Heater question?

leftyblite

Member
I'm currently setting up a 150G Fowler tank. I know I need more than 1 heater in the tank. Would 2 be sufficient? And also what size would be good?
 

cartman101

Active Member
i dont think you need 2 heater. I would get the one that fits your tank. I have my heater that i had from my 55gal in my 125gal and it does a good job at heating water up.
 

daninct

Member
Actually I use two in my 55. One primary and one as a "backup". On one hand I didn't want to have one on all the time doing all the work. One on each side would keep some balance. On the other hand if one broke I had the other already in there. My furnace broke the other day and the house was in the low 50's when I woke up. Both heaters were on and the temp was not affected for the fish.
My thought was they are cheap enough and not really ugly if placed well.
 

nytrillium

Member
I thinkthe "rule of thumb" Is 5 watts per gallon..... It is best to split the load over 2 heaters so that if one fails you still have a backup that can sustain the tank. Also if one thermostat gets stuck on and you have 2 smaller heaters it will take longer for the temp. of the water to increase.
 
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xrobbx03

Guest
all you need is one heater that is suitable for your tank. Make sure you have a couple of powerheads in your tank to circlulate the water so the heater works efficiently.
 

lepete

Member
Originally Posted by leftyblite
I'm currently setting up a 150G Fowler tank. I know I need more than 1 heater in the tank. Would 2 be sufficient? And also what size would be good?

What is the ambient temperature of the room. Theorectically, you dont need a single heater if you set your home thermostat at 80deg. On the other hand, if your tank is in a room at 60 deg, you might need a dozen.
If you need 700W of heating, get 4 - 200W instead of 2 -350W. The thing with heaters is that their bi-metal wears out redering the thermostat ineffective. The bi-metal is the thing that measures the temperature of the water. They will either stick on or off given time. It is better to have 1 200W sticking than 1 350W sticking.
I had my 100W heater stuck on in a 10 gallon. Raised the to 90Deg for 24 hours. Luckily, it was down the 65deg basement.
 

trainfever

Active Member
Whether you go with one heater or two, make sure you buy a titanium one. Youll never have to worry about it breaking. They cost more than the glass ones but youll never break a tube and you dont have to worry about putting a hot heater back in the water and breaking. You can put a hot titanium heater in and out of water all day long and it wont break. And instead of buying two heaters, buy a heater that is rated bigger than your tank.
 

leftyblite

Member
Thanks everyone for the advice. My LFS recommended titanium heaters too, but I wanted to check here before buying. My LFS also recommended buying 2 heaters rated for 100G each and then putting one at each end of the tank.
 
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