Heaters! Who knew!?

[Treefer32]

I've looked at BRS, Marine Depot, Marine and Reef and I'm so confused by the heater ratings now. When I was setting my 350 gallon display + 75 gallon sump 3 years ago, heaters were the least of my concern. The LFS recommend two 300 watt Finnex heaters. I've had no issues maintaining my tank at 77 degrees, ambient room temperature is around 68 -70 degrees. So, I'm raising the tank between 7 and 10 degrees.

According to most recommendations, 2 300 watt heaters should be failing miserably at heating a tank of this size. The heaters turn off routinely and it takes a couple hours for the tank to drop enough for them to turn back on. I've actually had my tank stay normal temperature with 1 of the 300 watt heaters on it while I moved the other to my water change station and had it warm that up for 24 hours.

Yet, all the manufacturers say I should be running at least 1000 watt, if not 1200 watt heaters and I should spend $300-$500 in heaters and double my electricity usage to heat my tank?

That said, My heaters are approaching 2 years old. After a previous heater electrocuted my tank - leaked electricity from the sump to the display and kill 16 out of 19 fish, I swore I would replace my heaters every 2 years. This June will be the two year anniversary of my heater Armageddon. I was looking to replace with a titanium heating system. But, wasn't really looking to spend $300-$500. I spent around $50 a piece for the Finnex Heaters with attached controllers. I've had no issues. They were like champs. Just don't want to risk another electrocution incident.

Is there a safe, reliable, and economical brand of heaters? Or is this like asking the lighting question, everyone has their favorites and no one heater is amazing. And, also, what size is the right size for around 350 gallon water volume including sump, sand and rock displacement.

 

[N.Sreefer]

Its sort of like the lighting everyone has wildly differing opinions. The one most people swear by is the jager but ive personally had very little luck with them. My house can get really cold during the winter (Canadian here) and the only heater that hasnt failed on me is the fluval titanium heater.

 

[Dolphins18]

They are all wrong as far as the ratings go. Its quite ridiculous and I do not understand it to be honest.
I'd be willing to bet that one of those 300 watt heaters would keep your tank 77 assuming you keep your air temp above 72 degrees.
I always go low on heater values, frankly should have gone with 1 300 watt for my large tank.
I see these sites recommend huge heaters and my problem with it is this, that much power not only costs but can QUICKLY boil a tank if something goes wrong, if your heater flat out fails (stops heating all together) the tank will not get colder than the air around it. Does it seem more likely that 74 degree water would kill ones tank or 112 degree?
In other words, I am with you, I don't get it.
I haven't tried them personally, but have heard AMAZING things about the innovative marine line of heaters. I have always used titanium ones and they are titanium as well. There are a few threads about people using them with great success on here! I think they come with 2 300 watters and that would probably be perfect for you.

 

[Pistondog]

Install gfci outlets to power all tank equipment. Add a grounding probe.. Then you and your fish are safe from shock.
Also, all the pumps in your tank add some heat while running, they are not 100% efficient.

 

[Greg P]

Adding more heaters won't up your electricity bill ... the more you have the less they run per cycle but still use the same amount of energy overall. The number you run is up to you. Having many smaller heaters is my go-to as any single unit can't overheat the system, and a single failure won't cause a significant drop in temp.

Anyway, I've run Jagers for decades without issue. I keep them vertical so only submerged to the waterline. And I use a controller so the heater's internals aren't in charge or being worn out.
10 years later and my 3 x 200w units are still heating my 115g system.
I keep the house about 7 degrees cooler than the tank, same as the OP

@Treefer32 as you can see I am in the 3-5w/g boat but if you're easily keeping your system happy with your current wattage then stick with it.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I will start out by stating I'm an Eheim Jager user and that's my heater of choice. That said, here's my recommendation....Watts aren't watts. I would think that if you are currently using two 300 W heaters and now you wish to go to Titanium, it most likely is not two 300W heaters. I'll give you examples of what the manufacturers recommend to show you what I mean. I will use Eheim Jager (glass) versus Finnex (Titanium) for this example.

