What Kind Of Heater Do You Use?

[Mr. Fish]

What kind of heater do you use and how do you like it. My 55 gallon drops to 73 at night and only gets to 76 during the day, so I need a heater, but I am not sure what are good brands. I was going to get a Marineland Stealth Pro, but was told those were no good. I was told titanium heaters and Eheim Jagers are good is this true? Also what size of heater should I get for my 55 gallon tank, it only holds 40 gallons because of all the rock I have in it.

[sasharotty]

I think the consensus on this topic was any one on a controller.Jager and titaniums are very good and probably best out there.Do a search many threads on this topic.

[gp2]

love my via aqua titanium heater, may be overkill for a sump heater, but I can adjust temperature without fishing it out of the sump

[Sugar Magnolia]

I've been using Jager heaters for years. Very reliable and spot on for temperature control.

[Mr. Fish]

What size of heater should I get for my 55 gallon tank, it only holds 40 gallons because of all the rock I have in it.

[rayn]

You want two. Get two rated slightly smaller then your tank. That is how I do it. One shouldn't be able to over heat your tank, but the two can work in conjunction with each other to help heat.

[Patrick Cox]

You want two. Get two rated slightly smaller then your tank. That is how I do it. One shouldn't be able to over heat your tank, but the two can work in conjunction with each other to help heat.

And I guess I will ask this question one last time. Even with a heater in a small sump, the wattage should still be based on the entire system water volume and not the water volume of the sump, correct? I am not sure I understand this but this is what I have been told here. It seems to me that if your heater is in a 10 gallon sump, you should only need a heater sized to heat 10 gallons because that is the water it is heating. Now you have a pump that will push that heated water into a larger display tank but the heater is not heating the DT water. What am I missing?

Thanks!

[Mr. Fish]

And I guess I will ask this question one last time. Even with a heater in a small sump, the wattage should still be based on the entire system water volume and not the water volume of the sump, correct? I am not sure I understand this but this is what I have been told here. It seems to me that if your heater is in a 10 gallon sump, you should only need a heater sized to heat 10 gallons because that is the water it is heating. Now you have a pump that will push that heated water into a larger display tank but the heater is not heating the DT water. What am I missing?

Thanks!

The heater is heating your display tank water because that water is passed through your sump. Whats the point of a heater if it only heats your sump? Even though your sump is ten gallons you still need a heater rated for your display tank gallons plus the 10 gallon sump, because all that water is shared and constantly moving between the sump and dt.

[natsak1]

Definitely stay away from the stealth heater. Mine blew up. Parts came shooting out of the tank. Luckily, I was nearby to witness what happened. Anyway, I agree with getting two good heaters to evenly heat your tank like the Eheim Jager heaters. I used those for years with no issue.

[Patrick Cox]

The heater is heating your display tank water because that water is passed through your sump. Whats the point of a heater if it only heats your sump? Even though your sump is ten gallons you still need a heater rated for your display tank gallons plus the 10 gallon sump, because all that water is shared and constantly moving between the sump and dt.

I get your point. I was thinking that the heater is heating the water in the sump and then the pump is moving that heated water into the display tank. So it is indirectly heating the DT water and at any point in time, the heater is only heating a ten gallon volume of water vs the whole tank. But I guess the relevant factor is the pace at which the water is moving through the sump. But then does the water really circulate through the entire sump at the same pace and does this impact the placement choice of the heater in the sump. I don't have my new sump yet so I don't have any experience with one. Anyway, I understand the recommendations.

Thanks,
Pat

[Mr. Fish]

I get your point. I was thinking that the heater is heating the water in the sump and then the pump is moving that heated water into the display tank. So it is indirectly heating the DT water and at any point in time, the heater is only heating a ten gallon volume of water vs the whole tank. But I guess the relevant factor is the pace at which the water is moving through the sump. But then does the water really circulate through the entire sump at the same pace and does this impact the placement choice of the heater in the sump. I don't have my new sump yet so I don't have any experience with one. Anyway, I understand the recommendations.

Thanks,
Pat

Two heaters in a sump would be pointless, unless your worried about not having a back up heater.

[rayn]

Two heaters in a sump would be pointless, unless your worried about not having a back up heater.

No not pointless. I run two in my sump, one in the skimmer area and one in the fuge. Return pump splits and goes to the DT and fuge. Water is heated from both side and returned to the DT. They both come on at different times as well working in conjunction with each other while not constantly using one and not the other.

