heating

[grapedinox]

Just got a nice big tank 96 x 48 x 24 now my issue is heating this thing. The tank is 465 gallons and the sump is roughly 180 but of course it will only be half full, so I am looking at needing to heat a little over 500 gallons. So what is the cheapest easiest way to heat this thing. Some places say I need over 2300 watts of heat and that seems like alot. The tank is in my house at a constant temperature of 68, I need the tank to stay at around 80-82 degrees. Can anybody point me in the right direction? I do want to put the heater/heaters in the sump.

[Bud8Fan]

Your going to get a lot of different answers. I stand by this calculator although there are those that don't.

http://boonedocks.net/fishtank/ftweb.php

I'm heating my 500 gallons of water with (1) 250 watt titanium and (1) 300 watt titanium heater run by a Ranco controller.

My house temp is 68 and tank temp is 79. This summer when the house temp is 76 I will unplug the 250 watt element and just use the 300.

[Bud8Fan]

PS. Mine are in the sump also.