What kind of heaters do you use on your large tanks?

[Nanook]

I am interested to see if anyone with very large tanks is using heaters other than those commonly used with smaller tanks, ie: Ebo, Won, etc.

Is anyone here using more expensive, industrial-type heaters?

Thanks,

Nanook

[discocarp]

I looked into these in depth. Aquatic eco systems has big 220V titanium heaters, but I found multiple 500 watt won-pros to be cheaper. They also have some gas powered heaters and titanium heat exchangers for them, I looked into these as well.

My big problem is I have no idea how much heat I need (125g in house, 235g sump on porch) and have gotten WILDLY varying advice from different sources. I opted for 4x500W won-pros in the sump and 1 300W won-pro in the tank, with a lot of insulation around and under the sump. I'm prepared to buy the gas heater if the need arises, but I'm not quite sure what happens if I run out of gas, or how to test the amount of gas in a propane tank to even know if I'm getting low.

Peter

[1234]

I know some to use the "fire plug" type heater forgot how many watts but I'm sure it a lot :D

[sabodish]

ive been tryin to get my hands on a fireplug for a month now..with aquanetics out of business, its almost impossible to find one..i believe they made a 1000 watt version..

ill post what i find for tanks our size, so far the only options are the large won pro heats which seem to be hit or miss...
-mike

[discocarp]

Checl out Aquatic Eco Systems (http://aquaticeco.com). They have a large selection of larger titanium heaters in very large sizes.

Peter

[minfinger]

OK, that web page is killer!!!

I know these are the giant heaters those guys were selling, but I've always ordered heaters from this site and gotten good service.
http://www.petguys.com/fish-stuff-heaters.html

Their 250W EBO's are only $16.99. For the price, multiples is not a bad idea, esp if you spread them out in the system and you will always have backups.

[dgasmd]

I have 1800 watt of heater in my sump. 1000 watt consist of titatium heater connected to my ranco temp controller. They are on at full blast and the temp cntroller regulates when to come on and off. They are 2x350 watt + one 300 watt. Then, I have a 500 watt titanium and a 300 watt titanium with their own controllers by thenselves. Redundancy and cheap.

[MAS]

I use L bayonet style 220 volt Titanium heaters for my own larger personal tanks. If your going to invest money in a large tank, might as well invest a few extra bucks into the proper heating system as well. I sure wouldnt want to rely on your typical "petco grade" hobbyist heaters.

[discocarp]

What size tanks are you running MAS and what size heaters do you run on those tanks? Also, what air temp is the room at the coldest?

Peter

[TJG]

I have heard alot of good things about the "cord" style heaters from ppl ThaT are doing the FW planted tanks. I have never personally tried them, but if I was to set up another discus tank I would def. try one.

I did have a larger system running a fire plug never had a prob with it.

[MAS]

discocarp: My 2 largest tanks are a 240g and a 480g. Bth use commercial titanium heaters. the 240g uses a 500 watt unit, and the 480g uses a 1000 watt unit. Both tanks are acrylic so maintaining a stable temp. is real easy, so Im able to use smaller heaters effectively. I also run a 2000 watt unit for my store's setup(about 1500g worth).

[discocarp]

MAS: Thanks for the info. How cold is the room temp on a typical "coldest" day?

TJG: By cord do you mean the undergravel heaters? These really only have any usefulness in a planted FW setup. The idea is to keep the root zone warmer than the water, so you get constant currents from the heat differential keeping the root zone aerated (and there is some evidence that plants grow better with a warmer root zone). This is highly debated though. Myself and many, many others have setup planted tanks without them with great success.

Peter

[MAS]

Since the house has central air, the temp year round stays between 68-72 degrees F.

[uryy4me]

I've got 2 500w titanium heaters on controllers in my sump (sitting an a cold Minnesota basement slab). I've got one heater set to kick in @ 76 and a backup set @ 74. So far the one 74 has never come on and the the one @ 76 only seems to come on when I do large water changes (I don't preheat the seawater). My house temp is kept between 63-66 so I guess my primary source of heat are my halides.

[discocarp]

MAS: Thanks for the info.

uryy4me: What's your system's volume?

