Great product, that's the one I use also, with a 1000W and 500W titanum heater set for 78 degrees. Well I was using anyway. Its been so warm here that the hearter are not even on.Ranco Controller came in today. I got it from Jehmco and it came pre-wired...ready to go right out of the box. I set the controller to 78, with a 1F differential. I'm going to test it this way for a week or so then increase the differential to 2F to see if it will be cheaper to run.
I set the Jagers internal thermostat to 83 so that if the Ranco fails (stuck on) the Jager's thermostat's should shut the heaters down before overheating the tank.
View attachment 745303
View attachment 745304
haha- Yeah, that driftwood is huge. When it was soaking in the tub I had a few people ask me, "what the hell is that in your hot tub?"- lol. I think it's finally starting to leach less tannins into the tank, which I'm happy about because I don't really like the darkwater look.The Hot Tub picture is classic! Awesome Tank! Thanks for sharing.
I hate that too...that's why I didn't start this thread until about 3 or 4 months into the whole project. The plumbing took about one month alone since ball valves and certain fittings were on backorder. (BTW if anyone is looking for schedule 80 fittings or for large true union ball valves, Bulkreefsupply.com had the best prices I was able to find...by a longshot).Ok, does anyone else hate when you read a huge thread for a couple days or at least several hours.. get caught up to real life and then panic because things happen so much more slowly in real life?? I love to hate that part.
Looks great and super excited you're taking steps to warm the beast up.
lol- man, not needing heaters in February? That is awesome...wish I had that "problem." I've use 109 Killowatts over the past 10 days ($37.06 worth of electricity). It's also been warmer than normal here, which is helping me out some, but bumming me out at the same time because I'm still using so much electricity even with this mini heat wave. But whatever, it is what it is. I actually read through your thread from start to finish the other day and watching your video and seeing the pix of your finished product was one of the main reasons I decided to just go for it. I love the look of those Black Bar (Wide Bar) silver dollars swimming back and fourth. Definitely need to get my hands on some of those.Great product, that's the one I use also, with a 1000W and 500W titanum heater set for 78 degrees. Well I was using anyway. Its been so warm here that the hearter are not even on.
My dad did that with his in-ground pool. Whenever not in use he hooks up a black garden hose to one of the filter outputs. That hose goes as far as he can run it around the sides of the pool, then drains back into the tank. I think he said as crude as it is he has raised the pool temp by 5-10 degrees doing that. Should do even better on as "small" a quantity as 770gal.I don't know if it's been said but what about a soler style heater. Something with a bunch of zig zagging pipes painted black and in the sun. I did that for a science project back in the day when I was a kid and I remember it working quite well. Then heaters for night time only.
Great tank regardless!
The issue with this is that it's a very inconsistent heat source and fish for the most part require relatively consistent temps. I would maybe get a little heat on a sunny winter day, but when I need the heat most and the heaters are working their hardest (during cold winter nights) the sun doesn't help me at all. I think the reason you don't see more people using solar is because you only get heat (during the day time) when you don't really need it as much. Plus, in the winter the sun's energy is quite a bit weaker (that's why it's cold in the first place). The good thing is I don't need heaters at all from around May through October which I'm guessing is the same period that your dad is using the sun to heat his pool (when the sun is at it's strongest and it's already fairly warm out)?My dad did that with his in-ground pool. Whenever not in use he hooks up a black garden hose to one of the filter outputs. That hose goes as far as he can run it around the sides of the pool, then drains back into the tank. I think he said as crude as it is he has raised the pool temp by 5-10 degrees doing that. Should do even better on as "small" a quantity as 770gal.