What size (wattage) heater(s) do you use?

[bleedingthought]

I'm trying to figure out what the best rule of wattage to gallon is when it comes to heaters. What size heater(s) do you guys have on what size tank?

I was thinking TWO 200W heaters on about 260G would do the trick.

 

[bleedingthought]

I remember the old "rule" when keeping freshwater tanks was to use about 3-4 watts per gallon. But that would bring me to ~900W and that seems a little high.

What do you ya'll use? 8)

 

[trido]

In Seattle, my two 250s work very hard sometimes during the winter nights. My laundry/tank room isnt heated and the sump sits on the concrete/tile floor.

 

[spaulr]

I think trido hit on a good point. Where is the tank located? will there be significant ambient temperature change that your heaters will have to counter ? I think I'd bump up at least 1 heater to be safe.

 

[bleedingthought]

Well, the house never drops below 70 degrees or so, as far as I know.

I can bump it up to THREE 250 watters. Does that sound like a, eh, 'sound' plan?

I just don't want to cook the tank if they (and the controllers) were to go crazy, in a short amount of time.

 

[spaulr]

One more thing. IF you do use the bigger size heater, just make sure that you use 1. a controller, and 2. set the heaters (not the controllers) manual temp control so it won't exceed say 85 degrees. That way, if the controller gets jammed on somehow (it happened to Len as I recall) the heater will turn itself off @ 85 degrees and not fry your tank.

 

[bleedingthought]

By manual control, do you mean the dial?

 

[doughpat]

Also consider the running temperature of your tank, both night and day. During the day, for example, I could get by without a heater, but at night the 500w titanium heater (Won Brothers, digital controller, very good unit for the price) kicks in. Its a 240 gallon tank.

It actually makes me a bit nervous--I'd rather have the tank have difficulty heating up rather than the risk of it cooking with a controller failure. Cool temperatures just slow things down...heat makes the tank into Reef Soup. I considered putting the heater onto a timer, so that it can't come on during the day...but this resets the controller every time its plugged in. So, personally, I'd shoot for as low a wattage as possible, and maybe keep a backup heater for those unusually cool winter nights.

 

[spaulr]

Yes. It's just a preventative measure that can save your ass if something really bad happens. As you know I use the RKII for a temp controller set to 78. However, I have the Jager heater dial set to ~83-85 just in case the controller decides to make fish stew for dinner.

 

[bleedingthought]

Also consider the running temperature of your tank, both night and day. During the day, for example, I could get by without a heater, but at night the 500w titanium heater (Won Brothers, digital controller, very good unit for the price) kicks in. Its a 240 gallon tank.

It actually makes me a bit nervous--I'd rather have the tank have difficulty heating up rather than the risk of it cooking with a controller failure. Cool temperatures just slow things down...heat makes the tank into Reef Soup. I considered putting the heater onto a timer, so that it can't come on during the day...but this resets the controller every time its plugged in. So, personally, I'd shoot for as low a wattage as possible, and maybe keep a backup heater for those unusually cool winter nights.

Couldn't you have the timer between the controller and the heater? Why would that reset the controller?

 

[bleedingthought]

One more thing, with heaters that are relatively low wattage (250W), would it make a difference between 3 heaters and 1? Wouldn't all three struggle if they were low(er) wattage?

For example, if Trido added one more 250W heater to his tank, would it make a difference?

 

[spaulr]

Yes it would make a difference because you are now adding 250W of energy into the tank. The reality would be 1 500w heater vs 1 750w heater. The tank would heat up faster.

 

[Reggie]

One more thing. IF you do use the bigger size heater, just make sure that you use 1. a controller, and 2. set the heaters (not the controllers) manual temp control so it won't exceed say 85 degrees. That way, if the controller gets jammed on somehow (it happened to Len as I recall) the heater will turn itself off @ 85 degrees and not fry your tank.

Sounds like the voice of experience talking. But I do like the advice.

 

[bleedingthought]

Yes it would make a difference because you are now adding 250W of energy into the tank. The reality would be 1 500w heater vs 1 750w heater. The tank would heat up faster.

I thought that all of them would strain just as much.

Alright, three 250Ws it is.

Thanks, guys!

 

[Anonymous]

Rule of heaters as I recall, 1 watt per gallon can heat the tank 5 degrees above the ambient temperature.

What this means, is if during the day your 100 gallon tank is sitting in a room that's 70F, and you want the temp up to 80F, you should have 200 watts of heating... however, if they are in a basement and the temp drops to 50F, you should have 600 watts of heaters. Even then it's not a guarantee, especially if the temperature drops quickly for some reason in the room.

I came home early last week 10am, and found my tank temp sitting at about 72F... funny thing is everything looked really good