The "Best" Heater Setup For My New Tank Is.....???

[ScottD]

Thank you very, very much for the reassurance! I'm fairly confident in what I did. I pulled from a room on a circuit that literally gets almost no use. Right now all that's in the room is a wifi printer, so load is not an issue. I did pull from the last outlet on that circuit, and I installed a GFCI outlet at the tank. Both rooms are basic living spaces, not a bathroom or kitchen. My GFCI is functioning properly and my power strip is telling me that I have ground too. Only thing is I had to pig-tail the ground where I tapped into the existing circuit, but I think that's fine. I used all 14/2 Romex and a short piece of 12 gauge I hand on hand for the pig-tail. I think I'm good, but I really appreciate you taking a look at that

You should be good. Just double check what the breaker is. 14 gauge wire is typically only capable of 15 amps.

 

[Fish Fan]

15 amp circuit?

Yes, this is just powering my 25 gallon, not the dedicated 20 amp I want to run for my 150 gallon.

 

[Kingsley_Reef]

Yes, this is just powering my 25 gallon, not the dedicated 20 amp I want to run for my 150 gallon.

Yeah i wouldn’t worry about it your good

 

[Fish Fan]

Yes, sorry to be confusing two projects here guys, but my 25 gallon I DIY'd the electric on a 15 amp circuit with 14/2.

If/when I have a pro install and run a dedicated 20 amp for my 150, that will be 12 gauge and the appropriate 20 amp receptacle. Though I understand the process, I'm going to have a pro install the new breaker and run this cable, I'm not messing with that lol!

Yeah i wouldn’t worry about it your good

Thank you very much, really!!! I didn't get a clear answer in the other thread, it seems fine to me, but I really appreciate your time as a professional taking a look at it, I was definitely worried that I'm putting my wife and pets at risk for a fish tank. If I can do anything in return to thank you, please let me know!

 

[Kingsley_Reef]

Yes, sorry to be confusing two projects here guys, but my 25 gallon I DIY'd the electric on a 15 amp circuit with 14/2.

If/when I have a pro install and run a dedicated 20 amp for my 150, that will be 12 gauge and the appropriate 20 amp receptacle. Though I understand the process, I'm going to have a pro install the new breaker and run this cable, I'm not messing with that lol!


Thank you very much, really!!! I didn't get a clear answer in the other thread, it seems fine to me, but I really appreciate your time as a professional taking a look at it, I was definitely worried that I'm putting my wife and pets at risk for a fish tank. If I can do anything in return to thank you, please let me know!

No worries here to help i would not have gotten this far in this hobby without people giving me advice and sharing thier knowledge

 

[Fish Fan]

No worries here to help i would not have gotten this far in this hobby without people giving me advice and sharing thier knowledge

Well I value help in subjects from genuine professionals very much, and appreciate your time helping me with that off topic subject very much! It's like asking your heart surgeon brother-in-law to crack you open just because then can

 

[Fish Fan]

@*GAREEF* It's good to hear from you! Thank you for you insight and help here!

 

[ScottD]

For sure! Which is why I'd really like to get the tank on its own 20 amp circuit, and even then there's no need for 1200 watts of heater, that's too much.

About 15 years ago I ran a standard 125 on a regular 15 amp circuit with metal halide and T5 lighting and it was fine, but it was in a room where it was the only thing on the circuit. Now I'm looking at a 150, but we have to be able to charge our phones too lol!

Thanks for the help!

You’re welcome. I’m kicking that can down the road for now but it’s going to come back to me here shortly I think. Currently there isn’t much else (Tv, cable box, sound bar) being run on the circuit my tank is plugged into. Once I get my stuff out of the garage and into the workshop though I think we’re going to be moving our chest freezer and possibly getting a spare fridge which is probably going to get plugged into an outlet that is tied to our living room outlets which is where the tank is plugged into. That’s going to cause some grief. Luckily I can access the wall behind the tank from the other side. The trouble is going to be finding where I can tie into another circuit to add an outlet. Unfortunately my panel is full so can’t easily just add another circuit to it.

 

[Fish Fan]

You’re welcome. I’m kicking that can down the road for now but it’s going to come back to me here shortly I think. Currently there isn’t much else (Tv, cable box, sound bar) being run on the circuit my tank is plugged into. Once I get my stuff out of the garage and into the workshop though I think we’re going to be moving our chest freezer and possibly getting a spare fridge which is probably going to get plugged into an outlet that is tied to our living room outlets which is where the tank is plugged into. That’s going to cause some grief. Luckily I can access the wall behind the tank from the other side. The trouble is going to be finding where I can tie into another circuit to add an outlet. Unfortunately my panel is full so can’t easily just add another circuit to it.