With this example, you would need two 300W Eheim heaters while if you picked Finnex, you would need two 800W heaters. Don't ask me to explain this because I would have thought that watts are watts!

 

[Greg P]

Red, it has to do with thermal conductivity. How conductive the materials used by Jager and Finnex are aren't known to me.
Glass is on average about 0.8 W/m K, but titanium can be around 17 W/m K, hence the need for larger Titanium heaters.

 

[Pistondog]

I will start out by stating I'm an Eheim Jager user and that's my heater of choice. That said, here's my recommendation....Watts aren't watts. I would think that if you are currently using two 300 W heaters and now you wish to go to Titanium, it most likely is not two 300W heaters. I'll give you examples of what the manufacturers recommend to show you what I mean. I will use Eheim Jager (glass) versus Finnex (Titanium) for this example.

With this example, you would need two 300W Eheim heaters while if you picked Finnex, you would need two 800W heaters. Don't ask me to explain this because I would have thought that watts are watts!

I like the eheims as well.

Heater sizing should take gallons and desired heat rise over ambient into consideration.
The differences between the rated watts; maybe the finnex is trying to cover more applications.

 

[Greg P]

...
The differences between the rated watts; maybe the finnex is trying to cover more applications.

It's because glass is way more thermally conductive than titanium, so the same size heating element in titanium can't keep up with a glass heater.

 

[Pistondog]

It's because glass is way more thermally conductive than titanium, so the same size heating element in titanium can't keep up with a glass heater.

I agree one material can be more thermally conductive.
Once they are full on, each is putting rated watts into the water.
Each 300 watt heater will heat a bucket of water or aquarium to the same end temp. All 300 watts of a submerged heater goes into the water.
Easy to verify rated watts, voltage times amps.

 

[Treefer32]

This is great. I thought I was missing something, did not realize titanium is slower to heat than glass. I didn't want to switch them out to find out that the titanium heaters can't keep up and I kill everything. So, Glass is generally more efficient and capable of heating more faster. Titanium is safer from electrical disasters. That helps a lot. I think on top of marine biology, plumbing, and chemistry I now need a degree in thermal conductors.

How far are we away from having a astro physics or rocket science degree?

 

[lefkonj]

I have heaters in my tank but that is because our power grid is third world here in NJ. The heaters aren't really used except when power goes and we lose heat. I do have a generator but I plan for the worst so heaters it is, titanium with a controller.

 

[mdb_talon]

if your heater flat out fails (stops heating all together) the tank will not get colder than the air around it.

Actually in time the water will be colder than the air. How much depends mosly on humidity levels.

 

[Greybeard]

I like Finnex... their TH line, with no built in controller. Haven't been able to trust a cheap heater's thermostat since coming home to find a tank of fish soup way back in the 80's.

One Finnex TH 500w is sufficient in keeping my ~150g system about 8f above normal ambient room temp.

That tube is plugged into a Bayite heater controller, with the Bayite plugged into an Apex outlet as a backup.

I, too, replace the tube every 2 years, and the controller every 4. Just switched from Inkbird to Bayite. Much happier with the Bayite. Holds +/- 0.1f. IMHO, the design is easier to mount, no dangling plugs...

 

[BZOFIQ]

It all greatly depends on how cold the room the tank is in gets. I keep mine in the basement where during winter months it drops right below 60 at night. That's 18+ degree differential between room and desired tank temperature.

Ok, I re-read the question

I use Jager heaters because every one of the finnex failed on me. Surprisingly enough, I had one over a decade ago that worked for 6 years without skipping a beat, until I drained a sump without thinking the heater was still plugged it......dang what's that smell!?!?!?

 

[ca1ore]

This is great. I thought I was missing something, did not realize titanium is slower to heat than glass. I didn't want to switch them out to find out that the titanium heaters can't keep up and I kill everything. So, Glass is generally more efficient and capable of heating more faster. Titanium is safer from electrical disasters. That helps a lot. I think on top of marine biology, plumbing, and chemistry I now need a degree in thermal conductors.

