Turn UP the HEAT or BUY MORE HEATERS?!

[Aheinz]

I over equipped heaters to an extent trying to have the double safety but I also prefer having more to spread the work load of the heaters

 

[mdb_talon]

my tank is solidly 8 degrees F above ambient, pretty sure my heater doesnt even turn on (have its set to 76 and tank is consistently 78). So if tank temp falls its because ambient fell, so I just turn up heat in house

Do you use glass lids and MH? Trying to figure out how you are getting water temp 8 degrees above ambient air temp without heater.

 

[JNalley]

Do you use glass lids and MH? Trying to figure out how you are getting water temp 8 degrees above ambient air temp without heater.

plastic lid that came with the tank, LED lighting that sits 3" our less off the surface of the water. I literally today put on a mesh lid and AI Prime HD's 8" above the water and expect things to change slightly... will keep you posted of you want, just PM me.

 

[Dburr1014]

100 gallon total water volume between the sump and display.
I have a 250 watt in the sump and a 200 watt in the tank. The temp stays constant all year. The sump is in the basement. No need to change the temp at all. I do have a backup 250 ready to go if needed.

 

[JNalley]

Do you use glass lids and MH? Trying to figure out how you are getting water temp 8 degrees above ambient air temp without heater.

Today I awoke to the tank at 76.2 which tells me my heater has definitely kicked on to help keep the tank temp. The LED Lightbar sat inside of the Plastic lid which is what I attributed to most of the heat (pumps and others a little bit too but not nearly as much as that light fixture)

 

[Greybeard]

'If you notice temp trending down'. I don't. Unless you don't have enough heater to keep up, you shouldn't either. If I did, I'd add more heater wattage, via a new higher power heater, or additional heaters.

Pt 2: I run one heater. Finnex TH 800W, attached to a Bayite heater controller, which is in turn plugged into an apex outlet, which has its own temp probe, acting as a master shut off in case the tank temp rises. Total tank volume, about 150 gallons.

 

[sarcophytonIndy]

For my 125, I have two cheap (can't even remember the brand) 200W heaters that I got a petco. I use my Apex to control them. I have done a lot of failure testing on my system. If both heaters and the Apex fail in the ON position, my tank temp maxes out at 82. If one or both heaters fail stuck ON, the Apex will catch it, so no issue. If one heater fails stuck OFF, the temp drops to about 75. If both heaters fail or the Apex fails in the OFF position, the temp drops to 70 (which the ambient temp of the room).

Below is normal condition with the Apex using the program below

Fallback ON
Set ON
If Temp > 77.4 Then OFF
Min Time 010:00 Then ON
Min Time 010:00 Then OFF

 

[Operation Philo Beddoe]

The QOTD was inspired by this thread!

Today let's talk about heaters, heaters and more heaters for your aquarium! But not just for your aquarium but for your aquarium DURING the winter! So winter comes, it cools down outside and inside and it takes more watts to keep all that water warm! So what do you do? Turn the heaters up, turn the house heat up or buy another heater? Let's talk about it!

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?

2. How many heaters do you run, how many total watts, and how many gallons of water do you have to heat?

Great Topic. I laugh at the $100 heaters and myself for ever buying them. The Tetra HT-30 is a 100 Watt heater, I just add them until I have enough wattage. Last month on Amazon they were less than $12. I have 3- 50 gallon tanks, a 30 gal and a 400. The 400 doesn't have water and I do live in Phoenix Arizona so...yeah. But seriously try to tell me I'm wrong at $10 per 100w of heat. They last 3 years EASY and when they go wrong its only 100watts at a time. For the record I've only thrown away 2 for having moisture inside the glass and I've used many.

 

[Operation Philo Beddoe]

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

how many logs you putting on the fire up there bro Do you live above a foundry?

 

[Sonor]

1. I have never noticed my water temp trend down. the only time the heaters ever come on is in the winter months. My display has been operating for 11 years now.
2. I run 2X 300 watt heaters set for the same temp and back it up with heater controller and apex. I also have 2 backup heaters in case of failure, (Not in the system just on standby). My Tank is 200 gallons.

 

[KrisReef]

About 200 gallons and roughly 7,500 W of heaters. I have a lot of...redundancy.

Edit: most of the heaters are sitting in boxes unused. I literally have boxes and boxes of new Fluval E heaters that I sometimes give out as gifts. I have a 1 x 500W IM Helio PTC heating my main 125 gal tank (with the 2nd 500W heating element sitting in the box). Smaller QT tanks have a single Fluval E or old-style Aqueon Pro.

Sweet! How do I get on that gift list?

 

[nicksreefs]

Use the same principle as with hifis... over powered and underworked!

I run two heaters per tank regardless, (2 x 100w in the big tanks and 2 x 50w in the small tank) placed by the wave makers at opposite ends of the tank. I do this to get even heat across the tank and as a basic redundancy.

Each heater is flanked by a thermometer... bit pointless really as I had a heater fail and only noticed as the little light didn't come on

My house doesn't change in temp much even though its an old Victorian house. Mostly as I leave the heating on set to the same temp, all day, everyday as it's actually cheaper than setting on and off periods during the day (brick house, thermal mass, blah blah blah).

Oh and living in England the house getting too hot isn't really an issue but keep 1 bottle of frozen RO in the freezer per tank in case of heatwaves

 

[schooncw]

I live in a condo and do not run heaters in my 120. The temp stays stable and depending on the time of year, temp fluctuates between 75-80.
Avoidance of dramatic swings is the key.

 

[rockdiver]

I keep them right where they are at. Actually with the house heat I have to watch the tanks more then in the summer lol

 

[MiniCoco]

If you think your way through the question, turning up an existing heater when it is already not providing enough heat will do absolutely nothing. You have to add another heat source. So I chose adding another heater. Turning up the heat for the whole house will help, but at a higher cost. You could go old school and pull out the Metal Halides if you still have them in a closet somewhere.

 

[Richsoar]

Won't or shouldn't happen, I always use the next size larger than what is recommended for the volume of the tank so the water temp should not decrease. My Electric Bill might on the rise.

 

[RickSanford]

None of the above. With twin heaters - each sized to heat the entire tank - and the GHL Profilux 4 controller, the temperature in my tank never changes between summer and winter. The heaters do run longer in the winter but I never have to adjust their internal setting (which is set two degrees above the software setting in the GHL.

 

[TWiSTEDSOCiETY]

Apex and BRS heater controller with dual heaters sized for my tank. It never fluctuates from 77/7 - 78.39 in my apex temp sensor readings. If the BRS controller breaks, then the Apex shuts the whole outlet off and a backup heater turns on. If the house and gear is keeping it warm then a fan kicks on in the sump till it falls below.

 

[Breadman03]

Thanks to my Apex season table, my tank temp shifts several degrees between summer and winter. I now have two temperature alarms, the default one linked with the temperature display settings, and another linked to my seasonal temp and is set for plus or minus 1 degree away from the seasonal setting. My daily temp swing is usually under 0.5 degrees.

 

[StevenHasCoral]

Buy more or buy a bigger one