her209;4479714; said:
Yeah but with the more wattage they are running less. They only click on for a couple minutes at a time. If you ran not enough, The heaters could run for hours at a time. Throw them in a sump and water will heat evenly
monster tank question
- Thread starter schwalbach2280
- Start date
Yeah but with the more wattage they are running less. They only click on for a couple minutes at a time. If you ran not enough, The heaters could run for hours at a time. Throw them in a sump and water will heat evenly
BadOleRoss;4479604; said:
Giving the OP the benefit of the doubt here - Just because he is trying to plan for and anticipate costs doesnt mean he cant afford it. Smart research ahead of time if you ask me. How many threads are on here where some guy starts building a monster tank and cant finish it? Asking about expense does not translate to a lack of money. If you can spend money as you please without a concern to your budget you are indeed fortunate or broke. Now that he has information he can plan a build within his budget and finish it.
When I had the full central setup, I ran about 1500W on the whole thing. It was more than enough for the setup, but overkill works as well.
This has been somethin i have been thinkin about as well...
I plan on insulating the tank once i'm certain it's sealed properly and holding water.. anyone here have an insulated plywood tank? how much heat are you running on yours?
I plan on insulating the tank once i'm certain it's sealed properly and holding water.. anyone here have an insulated plywood tank? how much heat are you running on yours?
I have an 450g insulated plywood tank running on 2 X 300W (running almost permanently) and it keeps temperature pretty well,but I would recommend something more for 1000g. I have just build myself a heater from 3KW boiler element in a 4inch plastic pipe full of little holes. I have my return pump from sump pumping straght into heater housing, seems to work perfectly but only been in there 48 hours will update you later if you want. Just to add when I had no lid on tank, 2 x 300 Watts wasn't enough.
Last winter I tried to get by with 800 watts on my 500 but I felt like the heater couldn't keep up the water temp. This winter I picked up another 800 watt heater. 1600 Watts should do the trick.
I would have to say, regardless of how much wattage you need, to have it from multiple heaters is more desirable. Each heater will thus work less/ last longer and in the event that one breaks down you wont have a disaster on your hands.
I think this depends on ambient temps. If the space the tank is in, is always 75f than you could get away with much less than if the space is 68f all the time. I think going a little bigger than you need is better in this case for longevity of the units. But using the given general rule, I would doubt if you are going to need a 5000 watt heater for a 1000g tank.
One tip I can give is, insulate not just the tank but also the filter system. You can loose allot of heat through a sump or wet/dry. Wood itself is a pretty good insulator. If you build a sump out of wood, it may be good enough depending on your area and setup. If you are using a large glass aquarium on the other hand, you would want to insulate it.
I would say the idea of using multiple heating elements is a good idea.
One tip I can give is, insulate not just the tank but also the filter system. You can loose allot of heat through a sump or wet/dry. Wood itself is a pretty good insulator. If you build a sump out of wood, it may be good enough depending on your area and setup. If you are using a large glass aquarium on the other hand, you would want to insulate it.
I would say the idea of using multiple heating elements is a good idea.
