Heating tank in basement

Jasper05

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This is my first tank and it will be a 40 breeder with a 20 gal sump. My plan is to have the tank in a finished area of the basement, approx 450 sqft. The only heating source I have down there is a 1500 w electric fireplace which I only turn on if someone is down there. I am in NY so the finished area gets down to about 59-60 at its coldest and maybe up to 76 in the hottest part of summer.

Does anyone have heater recommendations for the tank?
 

Reefnoobz90

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Since your trying to keep the tank about 20 degrees above the room temp i'd go with something like a 300w heater. Or two 200w heaters for redundancy
 

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With the tank in the basement @ those temperatures I would try to insulate the bottom of the tank & sump.
Even the sides if you are not there often. 2 heaters just in case & on a controller. Eheim is a good brand.
 
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Jasper05

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With the tank in the basement @ those temperatures I would try to insulate the bottom of the tank & sump.
Even the sides if you are not there often. 2 heaters just in case & on a controller. Eheim is a good brand.
When I build the stand I was thinking of batt insulation on the bottom and then plywood on top, where the sump sits. How would I go about insulating the sump and tank? Would insulating the plumbing be overkill?

And 2 heaters... I am assuming running them concurrently, and not one set lower as a fail safe? And I am also assuming I should get 2 controllers then if they are running concurrent.

Also FWIW, the flooring is vinyl planks, the kind where each plank has its own rubber, or what the material is, padding
 

Waters

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Where is your house furnace located? I ask out of curiosity.....I thought basements held the furnaces most of the time, which would make heating the basement pretty easy.
 

Snoopy 67

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This will handle 8 amps, enough so 2 heaters can be plugged into a single outlet with a splitter cable.
Batt insulation will help, so would Styrofoam, you could paint it black to put on the back & sides.
A 20 degree difference is a lot to contend with.
 
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Jasper05

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Where is your house furnace located? I ask out of curiosity.....I thought basements held the furnaces most of the time, which would make heating the basement pretty easy.
I'll take a picture of the lay out, but it's on the other side of the wall. Kind of diagonal to the space
 
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Jasper05

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This will handle 8 amps, enough so 2 heaters can be plugged into a single outlet with a splitter cable.
Thanks for the link. I'll investigate. I may have more questions.

Batt insulation will help, so would Styrofoam, you could paint it black to put on the back & sides.
A 20 degree difference is a lot to contend with.
Yeah I was thinking it may be a big difference. I really dont have wall space upstairs (I have a ranch style home with living, dining, and kitchen basically one room - all open). So I am hoping this can work as it's my only option. I wouldnt put styrofoam directly under the sump though, between the plywood and sump bottom?

Another thought with insulating the tank itself... I am building a 46 inch stand for a 36 inch tank. I can maybe build side wall surrounds (lack of a better term) and put insulation in there. And then maybe I can build a canopy and have that sit on the tank and the side wall surrounds (5 inches on each side)
 

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x2 150 watt or x2 200 watt should be more than sufficient. We kept an 80 gallon system on an exterior basement wall using a single 150 watt Eheim heater. We have since upgraded the system to approx. 425 gallons in the basement & now use x4 Eheim heaters. I did have one of the Eheim heaters fail after about 3 months (it would not turn on), & they replaced it at no charge within a few days. I would buy them again.

It's better to use two for redundancy along with a controller (I use Inkbird), & calibrate them to 1-2 degrees above the target temp. For example, set the Inkbird to turn off at 80 degF, and the heaters to turn off at 81 degF. This way, if for some reason the Inkbird fails to turn off, the internal thermostates will turn them off. Make sure the 'on' lights are visible in the sump so you can see that all devices are running properly. This gives you protection in the event that a heater either fails to turn on, or the controller / thermostate fails to turn them off. I've had both types of failures in the past four years.
 
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Jasper05

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Here is the space. Behind me is more finished space, a 6 × 11 hall that leads to the furnace and washer/dryer.

