Heater for a larger tank

[slippery slimecoat]

Yeah its definitely not a bad idea to have backup heaters, maybe ill get my hands on another jager.

Im not necessarily going to keep the temp in the high 80s. The highest i would ever go is 88. I have peacock bass and some other predators. I recently had a bad case of ich and needed to get the heat up past 86 to help stop the ich. So i would just like to have the option.

I will probably be keeping the tank at 82-84 mostly.



I do have tops, maybe it is my room temp that isnt allowing my tanks to heat up fast.

I just dont understand the disparity in heaters. The jager is a 300w that claims it can heat up to 265 gallons. The marineland is a 300w that can do up to 80. Then other 300w brands do even less or in between those temps.

I believe Jagers may be a bit longer than others helping them be more efficient. Rather than having enough heaters to raise the temp to 88°, I'd shoot for enough watts to keep it at your 82-84°, then just keep a spare heater on hand to throw in the tank if you need to increase the temp. I'd be worried of keeping too much unnecessary wattage in there. I don't trust heaters to not malfunction and boil my fish. I run two undersized Jagers hooked to a Finnex digital temperature controller.

 

[Def Leppard Hysteria]

Whatever heater or heaters you go with, get a heater controller, too.

 

[freak78]

I have a titanium 800w heater with a heater controller for my 220. It will keep my temp at 80 degrees in a 55 degree basement.

 

[punman]

When I had a 180 gallon tank I used a 250W heater which was on just over 30% of the time. Water temperature 78F

 

[DN328]

Whatever heater or heaters you go with, get a heater controller, too.

I'd second this idea...get a controller regardless of what heater and wattage you go with.

 

[Timmy]

I'd second this idea...get a controller regardless of what heater and wattage you go with.

I use a ebo-Jager 300w in my 210. Spot on temp. Did you calibrate it ! Mine was way off outvthe box, calibrated and spot on .....

 

[nzafi]

Wow you guys make me feel like I do overkill. I have 650w on my 180g. Wattage is split between 3 aqueon pro heaters connected to a controller. I keep my water at 78 in a room of probably 70 but near a window. I find my heaters turn on very frequently but for short bursts. I also spread my heaters across the tank to keep even distribution of heat.

 

[Icthisapian]

My 2 cents, build your own inline heater using a PID SSR and a water heater element. I run 1000w in my 75 on an external control (shorter duty cycles).

For my 375 that im working on, im installing a 2000w element in the upper filter canister. My 2000w heater will cost about 40 bucks to build including bulkhead.

 

[Mr.kelberi]

So right now I have the two marina land 300w and the jager. It is keeping my tank where I want it.

As for the heater controller. Would I need to get all 3 of the same heaters for it to work?

 

[Icthisapian]

So right now I have the two marina land 300w and the jager. It is keeping my tank where I want it.

As for the heater controller. Would I need to get all 3 of the same heaters for it to work?

Nope, a PID w/ SSR acts as an automatic switch. Instead of wiring a single heater to the relay, you would wire in a gang plug (4 plugs). Set all your heaters to max, and let the PID monitor the tank temp. When the tank temp drops, the pid will power the relay which will power the plugs, turning your heaters on. As the temp rises, PID probe reads it and cuts power to relay which cuts power to the plugs. Lemme see if i can find some videos for you on youtube.