I get it. My house was built in the 1970's with the bare minimum in labor or materials that could possibly be thrown at the job. I wasn't too concerned until I realized that my room is all on one circuit, and how many amps some things like heaters can consume. Plus, I have to leave room for TVs, a small fridge, videos games, and dare I say anyone that wants to charge a phone.

My panel has room for an extra circuit, but I'm going to let a pro add that breaker to my box while I stand behind him with a large wooden stick lol!

I wish you luck with your situation, but have to encourage you not to cut corners, and make sure it's up to code. In other words, do as I say, and not as I do

 

[*GAREEF*]

@*GAREEF* It's good to hear from you! Thank you for you insight and help here!

Thank you and you’re welcome.

 

[ScottD]

I get it. My house was built in the 1970's with the bare minimum in labor or materials that could possibly be thrown at the job. I wasn't too concerned until I realized that my room is all on one circuit, and how many amps some things like heaters can consume. Plus, I have to leave room for TVs, a small fridge, videos games, and dare I say anyone that wants to charge a phone.

My panel has room for an extra circuit, but I'm going to let a pro add that breaker to my box while I stand behind him with a large wooden stick lol!

I wish you luck with your situation, but have to encourage you not to cut corners, and make sure it's up to code. In other words, do as I say, and not as I do

Haha thanks. I have a decent understanding of the codes, and have a good idea of when I don’t know things. I also have friends that can answer questions when I don’t know something.

 

[Brett7397]

If need to figure your amps on the heater or anything else use ohms law. Watts=amps x volts (P=IE). Since we know the watts and volts it will be Current = watts ÷volts(I=P/E). 600÷120= 5 amps.

 

[Fish Fan]

If need to figure your amps on the heater or anything else use ohms law. Watts=amps x volts (P=IE). Since we know the watts and volts it will be Current = watts ÷volts(I=P/E). 600÷120= 5 amps.

Exactly, and if you run 2x600 watt heaters that 10 amps, and you only want to load a typical 15 amp circuit to about 12 amps continuous. So if you step into these 600 watt heaters, you need a real plan for your electric.

 

[reefer2/19/24]

Reefing friends, I'd appreciate some help and suggestions for a solid plan to heat an IM 25 gallon lagoon AIO I'm building to be a coral/motile invert QT tank.

Please know, the room where the tank is going to live is a lower-level, partial-basement (we have a split ranch home), and is colder than typical, so I like to have a little extra "punch" with my heaters in this room. Right now in the winter the room temp is probably about 64F, for example.

I want to use a titanium heater because it doubles as a grounding probe.

I'm open to suggestions, but I was thinking about two 100 watt BRS Titanium Elements, for a total combined 200 watts. And I'd actually buy three heaters so I have a backup on hand.

For control, I have one of the InkBird Temp controllers that will control two heaters. I'd appreciate help with the best way to set them up, for example, should one heater be set at 78F and the other at like 77F? So that one does the "heavy lifting" and the other is more of a "backup" or "supplemental"?

Furthermore, I have a RoboTank controller unit that I got used and honestly I don't know how to use it yet (I'm clueless on how to use any aquarium controller, but decent with electronics and Raspberry Pi's). I have previously been in touch with the owner of the RoboTank project, and between the two of us I'm pretty sure I can get this thing up and running. With that in mind, for those that run, for example, an Apex controller, is there not a way to use the InkBird to control my heaters but still protect the whole thing by having the Apex or RoboTank set for an even greater min/max temperature? I'm sure that made no sense, but basically you allow the relatively inexpensive InkBird controller to be going on/off all the time, with the more expensive controller power bar there only in the event of a real extreme temp swing.

Any help here would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Wow I'm in exactly the same situation as I write this. I purchased 2 brs titanium 200 watt heaters one for the sump and the other for the display. I purchased the big Inkbird and it was the wrong type and quite a headache just trying to digest the instructions. Turns out it's more for heat and humidity and crops indoors. Researching a little deeper I found the proper Inkbird and Prime dropped it off this morning so it would be great to glean any information on setup! Thank you.

 

[ajmckay]

My Lagoon 25 is in my basement and currently it's 66deg. The 150w jaeger keeps the tank at 76 just fine, however, I'm wanting to get a different heater because the jaeger is so tall it only fits in the return chamber which is no bueno.

I like the dual titanium heater option! I also use the inkbird controller so I'll have to see about using those.