If you see where the "kitchen" is, that's where I want the tank. I have a lot of demo in front of me to get the kitchen out.
0408201127.jpg
 
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Jasper05

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x2 150 watt or x2 200 watt should be more than sufficient. We kept an 80 gallon system on an exterior basement wall using a single 150 watt Eheim heater. We have since upgraded the system to approx. 425 gallons in the basement & now use x4 Eheim heaters. I did have one of the Eheim heaters fail after about 3 months (it would not turn on), & they replaced it at no charge within a few days. I would buy them again.

It's better to use two for redundancy along with a controller (I use Inkbird), & calibrate them to 1-2 degrees above the target temp. For example, set the Inkbird to turn off at 80 degF, and the heaters to turn off at 81 degF. This way, if for some reason the Inkbird fails to turn off, the internal thermostates will turn them off. Make sure the 'on' lights are visible in the sump so you can see that all devices are running properly. This gives you protection in the event that a heater either fails to turn on, or the controller / thermostate fails to turn them off. I've had both types of failures in the past four years.
Thanks for sharing your experience. This encourages me. Definitely going with the 2 heaters now. Probably 200 w.
What inkbird controllers do you use? I'm guessing I will have 2? I was interested in the Wi-Fi ones. The C929A got good reviews, the 306A did not.
 

R.Weller

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Thanks for sharing your experience. This encourages me. Definitely going with the 2 heaters now. Probably 200 w.
What inkbird controllers do you use? I'm guessing I will have 2? I was interested in the Wi-Fi ones. The C929A got good reviews, the 306A did not.

I love the kitchen! I have plenty of those as well.

An inside wall is always preferred, but as I mentioned, we made it work.

Re: Controller, I would only use 1. Here's what we purchased about 1 year ago:



They have a few different models & you'll need the one designed for 'wet' applications. If I recall, not all of the probes are submersible.
 
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Jasper05

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I love the kitchen! I have plenty of those as well.

An inside wall is always preferred, but as I mentioned, we made it work.

Re: Controller, I would only use 1. Here's what we purchased about 1 year ago:



They have a few different models & you'll need the one designed for 'wet' applications. If I recall, not all of the probes are submersible.

Unfortunately the only available spaces are on exterior walls. Unless I put it on the short wall you see between the stairs and couch, which would be cool because I can put equipment on the other side, but the for tank viewing purposes it is no good.

When you had the 80g, did you insulate anything?
 

Waters

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Here is the space. Behind me is more finished space, a 6 × 11 hall that leads to the furnace and washer/dryer.

If you see where the "kitchen" is, that's where I want the tank. I have a lot of demo in front of me to get the kitchen out.
0408201127.jpg
I am really surprised they (whoever finished it) didn't throw a short run of duct work from the furnace to that room. Oh well......thanks for the pic.
 
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Jasper05

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I am really surprised they (whoever finished it) didn't throw a short run of duct work from the furnace to that room. Oh well......thanks for the pic.
I should have been clearer. I have a boiler, so it's baseboard heating. Not forced air. I do have a third zone valve setup if I ever want to run pipe. Right now, I believe they still consider the whole basement unfinished and the "finished" space does not count towards my total square footage
 

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Unfortunately the only available spaces are on exterior walls. Unless I put it on the short wall you see between the stairs and couch, which would be cool because I can put equipment on the other side, but the for tank viewing purposes it is no good.

When you had the 80g, did you insulate anything?

Nothing was insulated. The room temp is between 62 - 64 degF in the winter (furnace at 68). You won't have any issue using dual heaters. I would buy a third (they sell them in a 3pk on Amazon) just in case you lose one. We used only 1 150watt heater & it did the job for 2 years for all 80 gallons.

It seems like forever ago when we had this. Converted from freshwater to saltwater.
2018 - Gen2 - Build 1.JPG
 

Waters

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I should have been clearer. I have a boiler, so it's baseboard heating. Not forced air. I do have a third zone valve setup if I ever want to run pipe. Right now, I believe they still consider the whole basement unfinished and the "finished" space does not count towards my total square footage
Ahhhh, ok. That makes sense.
 

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