Peter

[ChrisB]

I was wondering if I could get someone with the WON titanium heaters to do an experiment for me. If your tank/sump is on concrete, take off your shoes and socks and stick your finger (just one) in the tank. If you have a cut on your finger stick that one in. May sound like a strange request, but I have two WON tit. heaters and both of them give me a low voltage shock (kinda like sticking your tongue to a 9v battery) each time I stick my finger in the tank when barefooted(it only happens with the fingers I have cuts on). I never would have discovered this if I hadn't gone to the basement barefooted. Anyway, if your up to it, I would be interested in hearing what happens. Theoretically there shouldn't be any problem doing this right?

[discocarp]

I stick my hands into tanks with won-pro's while barefoot all the time. I have ceramic tile in the house, and concrete on the porch. Never a shock.

Now when I had RIOs in the tanks... ZAP ZAP :eek1:

Peter

[uryy4me]

Originally posted by discocarp
uryy4me: What's your system's volume?


~ 450 gallons

[eruss]

I'm running two WON 350w titanium heaters in my sump. I keep my tank at 80 degrees and the heaters have no problem keeping up. And no...they don't run constantly. I'm sure the halides help out during the photo-period but even when the lights are out the heaters don't burn constantly. House thermostat is 68 during the evenings and 62 most other times.

[oceanarus]

I've used this (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=3917&Ne=40000&R=5727&N=2004+112984) heater in a 300 gal indoor pond that is in an unheated room and it had no probs keeping the temp 80F year round. It's realy cool to see it come on in the dark, the whole thing glows.

[Zigzag Man]

ChrisB said:
May sound like a strange request, but I have two WON tit. heaters and both of them give me a low voltage shock (kinda like sticking your tongue to a 9v battery) each time I stick my finger in the tank when barefooted(it only happens with the fingers I have cuts on).
I also had this problem for a while, and it turned out to not be the Titanium heater after all... it was that my PC ballasts weren't grounded properly.
It's my hunch that the titanium heater is acting like a huge grounding probe whenever there's stray electricity in the tank... fixing the ground problem got rid of the 'shock' I was getting... and like you, it only affected my hand if it had a cut or hangnail.
HTH.

[dragon_slayer]

on my 180g with a total system volume of 250 gallon i use 1300w of indirect heating called MH lighting. keeps the tank at a constant 80-82* year round. this time of year i let the house temp drop to 60* and in the summer i try to keep it mid to low 70's.

hth
kc

[ChrisB]

When I went thru the process of elimination to find the problem, I ended up with the heater being the only electrical device connected in any way to the tank. I have a co-worker that is an electrical genius, I am going to let him make the final call on it. I am still using it for the moment till my replacement gets here. Doesn't seem to be affecting anything.

[cat23]

Maybe you can help me here. How many watts per gallon do you need? I currently have a 125 gallon and am in the process of building a 215 in the wall tank. I use a titanium heater in the sump and I also have 2 220 watt ebbo jaggers in the overflows. It seems to me that the specs are not always true on the heaters. The titanium heaters don't seem to put out as much heat as the ebbo jaggers, but I like the titaniums in the sump. Would like to get rid of the ones in the overflows.

When I set up the 215, I'll need 2 heaters.

Since I am going to have to buy alot of equipment again, I'd like to do it once! Have too many mistakes laying around that I'd like to get rid of already.

[uryy4me]

I'd always opt for at least 2 if for no other reason failover.

Part of your heating requirements are based on ambient temperature, the ability of the tank to maintain heat and the temperature you want to keep it at. I think if you invest in quality heaters w/ controllers you will not be making a mistake

[MAS]

CAT: Id do a pair of 350 watt heaters for a 215.

MAS

[tlp]

I use a titanium heat exchanger fitted with two loops, one through a gas heating boiler for heat, and the other goes down in the ground as a cooling loop.

[Bluecheese]

So MAs would you say about 300 W per 100 Gallon?
I have a 360, just about to plug it in, and right now the 125G sump is running with two 300 W. so when I open the valve I shoudl ahave another 350W in sump or tank? I'll have about 1200 W of MH so there shoudl be some heat in there...