good heater for a pico?

[gharner]

i need a good heater for my tom deco 3 gallon. the temp goes up to about 74* during the day but then drops to about 70* at night. any suggestions?

 

[shrimpi]

what do you have in it? I think hydor makes a tiny heater but lets see what the pico people have to say.
IMO stay away from heaters if possible, they malfunction too easily.
Jess

 

[gharner]

well the tank is going to have coral frags in it as well as a temporary clean up crew. the main attraction (you'll apreciate this haha) will be a N. wennerae mantis. at least for a little while....they stay small but if he outgrows it he will move into my 12 gallon

i didnt want a heater, but at night my temp dropped down to about 70 degrees, then during the day it rises back up to about 74 degrees. i really wanted to keep the temp around 75.

 

[joebob7]

Dont get the tiny card heater (its thin and looks like a credit card) its really small but i wouldnt work for my 3 gallon. I couldn tell any difference in temp.
I have a big 50 watt heater in mine but thats just because i had that left over from another tank.

 

[blaze98]

I have a 50 watt hydor in my 2.5 gallon, it was left over from an old tank.

 

[gharner]

i actually was looking in my lfs's magazine today and found a heater that may be perfect....its a 50 watt and it is shatter proof. perfect for in a mantis tank

 

[paintballer768]

A good heater for a small tank might be a powerhead, or a 50 watt.
Would it not prevent the mantis from shattering a heater if the heater was put in the fuge/filtration area?

 

[gharner]

i dont think a heater would fit in the filter...its the tiny clear one that comes with the tank....but a small power head might work. i already have plenty of flow, my sand is gettin pushed around but i may be able to place a power head in a place where it would counter the flow and cause less sand to be moved.