Turn UP the HEAT or BUY MORE HEATERS?!

[n2585722]

Don't have the issue since the house does not get below 70 degrees.

 

[|Tom the Bomb|]

I have an opposite problem... I may need a chiller for winter

 

[bigdeeezyyyy]

Dont do anything at all thanks to @Bulk Reef Supply titanium heater and Apex! Always between 77-78 degrees!

 

[cthetoy]

My sump is in the garage and I like to keep my home on the cooler side during the winters. Electricity rate is expensive out here in California. Cost more to heat my 300g tank during the winter than cooling my tank during the summer.

I have 50 foot of pex plumbing coiled in my 100g sump which is ran through my home water heater circulated my a recirculating pump made for water heaters. Pump is controlled by my Apex which will control a Ranco Controller for dual redundancy to not overheat my tank in case one controller fails. Add an extra $20 a month to my gas bill. Much better than over $100 extra a month on electric bills. I can even keep my tank on the warm side now during the winter instead of a few degrees cooler because my electric bills was killing me during the winter.

 

[Quietman]

I plan on and manage to seasonal variations in temp. My heaters supplement the heat from my house so I'll have a 6 degree or so change between high summer and low in winter. I have three heaters, one is on all the time as a baseline (so others can be smaller) and a high and low that I adjust monthly.

 

[Kayanarka]

I have my primary heater in the tank then a supplemental in the sump. I see a lot of people go sump only with the heater, do you keep the control stat in the tank or sump? I worried abou tthe sump getiting overheated before the display caught up.

 

[Reefer Reboot]

1. If you notice your aquarium water temperature trending down during the colder months what do you do? Increase the temp on your current heater(s), turn the house heat up more, add another aquarium heater or something else?
Rejoice! Maybe, just maybe, turn the A/C off and/or close the window.

2. How many heaters do you run, how many total watts, and how many gallons of water do you have to heat?
I have two 300W Eheim JAGER Aquarium Heaters that I thought I might need for the 250 gallon system. They have never turned on and to tell you the truth, I don't even know if they work. But I did manage to get the temperature down below 77*f once (76.9*f actual ;Cold).

 

[Member No 1]

If your heaters can't keep up, then they are undersized to begin with.
I run (2) 300 watt heaters on my 120g with sump. House temp is 67-68.
The GHL P4 is set up to run heater No. 1 from 12:00am to 12:00pm, then heater No. 2 from 12:00pm to 12:00 am.
In the event that for whatever reason one heater alone can't maintain the proper temp, the heater that is currently in "standby" mode, will turn on.
This system works great, temp is maintained between 78-79F

 

[Lbrdsoxfan]

I'm in the tank needs a larger heater club. I'm running a 300w main +250w backup controlled by a Apex on my 120 gal. We get about a 5-8 degree swing house temp wise here in So. Cal during the winter months 66-74*F over 24 hours (our house mostly isn't insulated and single pane windows). I usually run the tank at 77*F and my 300w just barely keeps it there overnight. I could run the central heat/ac, but I figure the blower is pulling more draw then the 300 watt heater. Both heaters are kept in my sump, and I don't use anything extravagant for a heater brand as I've been let down by the name brand stuff, too many times.

Side question, is the efficiency really there with titanium heaters, I'm considering one to use as the new main heater?

 

[AlexG]

1. If you notice your aquarium water temperature trending down during the colder months what do you do? Increase the temp on your current heater(s), turn the house heat up more, add another aquarium heater or something else?
My Aquarium Temperatures are stable during the winter months because the aquarium is in the basement and because of the water volume of the system. I have never had a need to add additional heaters but I use a radiant heating system and I keep the house temp between 68-74F but the aquarium temp is set to 78. From the graph below the temp is very stable. If I ever lost the heating system for the aquarium then I would turn the temperature up in the house and if I was desperate I would use an electric aquarium heater. I no longer use electric heaters outside of heating for water changes as they are not always reliable and are very inefficient when it comes to heating large volumes of water.

