1 "big" heater vs 2 "small" ones

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id10t

Candiru
MFK Member
Jun 3, 2005
577
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Anyone have any thoughts on this? I've got several heaters from my tank at work and my daughters tanks, they are "supposed" to be for 10-20 gallon tanks. I've got a not-quite-40 gallon tank that needs heating... its been OK for a while at room temp, but now that winter is here we'll be putting the heater to 67 (instead of AC at 77) so I want to help keep my cichlids comfy.

Anyway, 2 small heaters (each meant for 20 gallon tanks) or one big heater...

I'm leaning towards the 2 small ones, since I already own them, and I figure if one breaks the other will keep things from getting tooo cold, and if one goes haywire it will have a harder time boiling my fish...
 
id10t;1295101; said:
Anyone have any thoughts on this? I've got several heaters from my tank at work and my daughters tanks, they are "supposed" to be for 10-20 gallon tanks. I've got a not-quite-40 gallon tank that needs heating... its been OK for a while at room temp, but now that winter is here we'll be putting the heater to 67 (instead of AC at 77) so I want to help keep my cichlids comfy.

Anyway, 2 small heaters (each meant for 20 gallon tanks) or one big heater...

I'm leaning towards the 2 small ones, since I already own them, and I figure if one breaks the other will keep things from getting tooo cold, and if one goes haywire it will have a harder time boiling my fish...
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Usually done with bigger tanks but using multiple heaters is safer for above mentioned reasons. Plus you already have them.
 
The best reason to run multiple small heaters is that if one were to stick in the on position, it will not be able to produce enough heat to boil you fish. Were as one high wattage heater may be able to raise the temp of the tank high enough to kill your fish.
 
Mystix212;1296777; said:
Keeping cichlids at 67F. WTF?
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As the quote in my sig applies:D the thermostat in the house is set at 67 degrees:duh:
 
Bderick67;1296770; said:
The best reason to run multiple small heaters is that if one were to stick in the on position, it will not be able to produce enough heat to boil you fish. Were as one high wattage heater may be able to raise the temp of the tank high enough to kill your fish.
Click to expand...
Yup, I was more worried about them failing "on", as opposed to "off"
Boiled shrimp and cocktail sauce is the cat's butt. Never tried boiled cichlids, and don't intend too. I built my own controller.
 
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