need some help on heating a 400 please

[dominic]

this is my prb .it is in the basement which is cold, my new house is so big that the heat is zoned for 3 floors,but i rarely put the basement zone on because i am flying through oil this year 3 tanks already my wife is ready to move, and we just got here,but i need to know how many and what type and wattage,to keep this tank temp at 79 to 80 and not run 24 hours a day mabey 2 1000 watt heaters?

[pch90265]

Dominic,

The basic formula for heat is: 4W-to-8W/per gallon/per 9deg of difference between ambient temp and target temp. The low draw of 4W represents a well insulated tank -- acrylic or thick glass (like your 400 will have) and the higher draw of 8W represents smaller tanks (think 1/4" glass on a 10G nano.) So, if your room is 50 (COLD,) and you want your tank at 77, you would multiply 12*400G = 4800W. If you can raise your ambient temp to ~65, then you only need around 2000W of heater. So, you have to decide which is more expensive; a dedicated 220V circuit and a 5000W heater, or heating oil?

I'm running a large submersible heater from Aquatic Ecosystems. They specialize in aquaculture supply, but sell to the general public. They have a pretty extensive line of heater options. For my system, which will come in around 480G running volume (as opposed to theoretical volume of each container) when the display is up in January, I'm running a 1800W/120V single unit. They also make 220V units that go up into the 2000-4000W range. I keep my basement between 60 and 65 here in CO (where it was -11 yesterday) and still haven't seen temps this puppy can't handle on the 250G I have running currently (sump and fuge.) I figure that when I get the display cranking, I may need another 1000W heater to be safe.

IMHO, you are better off going with a good sized commercial unit rather than a bunch of little consumer units. That class of unit is meant to have MTBF ratings in the years rather than months...

Another option if you are also looking for a chiller for summer is to look at a "heat pump." When I had my 600G display up in CA (1000G of running volume) I used one of these bad boys. It's basically a bi-directional chiller -- it can extract heat from the refrigerant when the water is too hot, and it applies heat to the refrigerant when the water is too cold. AE will also have these units listed from the likes of AquaLogic.

Hope that helps...

--Sean--

[dominic]

up thanks for the info ,anyone else

[slave-of-rock]

Buy a couple thousand lighters and come up with a contrapsion to have them lit under the tank to keep it warm. Or hire a bunch of people to chain smoke under your tank, there lighters should keep it warm enough.

[dominic]

mabey that would work on a little 90 gal

[aquadog]

I am using 5 300w Ebo jagers on my 400 gallon reef which is actually a 600 gallon sytem. They are rarely on and only at night. The extra 200 gallons is in my basement which has not been a problem. If your whole system is in the basement you might need more. Just trying to give you a ballpark.

[dominic]

thanks i think i will start with 4 -500w

[nitdjg]

that will work good! try to space them out in your system. one in your overflow one in your sump? ect,ect,ect anywhere there is good flow!

[aquadog]

Good plan. You may need to get a controller if you want them all in your sump. That way they can all be next to each other and you would not have to worry about setting each one individually. Good luck.