How to heat a 2300 gallon aquarium?

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A

alpina

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 24, 2011
24
0
0
Australia
Hi all,
Would love to hear some suggestions about how best to heat a 2300 gallon indoor aquarium.
What are my options in regards to capacity and cost effectiveness?
Should I be looking at gas or electric?
Room will be airconditioned at 73 deg during business hours and I probably need to hit between 75-78 deg to house stingrays and arowanas happily.
Ideally, I want to buy a solution that is available in Australia.
Thanks in advance.
 
I would think some sort of heat exchanger would be the most economical.
 
Look for VL design's threads he built a heat exchange system that used his hot water heater I've been wanting to do the same thing with my 1400gal pond
 
I use a pool /spa Heat exchanger....one basic sump pump....and a pump for bringing hot water from gas water heater to heat exchanger... I do have an electronic temp controller that controls the whole thing.
 
alpina said:
Hi all,
Would love to hear some suggestions about how best to heat a 2300 gallon indoor aquarium.
What are my options in regards to capacity and cost effectiveness?
Should I be looking at gas or electric?
Room will be airconditioned at 73 deg during business hours and I probably need to hit between 75-78 deg to house stingrays and arowanas happily.
Ideally, I want to buy a solution that is available in Australia.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

It depends on what source of energy is cheapest for you (running cost) and the initial setup cost of each option.

Heating via natural gas would be much cheaper for me since my electric rates are so high (I pay $.34 per KWHr), but the cost of running a natural gas line to where the aquarium is located and all the components to set up the heat exchange system are much higher than using electric heaters. It would take many years to realize any return on investment.

Since you are only heating just a few degrees above the rooms ambient temperature, I don't think you will need that much heat. I would think 1 watt per gallon as opposed to the standard 3 to 5 watts per gallon would suffice. You can run immersion heaters or inline heaters, both of which can be found at Aquatic Eco which has already been mentioned- http://www.aquaticeco.com/categories/Heaters/86/0/Heaters. If you shop around, you should be able to find better prices though- Aquatic Eco is expensive.

Something I was told over and over again and now fully understand is that insulation is key. The less heat you have escaping from the tank, the less heat you will need to replace. Seems obvious, but insulation should be a major consideration in your plans for this tank.

Please post lots of pictures! Good Luck!
 
alpina said:
Room will be airconditioned at 73 deg during business hours and I probably need to hit between 75-78 deg to house stingrays and arowanas happily.
Ideally, I want to buy a solution that is available in Australia.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
How about don't air condition your room at 73 deg, but at 80 deg, so the tank temp may be in the 75-78 deg?
 
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