[Palting]

I use 250 watt stealth heaters. Two of them. One in the sump, one in the DT. Bwahahahaha!

http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab71/Kalawing/IMG_0062.jpg

[rayn]

I use 250 watt stealth heaters. Two of them. One in the sump, one in the DT. Bwahahahaha!

http://i851.photobucket.com/albums/ab71/Kalawing/IMG_0062.jpg

That works, I just try to keep them hidden from view. If I could take the powerheads out I would. :spin2:

[Palting]

Anyone taking bets on whether my stealth heatsr will explode or not? :D

[MedRed]

I get your point. I was thinking that the heater is heating the water in the sump and then the pump is moving that heated water into the display tank. So it is indirectly heating the DT water and at any point in time, the heater is only heating a ten gallon volume of water vs the whole tank. But I guess the relevant factor is the pace at which the water is moving through the sump. But then does the water really circulate through the entire sump at the same pace and does this impact the placement choice of the heater in the sump. I don't have my new sump yet so I don't have any experience with one. Anyway, I understand the recommendations.

Thanks,
Pat

Imagine a window Air conditioning unit meant to cool one room. It's 99 degrees outside and it's warming up the entire house. Even if you could get all of the air in the house to circulate through that one room, do you think that the air conditioner could bring the temperature down anywhere near a comfortable level?

a heater rated for a 10 gallon tank would be useless in a 60 gallon tank with a 10 gallon sump.

[Sharpie_]

I run a pair of jager 250s in my 120+60+40 system, they're always on and I know they're working if they are if not I have a backup on hand. Easiest to calibrate and have never had one fail on me.

They DO need to be calibrated though, RTFM on those.

[gp2]

Two heaters in a sump would be pointless, unless your worried about not having a back up heater.

Really? The reasoning I was always told was to get 2 heaters to equal slightly above your wattage goal. In the event of catastrophic failure there would be no way to cook your tank. Does having the heaters in the sump change the logic? I would think diffusion would still be the over riding principle whether the heater was in the sump or the DT. I suppose it would depend on the room temperature, but I have always been more concerned with heaters overheating the tank.

[Mr. Fish]

I run a pair of jager 250s in my 120+60+40 system, they're always on and I know they're working if they are if not I have a backup on hand. Easiest to calibrate and have never had one fail on me.

They DO need to be calibrated though, RTFM on those.

How do I calibrate it and what does rtfm mean?

[Palting]

Read The eFfing, Manual!. I had to ask before, too :)

[Mr. Fish]

Read The eFfing, Manual!. I had to ask before, too :)

Haha thanks for telling me. Im glad it tells me in the manual.

[Johnny C]

Read The eFfing, Manual!. I had to ask before, too :)
Easy, tiger. Perhaps you should read (http://reefcentral.com/index.php/user-agreement) the Reefcentral User Agreement.

[MedRed]

Easy, tiger. Perhaps you should read (http://reefcentral.com/index.php/user-agreement) the Reefcentral User Agreement.

Good Grief Charlie Brown. He was joking...

[Dino]

Good Grief Charlie Brown. He was joking...

Even so, this is a family friendly board and its good to be reminded when you're getting close to the line. :)

As far as heaters, the absolute best setup you can probably have is heater(s) on a controller. So the controller is doing the switching on and off rather than the heater itself. A controller is a pretty minimal investment when you consider a single bad heater can wipe out $100's or $1,000's of dollars of livestock.

[jeff@zina.com]

I use two 100W heaters for a 55. They're cheap heaters, submersible but cheap. Work fine for me.

Jeff

[Palting]

Even so, this is a family friendly board and its good to be reminded when you're getting close to the line. :)

As far as heaters, the absolute best setup you can probably have is heater(s) on a controller. So the controller is doing the switching on and off rather than the heater itself. A controller is a pretty minimal investment when you consider a single bad heater can wipe out $100's or $1,000's of dollars of livestock.

Just to clarify. I was simply answering his request to translate the acronym, not actually directing the acronym at him. And, he laughed when it became clear to him what the acronym meant. And lastly, the acronym translation I provided was not precise, precisely because this is a family friendly board :).

But, in deference to authority, it is always a good idea to keep in mind that this is a family board, populated by ancient codgers like me, and young bucks doing school projects :D.

[Lynnmw1208]

I have 2 heaters for my sump as well. One is really there for backup. I have 2 250watt visitherm heaters for my 125g and 30g sump

[lin0501]

I had two 300w via aqua titanium heaters in my sump but one broke within 6 months so now I bought a 300w visitherm and placed it inside the DT.

[HDH]

ebo jager 250w and a 200w