15ºC/27ºF
5 gal/25 L 25 watt 50 watt 75 watt
10 gal/50 L 50 watt 75 watt 75 watt
20 gal/75 L 50 watt 75 watt 150 watt
25 gal/100 L 75 watt 100 watt 200 watt
40 gal/150 L 100 watt 150 watt 300 watt
50 gal/200 L 150 watt 200 watt two 200 watt
65 gal/250 L 200 watt 250 watt two 250 watt
75 gal/300 L 250 watt 300 watt two 300 watt


Now, what happens if I buy a heater with a bigger watt than I need? Is that bad for the fish/heater?

thanks

 

[Bifferwine]

It's better to go with two smaller heaters instead of one larger one. Heaters are very prone to failure. At least if one goes out, you'll have another one as backup still running. There's no danger in getting a bigger heater than you need, it's just better to have two of them in case of trouble.

 

[Ourfish]

It's better to go with two smaller heaters instead of one larger one. Heaters are very prone to failure. At least if one goes out, you'll have another one as backup still running. There's no danger in getting a bigger heater than you need, it's just better to have two of them in case of trouble.

okay, thanks.
I think our DT is gonna have 2 heaters. It's just we're getting a heater for our 10 gallon hospital tank, and it's 75 wattage. I didn't want to fry our fish or something with too big of a heater

 

[bjohanson1234]

I am going to say dont get one that is rated bigger than the tank. Usually when they fail, at least in my experience, they fail in the on position. If the heater is too big, it will heat the tank up much faster than one rated for your tank.

Under normal opperation though, there is no problem since it will shut off when it reaches the temps that you select.

 

[Ourfish]

I am going to say dont get one that is rated bigger than the tank. Usually when they fail, at least in my experience, they fail in the on position. If the heater is too big, it will heat the tank up much faster than one rated for your tank.

Under normal opperation though, there is no problem since it will shut off when it reaches the temps that you select.

do jager eheim heaters fail often? I heard they were supposed to be the safest.

According to the chart, 75 w is okay for most 10 gallon tanks.

 

[Bifferwine]

In my experience, there really is no good brand of heaters. They will all fail at some point! It sucks. Some are just better than others, and those are better quality than the cheap ones you can buy at Walmart.

 

[d.french]

i use visatherm black plastic heaters made by marineland i think there called, but most importantly like biff said you want to run 2 small heaters and if possible use a heater controller if you can cause heaters do fail. Ranco heater controller are very nice brand to use but there are many to choose from.