heater in sump

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I always but the highest of the maker which i normally use Visi-Therm, or Eheim 300 or 400 watts.
 
ChiPerf said:
Exactly why I run 2 heaters, if one fails. They stay on for a few minutes when the temp drops to 76, and then cut off when the temp hits 78 via temp controller. It does take them maybe 5 - 10 minutes of solid heating to get back up to 78 from 76 though. My basement is 62 degrees air temp and there are no covers yet on the sump, for comparison. I bought 3 heaters, and am using one in my 125 right now, but it hits the bottom of the sand, so I will probably use that one in the 400 making it 3 heaters and then buy 2 shorter heaters for the 125 again in case one of those fail.
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What type of temp controller do you use? do you just use the ones that come with the heater or do you have one of thoose fancy digital ones?
 
I run 1 300 watt jäger controlled by my Apex in my 75 gallon sump for my 300 and it never comes on lol. I actually pulled it out yesterday to bring a tank in my garage up to 88 for a few days, but I live in Florida. If I lived in NYC I'd run a pair of the same
 
I went to the manufacturers website of a few different heaters. I did the math on their recommended tank sized for a given wattage and this is what I found:

[table="width: 500, class: grid"]
[tr]
[td]Manufacturer[/td]
[td]Recommended Watts per gallon[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Eheim Jager[/td]
[td]1.6[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]JBJ[/td]
[td]3[/td]
[/tr]
[tr]
[td]Marineland Visitherm[/td]
[td]3.6[/td]
[/tr]
[/table]

I wish they would give details as to the average ambient room temperatures they are assuming for these recommendations, but they don't. On eheims website, there is a picture of a house with a 70 in it, so it looks like they are assuming an average room temperature of 70, which may explain why they recommend lower watts per gallon than the others- none of the other manufactuers reference room temps, so I have no idea.

There are lots of variables when it comes to sizing a heater to your setup. Unfortunately, the process may involve a bit of trial and error.
 
2 x 150 watt
1 x 200 watt in the rubbermaid sump
1 x 300 watt for the pond sump.
 
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