How far are we away from having a astro physics or rocket science degree?

All the wattage from a resistive heater ends up in your water, regardless of the actual heater body material. Not sure who came up with that pseudoscience gem.

I do agree that heater sizing IS all over the place. Partly because there are factors beyond the control of the heater manufacturer. What ambient do you keep your room at? What’s the ratio of volume to surface area? What material/thickness is the tank made from? Do you use a cover on your tank? All of these will influence the required wattage. For example, I use 1200 watts on my 600 gallon system. Same as my prior 400 gallon system. Difference is that the old system was 1/2” glass, the newer one 1” acrylic. No mystery really.

 

[KStatefan]

All the wattage from a resistive heater ends up in your water, regardless of the actual heater body material. Not sure who came up with that pseudoscience gem.

And it is backwards pseudoscience Themal Conductivity of Titanium is around 20 W/(m K) and Glass is around 1 W/(m K).

 

[Treefer32]

The display is 3/4" Glass, no lids, just screen covers with surface agitation from two FX350 Gyres mounted 1" below the surface of the water. The sump is a 75 gallon glass, on a 1/2" sheet of plywood that is on the concrete floor of my basement. The sump is open top with large skimmer and turf scrubber. The furnace room where the tank is, typically is 2-4 degrees warmer than the rest of the house due to humidity and the dehumidifier that runs 24/7. It puts out a lot of warm air and despite evaporation probably raises the ambient temp to help the tank. The heat / AC of the house is usually set at 68 during the day and around 66 at night. So, the furnace room is around 66-72 degrees throughout a 24 hour period.

I was looking at the Helio Titanium Heating system, which, is crazy to think I need double what I'm using right now according to the chart below. Two elements at 500 w each is only 170-250 gallons? With my system around 350 does that put me at 2 x 600W? I was thinking based on what I use now 2X 350W would be 20% more than I have now and suffice. But based on the rating of 100-170 gallons @ 10 degree rise. That's half my volume. Hense my confusion. . . My Finnex are not running constantly now. Monitored with two separate Finnex Controllers and Apex temp probe. Heck, I've done an 100 gallon water change with room temperature (67 degree water) and the tank lowered to 69, but within 1 hour it was back up to 75 with my two little Finnex heaters that could. The fish got a little cold, but were fine.

Helio PTC Smart Heaters

The new definition of Smart, Safe & Stable heating. The Helio line from Innovative Marine are a new line of aquarium heaters utilizing advanced PTC (positive temperature coefficient) technology to exceed current reef aquarium heater standards for improved safety and reliability. Unlike...

www.marinedepot.com

Suggested Model by Aquarium Size (Double Element)​
HELIO 200 Watt [2 x 100W]	25 - 50 Gallons*
HELIO 400 Watt [2 x 200W]	50 - 100 Gallons*
HELIO 700 Watt [2 x 350W]	100 - 170 Gallons*
HELIO 1000 Watt [2x 500W]	170 - 250 Gallons*

*Chart guideline ratings based on +10°F water temperature increase from current ambient temperature.

 

[Greg P]

All the wattage from a resistive heater ends up in your water, regardless of the actual heater body material. Not sure who came up with that pseudoscience gem.

I think it's my fault due to poor wording ..

 

[Oberst Hajj]

I like Finnex... their TH line, with no built in controller. Haven't been able to trust a cheap heater's thermostat since coming home to find a tank of fish soup way back in the 80's.

One Finnex TH 500w is sufficient in keeping my ~150g system about 8f above normal ambient room temp.

That tube is plugged into a Bayite heater controller, with the Bayite plugged into an Apex outlet as a backup.

I, too, replace the tube every 2 years, and the controller every 4. Just switched from Inkbird to Bayite. Much happier with the Bayite. Holds +/- 0.1f. IMHO, the design is easier to mount, no dangling plugs...

Which model of Bayite are you using?