2. How many heaters do you run, how many total watts, and how many gallons of water do you have to heat?
I run one radiant heating system loop through my aquarium system which is ~2100 gallons of water but that will be increasing once my display tank is finished. The radiant heating loop passes through my 50gallon natural gas hot water heater using a PEX loop with a recirculation pump and redundant temperature controllers.

 

[cthetoy]

1. If you notice your aquarium water temperature trending down during the colder months what do you do? Increase the temp on your current heater(s), turn the house heat up more, add another aquarium heater or something else?
My Aquarium Temperatures are stable during the winter months because the aquarium is in the basement and because of the water volume of the system. I have never had a need to add additional heaters but I use a radiant heating system and I keep the house temp between 68-74F but the aquarium temp is set to 78. From the graph below the temp is very stable. If I ever lost the heating system for the aquarium then I would turn the temperature up in the house and if I was desperate I would use an electric aquarium heater. I no longer use electric heaters outside of heating for water changes as they are not always reliable and are very inefficient when it comes to heating large volumes of water.

2. How many heaters do you run, how many total watts, and how many gallons of water do you have to heat?
I run one radiant heating system loop through my aquarium system which is ~2100 gallons of water but that will be increasing once my display tank is finished. The radiant heating loop passes through my 50gallon natural gas hot water heater using a PEX loop with a recirculation pump and redundant temperature controllers.

I have a similar setup. Works great. My Apex graph looks exactly like yours. Question is what is the check valve for? Even with my recirc pump off I dont see any heat leakage coming through the pex.
Also I setup my Ranco a bit differently. My Apex turns on the Ranco Controller which them turns on the the recirc pump. If my Apex temp fails then the Ranco (set two degrees higher than Apex) will turn off the recirc pump. The Ranco retains the temp settings even when its powered off.

 

[Creggers]

I run three Jager heaters in my 75 - two 100w in the sump and one 200w in the overflow section.

The two 100W are on a inkbird then into the apex, the 200w is direct into the apex. The 200w almost never turns on but in freezing weather it absolutely keeps the tank at a healthy temperature. For the entirety of the summer my 100s barely ever turned on.

 

[NickSc]

I live in Florida. No heaters needed. Lol

 

[Gtinnel]

1. Buy more heaters, if your current heaters can't keep the temp up running non stop increasing the temp does absolutely nothing.

2. I run two 200 or 300 watt heaters on my tank that is a total of about 130g after rocks and sand. I'm one of those people who believe in replacing heaters routinely so every year or so I put new ones in. I get whatever heater is cheap and properly sizes (both physically and wattage) for my tank.

 

[LPS Bum]

To be honest, I don't do anything. Even here in Colorado, my tanks run 76-77 in the winter and 78-79 in the summer. I think my corals do better at the lower temp range anyway. Only difference is that my heaters are on a lot more during the cooler months.

 

[RevMH]

Other. I don't have this issue. We get Cole, but the house stays fairly temperate year round.

 

[Gtinnel]

Other. I don't have this issue. We get Cole, but the house stays fairly temperate year round.

My house stays about the same temp year round, my issue is I use an outside air intake for my skimmer. The effects my tank temp a lot.

 

[Treefer32]

I want to add additional heaters, but not for this reason. Mainly because my last heater fried my fish killing 15-18 of them due to just shocking them to death.

That said, I generally keep my house around 66 at night and 69 during the day. My tank drops to around 76.1 at night and up to 78 during the day. So, if the cooler temps have any effect on the tank, it's limited. Heaters are doing a good job so far staying caught up and not lowering the overall tank temp.

 

[cyclone21]

I currently have 2 300watt heaters in my 200gal. 1 in tank and 1 in sump. No issues year round. I keep my house at 69. My tank stays 78-80..

 

[fish farmer]

I was running one heater this summer 75 watt with a ranco controller. The house is usually upper 70's during the day in the summer.

I noticed in October that the tank was running on the cool side..74 degrees F. Luckily I did have a preset 50 watt I was able to toss in while ordered a bigger heater, got it back up to 78.