Keeping a heater in the back AIO chambers

[Mcdonalds]

I need my lid to fit tighter as I have a goby coming and head that they can Make it through the smallest gaps, I have small one because if the heater wire. So I was wondering if I could keep it in the chamber with the return pump (it’s the BRS heater). How far does it have to be from the pump, and if it’s not touching will it be ok?
-Thanks

 

[JonahDeMarco]

Yes, you can(and should) keep it in the rear chamber, but I wouldn't recommend the same chamber as your pump unless you have a good ATO. The heater needs to stay fully submerged at all times and normally the return pump chamber is the one that rises and falls wit evaporation. I'd look at your chambers to see which one stays the same level all the time and put it in that one!

 

[Mcdonalds]

Yes, you can(and should) keep it in the rear chamber, but I wouldn't recommend the same chamber as your pump unless you have a good ATO. The heater needs to stay fully submerged at all times and normally the return pump chamber is the one that rises and falls wit evaporation. I'd look at your chambers to see which one stays the same level all the time and put it in that one!

I personally want to put it into the center one, but I need to remove those media boxes from there, plus my light is in the way, any ideas for that?

 

[Auquanut]

I kept mine in the overflow chamber.

 

[Jib]

What tank do you have?

 

[Mcdonalds]

I kept mine in the overflow chamber.

That’s where Ive been keeping my carbon or filter floss, but recently I haven’t been using it as it causes a buildup of stuff on the surface of the tank

 

[Mcdonalds]

What tank do you have?

Recife aquatop 24g, it’s a cube

 

[Jib]

I can't find a scematic of what the sump area looks like on their website, but I did find this line from them.

"*We do not recommend putting the heater in the return pump chamber. If damaged is caused by the heater due to being exposed to air it will not be covered under warranty."

My AIO has three chambers in the back sump. First one is where the water overflows and goes through the media caddy with filter floss and carbon. Water then get pulled up through the second chamber which is where my two heaters are. Lastly water over flows into the third chamber where the pump is located. This is where I have my ATO and my probe for my inkbird temp controller. This set up has worked well for me.

 

[Mcdonalds]

I can't find a scematic of what the sump area looks like on their website, but I did find this line from them.

"*We do not recommend putting the heater in the return pump chamber. If damaged is caused by the heater due to being exposed to air it will not be covered under warranty."

My AIO has three chambers in the back sump. First one is where the water overflows and goes through the media caddy with filter floss and carbon. Water then get pulled up through the second chamber which is where my two heaters are. Lastly water over flows into the third chamber where the pump is located. This is where I have my ATO and my probe for my inkbird temp controller. This set has worked well for me.

So mine is a similar layout except that it has 4 chambers, our first are obviously identical, the second one leads up to my protein skimmer, the third and largest had three empty media boxes (but are obscured by my ai prime), and the 4th has the return pump

I want to have it in the one with those three boxes as they have nothing in them, but I gotta move my light then take them out. This might be what I’ll do. I appreciate it

 

[FiremistSLK]

I can't find a scematic of what the sump area looks like on their website, but I did find this line from them.

"*We do not recommend putting the heater in the return pump chamber. If damaged is caused by the heater due to being exposed to air it will not be covered under warranty."

My AIO has three chambers in the back sump. First one is where the water overflows and goes through the media caddy with filter floss and carbon. Water then get pulled up through the second chamber which is where my two heaters are. Lastly water over flows into the third chamber where the pump is located. This is where I have my ATO and my probe for my inkbird temp controller. This set up has worked well for me.

jib, This is exactly what I was thinking to do also. My Waterbox 20G AIO cube has been cycled and I added two Clown fish yesterday. Today I ordered two Aqueon PRO 50w heaters and an Inkbird wifi controler. After reading your post I will place my heaters in the center chamber. And placing the temperature probe from the Inkbird in the return pump chamber is a great idea! I also read a tip from another R2R member about using two heaters. It was recommended to not plug both heaters into the Inkbird controler. Just plug one into the controler and the other directly into another outlet. The explanation is that if both heaters are plugged into the inkbird and one heater fails, the ink bird will kill the power to BOTH heaters. This defeats the purpose of using two heaters, having one for back-up if one fails. Thanks...... JOHN

 

[exnisstech]

Mine is in the chamber next to the return on an IM20 but I only run occasional floss and no media tho so I have open space.
The temp sensor for controller I have in the display but that obviously won't work if using a cover.