[Guns286]

I currently have one of the hang-in-tank submersible heaters. It works fine but when I re-do the tank I want as little equipment as possible visible in the tank. I have a Fluval 405 canister filter. Can anyone recommend a good in-line heater? I saw a few on e-bay and the "buy it now" prices range from $40 to $70 dollars. I dont want to spend a ton of money but I want a good one. I also notice that the watt range was 110w to 350w. Does the wattage depend on the size of the tank? I have a 75g.

 

[invert1]

Can't recommend to you a brand but I've been looking at Hydor ETH 301 and the Rena Smartfilter as options on mine. The way the wattage works is this - the higher the wattage the faster the heating of a large volume of water, so if you have a 50W heater on a 75G, chances are it will be inadequate.

The way to think about it is, let's say you have 20G, at 100W might be adequate to maintain a 77 temperature if the room is at 76 or 75, but if the room is 70 then you'll need a much larger heater to maintain that temperature. So net net, the rec I would make is that 200W is probably necessary for 30G, 300W for 45G etc. so I'd probably do a 300W in-line and then maybe an additional heater as well. But that assumes that in-line heaters have the same efficiency as submersibles. If in-lines are more efficient (which I would assume they are), then 300W might be adequate for your setup, assuming a not-too-great temp differential with the ambient room temperature.

 

[Guns286]

Thanks Invert, that makes sense. One of the ones I was looking at on ebay is the Hydor ETH 301. As far as the watts, I guess I'll try the 300w and see how it does. I wont get rid of my submersable, just incase.

 

[gheitman]

I've used the ETH 201 on a Rena xP1 although I now use the Smartheater 150W on both of my tanks that have xP1 canister filters. I found it to be very reliable and more than adequate for heating my 30g tank. A good rule of thumb when getting a heater is that the wattage should be 5x the tank volume. Since 300W is the biggest inline heater Hydor makes (and it is recommended for tanks up to 80g) I would definitely recommend keeping your existing heater in the tank and putting it at the opposite end from the outflow of your canister filter so that the tank is evenly heated.

 

[eyebeatbadgers]

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/59600-simple-co2-reactor-inline-heater.html

Make your own using the heater you already have.

 

[fox]

I use two Hydor 300W inline on a 220G tank and they are more than enough to keep the tank at 80°f here in North East. Would be way overkill if I was in a warmer climate.

I've always gone by the 2x - 3x rule with heaters this way if one fails on you which is what they do you don't cook the fish which is what happens. Too large a heater and they cycle on/ off quickly, this cycling is what wears out and sooner or later they just stay on ... too low a heater and it cycles less or stays on longer and its life will be somewhat longer. 300W is a bit much for a 75G tank if you are the cautious sort.

Better yet get one of those controllers and turn that 300W heater all the way up, then they never cycle and are controlled by the controller. roud:

 

[Lnb]

I have Hydor inline heaters on all my tanks except for the canister that sits directly next to my baseboard heat.

They work well! A 300w will cost you about $55.

 

[ChineseSnooker]

Someone should start a group buy for the hydor inline heaters, or see if there is any interest in one...(make a thread someone)

 

[Nitroholic]

in for groupbuy

 

[Guns286]

So Fox, you're saying that 300w might be too much for my 75g? You think I should go with the 200w? And, what "controller" are you talking about when you say let the heater be controlled by the controller?

 

[fox]

I have had heaters go in the past so I like to use two smaller heaters on a larger tank than one adequate sized heater. 300W should be able to handle up to 90G. What I was saying was get the 300W heater and use a temperature controller or use two smaller heaters so if one goes bad you don't get into the 90°'s.


The Temperature Controllers sold at Jehmco are pretty good, if you want to check them out here is a link:
http://www.jehmco.com/html/temperature_controller.html

 

[PDX-PLT]

I have a Hydor ETH 300W on my 90 gallon, and it works very well. No problem keeping the tank at 84 degrees.

Besides being an inline heater, I really like the quality of their design. People have failures in heaters, mostly because they are designed so cheaply. The temperature control in most of them is a cheap, simple bimetal contact, which is supposed to both sense the temperature and switch the current off and on - it has eventual failure practically designed in. In contrast, the Hydor ETH's have a separate electronic thermostat and a relay to switch the heating current on and off - a much better design.

Note that there two different sizes of the 200W ETH - one for 1/2" ID tubing, and the other for 5/8" tubing. The 300W is for 5/8" ID tubing.

 

[JamieH]

i just installed a hydor 300 external heater on my 240litre tank / eheim 2217 filter


super happy with it .

 

[Guns286]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I think I have a good idea of what I'm going to do. The Hydor 300w looks like its the way to go. I really like Fox's idea of a "failsafe" but, at least for now, I'm going to hold off on getting the seperate controller. Its one of those things that is a great idea to have but is'nt absolutely necessary. For now I have to stick with the necessary. Thanks again guys.

 

[Black Hills Tj]

I have Hydor inline heaters on all my tanks except for the canister that sits directly next to my baseboard heat.

They work well! A 300w will cost you about $55.

I run a Hydor inline on my 75 gallon tank, and I really like it.