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Heater Too Small - Options??

6K views 28 replies 10 participants last post by  adjax 
#1 ·
Hey guys,

So I'm just setting up a new tank and I got a 200W hydor inline heater. Not really looking into the math to make sure it would work...I'm pretty sure it's not enough to get my tank up to temp.

I have the tank in my basement and it's cold, like 12-15C (54-60F) and the heater just doesn't seem to have enough juice to get up to 26C (79F). The highest I've seen it get in the last three days is 25C (77F) but it's been close to 24C (75F) lately.

My question is, do I really have any options other than getting the 300W version?? I went with the inline to keep as much out of the tank as possible so adding a second heater wouldn't make the most sense.

Anyone have any suggestions??

Thanks for the help.

Aflac
 
#2 ·
Well if your current heater is not strong enough to do what you need it to do; and you're unwilling to supplement with a 2nd heater.....than I think you already know the answer!

Typically 3-5 watts of heater per gallon of water is recommended. But that will get you maybe 10 degrees or so higher than the ambient room temp where the tank is located. You're asking a lot from a heater if you want to bump your tank 20+ degrees Fahrenheit compared to the room temp. You could try insulating the tank walls with foam board or something. Make sure the tank is also sitting on some type of insulating material as well. Keep lids closed (or add lids if you dont already have).
 
#3 ·
As well as the above suggestions, look at ways to keep the heat in the tank and use all the sources available in the best way. One way to get more bang for the buck on filtering is to use whatever heat the filter motor creates to also heat the tank water. For instance, canister filters under a stand that is closed on the back pretty well will send heat up to heat the water 24-7 with no added expense. Invent a shield/cover to go over a HOB but let the air go from the motor to the tank and you can get some good value.
Lights above a tank put off lots of heat in some cases. So when you want that heat, enclose the lights in something like closed canopies to hold the heat on top of the water more.
Foam pipe insulation slid over the canister tubing will reduce loss just as it does on water pipes. Reduced evaporation makes reduced cooling. Cut splashing, maybe?
Thinking of ALL parts of the water as losing heat may let you see some ways to reduce that loss. Like money, it is not always obvious but KEEPING more of either is often just as good a making more!
You may be able to "invent" your way out of the situation???
 
#6 ·
A radiant space heater would work quite well. They run about $40 down here and heat a regular room fairly well. It would take a load off of the heater. Then you just pack it up in the attic or shed when winter passes and your typical aquarium heater will be fine. It has the added perk of heating the room. Lost of us keep fish tanks in the living space.
 
#7 ·
When we don't like what we have built, there are often several ways to work around the problem but they often will not be the "standard" we see sold off the shelf so we need to spend some time looking for alternates.
You've got a heater and it seems too small but then a second seemed to bring problems?
A fellow from cold weather country might have more options handy than other places but just not have thought of them as tank heat. Heat is the same, whether designed for fish tanks or water pipes.
Stand the canister in a bucket of hot water and you have heat in the tank. Lots of options that will add heat but then one has to decide what price is paid, both in labor to manage as well as lost efficiency. Metal halide lighting is not often thought of as tank heaters but few would argue with the idea that they DO heat water!!! The small digital controllers off the auction can turn lots of heat sources into something we can control. At $10-12 I use them for several different heat needs.
 
#8 ·
Something to note, the Hydor in line heaters are not rated for size of tank like the more conventional in tank heaters.
Example: Hydor ETH 200 watt is recommended for tanks where the difference of the ambient temp and desired temperature is 8 degrees 'C" or less is recommended for tanks between 26 -53 gallons.
A Eheim 200 W is recommended for tanks 79-106 gallons.
Sounds to me like the OP has not set up the tank as yet, so placement etc .is not a factor.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I think this exact marketing leads to people buying heaters either over or under rated for their tank. There are 3 main factors and all need to be considered when purchasing a heater to ensure adequacy. Ambient water temp (I personally don't use the air temp as these will be different), desired water temp and volume of water. As you listed the Eheim 200w says its rated for 79-106 gal. But I can promise you if there is a 20F difference in ambient and desired water temp this will not do the job and yet due to the marketing people will assume its good for their tank and make the purchase. The specs for the Hydor you listed is a much better indication of what a heater is capable of. But yet people will compare and buy the eheim because it says its rated for a higher volume tank. 200w is 200w the heat is the same, the difference in quality is only the quality of materials which effects life expectancy, accuracy of temp and a few other bells and whistles.

