Heater size for 120 gallon tank in cold basement

JPLoria116 · 03/18/2019, 02:26 PM

Hi I’m looking for heaters for my new 120 gallon build I’m doing in my basement. Room Temperature right now is around 56F. It’s winter here in Jersey now so I know the temperature will go up a bit in the summer. I was originally thinking I would get two 300 watt finnex heaters but now I’m leaning towards two 500 watt ones. I also will be running a 20-25 gallon sump. Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks

mattgumaer · 03/18/2019, 03:12 PM

i think 2 300s will be fine. Pretty sure that's what I'm running on a 180 in my basement, although it's build into a little closet which has heat (and AC) ducted into it so, that likely helps. Also, I'm not sure my basement gets that cold (upstate New York). How much time are you going to want to spend in your basement enjoying your tank if its 56 degrees down there? Not joking, always nice to have tanks where its pleasant for everyone to spend time, so people are more inclined to spend time enjoying the tank.

I'm assuming you have some kind of controller to shut the heaters down in the event of a malfunction but, if not, I'd be worried about a 500W heater getting stuck on and cooking things in the tank.

Matt

mcgyvr · 03/18/2019, 03:24 PM

78-56=22... For a delta of that much you may need as much as 10x tank size in watts or more depending on a few factors..
I would start with 2 x 500w and see how that goes..
Dont forget an external controller like a Ranco to monitor them if you don't have a controller..

JPLoria116 · 03/18/2019, 05:38 PM

I have a walkout basement to my backyard. It’s completely redone but there’s no heat down there. It’s going to be cold in the winter. I plan on spending quite a bit of time down there. I built a bathroom and had surround sound installed for the TV. Part of my build, I built a complete RODI water change system into its own closet. It’s months in the making I’ll see if I can upload my pictures. Lots of thought went in to this build. Any help on uploading photos from iPhone???

JPLoria116 · 03/18/2019, 05:42 PM

I’ll be purchasing a controller (apex) in the future. Just trying to get the Marco rock cycled in the tank. I was going to buy the finnex HC810M controller for now, 2 of them. One for each heater.

03/18/2019, 02:26 PM	#1
JPLoria116 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: New Jersey Posts: 62	Heater size for 120 gallon tank in cold basement Hi I’m looking for heaters for my new 120 gallon build I’m doing in my basement. Room Temperature right now is around 56F. It’s winter here in Jersey now so I know the temperature will go up a bit in the summer. I was originally thinking I would get two 300 watt finnex heaters but now I’m leaning towards two 500 watt ones. I also will be running a 20-25 gallon sump. Let me know what you guys think. Thanks

03/18/2019, 03:24 PM	#3
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	78-56=22... For a delta of that much you may need as much as 10x tank size in watts or more depending on a few factors.. I would start with 2 x 500w and see how that goes.. Dont forget an external controller like a Ranco to monitor them if you don't have a controller.. __________________ Who me?

03/18/2019, 03:12 PM	#2
mattgumaer Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 561	i think 2 300s will be fine. Pretty sure that's what I'm running on a 180 in my basement, although it's build into a little closet which has heat (and AC) ducted into it so, that likely helps. Also, I'm not sure my basement gets that cold (upstate New York). How much time are you going to want to spend in your basement enjoying your tank if its 56 degrees down there? Not joking, always nice to have tanks where its pleasant for everyone to spend time, so people are more inclined to spend time enjoying the tank. I'm assuming you have some kind of controller to shut the heaters down in the event of a malfunction but, if not, I'd be worried about a 500W heater getting stuck on and cooking things in the tank. Matt

03/18/2019, 05:38 PM	#4
JPLoria116 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: New Jersey Posts: 62	I have a walkout basement to my backyard. It’s completely redone but there’s no heat down there. It’s going to be cold in the winter. I plan on spending quite a bit of time down there. I built a bathroom and had surround sound installed for the TV. Part of my build, I built a complete RODI water change system into its own closet. It’s months in the making I’ll see if I can upload my pictures. Lots of thought went in to this build. Any help on uploading photos from iPhone???

03/18/2019, 05:42 PM	#5
JPLoria116 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: New Jersey Posts: 62	I’ll be purchasing a controller (apex) in the future. Just trying to get the Marco rock cycled in the tank. I was going to buy the finnex HC810M controller for now, 2 of them. One for each heater.