Recommended Heaters for 180 Gallon

TheWolfman

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Sep 5, 2010
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Long island, NY
You only need one as the controller has two AC plugs.
The one I have has a plug for heating and a plug for cooling. I have a power strip plugged into the heating output and both of my heaters plugged into the power strip. I also now have the added convenience of just flipping the switch on the power strip when doing water changes.
 

Rocksor

Blue Tier VIP
MFK Member
Nov 28, 2011
6,129
6,671
423
San Diego
The one I have has a plug for heating and a plug for cooling. I have a power strip plugged into the heating output and both of my heaters plugged into the power strip. I also now have the added convenience of just flipping the switch on the power strip when doing water changes.
There's a version of the inkbird solely for heating for both ac plugs. inkbird itc-306t

 
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piranhaman00

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Sep 15, 2009
1,917
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Wisconsin
I have multiple ink birds and like them all. I use the heat/cooling on a 65 that gets too warm in the summer. Turns the fan on at 80F and turns the heat on at 78F. Works very well. I also use the dual heating for other tanks that dont require cooling. I have 5 of their controllers and I really like them.
 

Uglyknob

Exodon
MFK Member
Aug 17, 2019
69
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Lakeland, FL
Just circling back to the weight and apartment issue. So, you're not filling an 8ft tank all the way to save on weight? The weight difference between 240 and 180 is only 500 pounds spread across 8 feet. 3 good sized dudes standing in front of the tank weigh more than that.

Is this some arbitrary number that your apartment building gave you or?

8' of stand would spread the weight out on 5 or 6 floor joists (assuming typical 16" on center) - unless you're going lengthwise, which I would not recommend at all. Even on 5 floor joists, the weight would only be 100 pounds per joist.

If you're doing barebottom, you're still at nearly a ton with 180g of water in it. If 40 gallons of water is going to push it over the edge, then you've got big problems.
 
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The-Almighty-Zugs

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Sep 9, 2019
356
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Ontario, Canada
Just circling back to the weight and apartment issue. So, you're not filling an 8ft tank all the way to save on weight? The weight difference between 240 and 180 is only 500 pounds spread across 8 feet. 3 good sized dudes standing in front of the tank weigh more than that.

Is this some arbitrary number that your apartment building gave you or?

8' of stand would spread the weight out on 5 or 6 floor joists (assuming typical 16" on center) - unless you're going lengthwise, which I would not recommend at all. Even on 5 floor joists, the weight would only be 100 pounds per joist.

If you're doing barebottom, you're still at nearly a ton with 180g of water in it. If 40 gallons of water is going to push it over the edge, then you've got big problems.
No not a specific number. People on the forums have me scared that it will be too much weight in an apartment so I'm having to lower the weight as much as I can. And isn't a 240 gallon like 2000+ pounds? And I don't think the issue is the weight itself. It's the weight over a period of time. Correct me if I'm wrong.
 

Uglyknob

Exodon
MFK Member
Aug 17, 2019
69
72
26
46
Lakeland, FL
No not a specific number. People on the forums have me scared that it will be too much weight in an apartment so I'm having to lower the weight as much as I can. And isn't a 240 gallon like 2000+ pounds? And I don't think the issue is the weight itself. It's the weight over a period of time. Correct me if I'm wrong.
I'm saying the difference, while not negligible, isn't putting you that low. You're only talking 500lbs. 180g of water is still 1500lbs (rounding). 240 gallons of water is about 2000lbs (rounding). All other things being the same (since you're using a 250g tank), you're still going to be edging towards 2000lbs once you put that water in a tank, on a stand, with filtration and livestock. However, I would certainly agree that 500lbs sitting there all the time is different than 500lbs standing in front of the tank.

If you're already spreading 2000lbs across 5 or 6 joists (400lbs min), I don't see what an extra 100lbs (per joist) is going to do.

Doing some quick googling, a 2x10 floor joist spanning 13.5' can support a dead load of 1200lbs - which leaves some leeway for live load (people standing there). Deflection would be greater in the center of the floor, obviously, then it would at the supports (near the wall). So, technically, 2 of those would support the tank lengthwise assuming they weren't supporting something else (like couches, counters, refrigerators, etc.). So, we'll say you fill it the brim and add a bunch of other stuff and get to 2500lbs. If you are smart and place it so that it spans multiple joists, then you're spreading that load across at least 5 joists. That is 500lbs (450 if you set it on six real perfect like) per joist, well under the weight rating for the joists. Obviously, if you're using 2x12s or the span is less or greater, the load can change quite a bit. Depends on your building codes and what they had to use. For all you know, in an apartment, you have a steel i-beam running right under your floor, that is holding the whole building up.

Of course, I am usually full of crap and nobody is going to sue me if 240g of your water end up in their lap while they're watching South Park re-reuns... :D
 
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