Added: I just wanted to add I know this is not what the OP was asking but I figured I would add the info into the post to help inform him and others that are reading what to consider when looking for a heater in the future.

Dan
 
#15 ·
Hey guys,

Just to follow up on this thread a bit since you all provided some great info.

The tank is a 55gal which I failed to mention on the initial post. I had a 200W Hydor which as Charlie 1 mentioned is only good for 53gal according to Hydor's sizing.

For all the other question, this tank is completely empty and just running water to make sure there are no leaks. The heater is mounted on the outlet of my Fluval 306 canister filter and no lid.

I think the fact that my basement is pretty cold doesn't help issues. We have radiant heat panels down there for the winter but they basically take the chill off instead of really heating up.

I ended up just grabbing a 300W hydor and I'll flog the other on Kijiji or I'll keep it as a backup just in case the other one fails down the road.

Again I appreciate all the responses.
 
#16 ·
It is all very much a guess at times and this is one of those where the ratings are often what I find to be on the high side. That may mean that you can go with the smaller size and be okay---or not! The whole figure will get down to how much heat is lost compared to gained so while you are in the process of setting the tank, I might suggest looking at how the tank might be made more efficient. Not real reason to pour money down the drain?
This whole question was brought out when I changed out the stand holding my daughter's tank. Moving from an open metal stand to a closed wooden stand with all the other items the same brought out a potential overheating in her house. During the summer, she lowers the tank water level a couple inches to get more splash. More splash gives more evaporation (sweat?) cooling and keeps the tank from going above 80 degrees F.
 
#18 ·
Just an update since this is starting to be a pain...

I hooked up a new 300W inline yesterday when I got home from work and cranked it up to max temp on the dial (there is only water so worst case I had super hot water) and let it run overnight and I was still only at like 19C (66) or so.

I'm going to check it when I get home and that will be a full 24 hours for it to see if it's reached temp. I'm thinking I might need to drop the 200W in as well. My basement is really cold....
 
#20 ·
theres no way you should need 500 watts of heater to heat a 55 gallon

what is the temp in your basement?

3 watts per gallon is normally enough for the average tank....I used 5 watts when I had my breeding pairs of discus and kept the water around 86F

If its truly going to take 10 watts per gallon to heat your tank you reallllly need to look into insulating your tank.

I would go buy some foam insulation board at least 1/2 inch thick. Put a layer between the tank and the stand....and wrap the back and both sides in it tightly.

Orrrrrrr.... heat your basement lol

Bump: and by the way....i know you said youre trying to eliminate equipment from inside the tank

but it would be a good idea to use two 150w heaters instead of one 300w....and use them both hooked up to a heater controller

this gives you some redundancy and protection against heater failures

set the heaters to a temp just above where you really want it.....set the controller to exactly where you want it

if one heater sticks OFF you still have some heat to keep things alive
if one heater sticks ON the controller will still shut it off and not cook your tank
if the controller sticks on....the heater will still shut themselves off before getting too hot

its not perfect but it covers a lot of scenarios

if the controller sticks off....youre screwed ... Ive never heard of one failing....although Im sure it has happened.
if both heaters stick OFF.....youre screwed
 
#22 ·
Haha that would be something if my thermometer is off. I'm running a temp controller and I have an in tank separate simple thermometer and they're both the same so I'm confident that I'm not getting there.

We'll see how it goes when I get home. I think to ensure I'm getting consistent temps I might just install the second heater anyway.

Everything was going smooth before this too.
 
#24 · (Edited)
I would say 500w may not be necessary but if you have them... why not? if anything its only going to make them work less. The watts per gallon rule is rather outdated in my opinion much like WPG in regards to lighting and I would consider this situation to not fall under normal circumstances. The ambient and desired temps are far more of a gap than normal (25F difference) and I could see 10wpg used in rare circumstances. As with all things all the variables need to be considered and this situation provides a good opportunity for debate on the subject just because of its abnormal circumstances. I would say its a prime example of why the standard WPG application is a poor way to measure requirements on its own and other factors need to be calculated into the equation.

Added: it may actually take 500w to achieve this without the heaters going 24/7 with the desired temp being 25F higher.

Dan
 
#25 ·
I agree with Dan that this is an unusual situation and that all the parts need to be considered. How much heat is needed is always one that I have to see how it works before really saying what is right. When running lots of small tanks, I often had several which ran fine with no heat at all added. But then they were also snuggled in between other tanks which were heated. As far as I have found there are NO rules which don't require a certain amount of tweaking to fit the situation on our own personal tanks.
Lights, filters, bubbles per second and almost all the other questions have answers which are not going to work using a "standard" answer. So I see no way heat will be any different when we get down to applying it to unusual tank setups.
Observe, learn, and adjust things as needed is my main method.
The biggest advantage of forums is that we can observe from a distance, learn from others, even if it their mistakes, and then we have a far better shot at adapting correctly.
 
#26 ·
Well I'm glad I could be a rare circumstance that generates so much discussion....I really just wanted to heat my tank haha.

An update to keep the discussion going.

After 24 hours with the 300W heater didn't quite get me there either although it was slightly higher than the 200W. I added in the 200W on the inlet to the filter (Fluval 306) and within 1-2 hours I had 26C (79F) and things were running smoothly. I know it's not ideal but I think with the temperature difference I need to make up in my basement(13C - 25F) there's just no real option. Either I use multiple heaters inline or in tank, or I heat my basement which isn't really an option just based on the poor HVAC setup we inherited.

I did find this calculator that doesn't put my heater requirements that far out there - http://www.kernsanalysis.com/CalcMi...PORT=WOOD&DELTAT=13&TEMPUNIT=C&.submit=Submit

RobnSonji, I love the thoughts on how to set the temperatures. I wasn't sure where the best spot to put them was but your suggestions are perfect. I had them cranked to max at the beginning to see if I could get the temp I wanted but I didn't know where to set them for every day use.

In the end, it's multiple inline heaters for now. Thanks for all the help and suggestions guys, I really appreciated it all.
 
#27 ·
Well I'm glad I could be a rare circumstance that generates so much discussion....I really just wanted to heat my tank haha.

An update to keep the discussion going.

After 24 hours with the 300W heater didn't quite get me there either although it was slightly higher than the 200W. I added in the 200W on the inlet to the filter (Fluval 306) and within 1-2 hours I had 26C (79F) and things were running smoothly. I know it's not ideal but I think with the temperature difference I need to make up in my basement(13C - 25F) there's just no real option. Either I use multiple heaters inline or in tank, or I heat my basement which isn't really an option just based on the poor HVAC setup we inherited.

I did find this calculator that doesn't put my heater requirements that far out there - Aquarium Heater Calculator: Minimum Wattage Page

RobnSonji, I love the thoughts on how to set the temperatures. I wasn't sure where the best spot to put them was but your suggestions are perfect. I had them cranked to max at the beginning to see if I could get the temp I wanted but I didn't know where to set them for every day use.

In the end, it's multiple inline heaters for now. Thanks for all the help and suggestions guys, I really appreciated it all.
450w... Its very rare to see a need for that much wattage on 55gal. infact I think its a first for me. Glad things worked out for you and hope the rest of your aquarium ventures come a little easier but I for 1 enjoyed the progress of the thread and managed to take away some knowledge.

I like that calculator too... adding to my favorites.

Dan
 
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