Question - 2 heaters in one tank.

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leeishom

leeishom

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 6, 2010
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Hong Kong, SGV, Seattle, Wa.
I know, a lot of you have more than one heater in a tank.
So, my question is: how do you configure them to gain the heat setting you desire?
Left heater: 81. right heater: 80. like this?
or?
 
I set both mine at the temp required and leave it at that,I have no idea if that is the best and most effective way of doing it but works OK for me.I dont see any point in setting them at different temp's as if you do that and say you want 80 F you set one to 78 and one to 80 the last 2 degrees are only being heated by one heater.I use 2 Hydor external heaters and they both are set at 28 degree's C
 
ozzyboo;4625808; said:
I set both mine at the temp required and leave it at that,I have no idea if that is the best and most effective way of doing it but works OK for me.I dont see any point in setting them at different temp's as if you do that and say you want 80 F you set one to 78 and one to 80 the last 2 degrees are only being heated by one heater.I use 2 Hydor external heaters and they both are set at 28 degree's C
Click to expand...

ahh, good point. i also set my heaters to the exact combo.
 
I've got three in my 125g. Two are set to 79 and they tag-team it. The third is set to around 76 is more of a life preserver, a "just in case" heater.

The rest of my tanks only have one heater now. I've learned through accidents that fish really aren't fazed by a temperature drop when well-fed and in good water. My 55g heater died and the tank crashed from 80 down to 60 degrees in about ten hours as I frantically tried to come up with a free heater and ended up taking the debt and buying one new. Anyway, the angelfish, jurupari, giant otto and other supposedly sensitive fish didn't even seem to notice. And I just met a guy breeding bushy-nose plecos in an outdoor shed at about 70 without a problem. I strongly suspect we overheat our fish most of the time. And that an occasional catastrophic temperature crash is something a healthy fish should have no problem enduring. So it's one heater per tank from now on for me. :)
 
As already mentioned, set them the same and they will work fine. If you want a little more accurate temperature control, buy one heater controller and plug both heaters into it.
 
i had one 300 on my 180, couldn't keep the temps up. added another and found the temp would slowly rise or fall over a few days. gradually tweaked until temp remained constant.
 
knifegill;4625833;4625833 said:
I've got three in my 125g. Two are set to 79 and they tag-team it. The third is set to around 76 is more of a life preserver, a "just in case" heater.

The rest of my tanks only have one heater now. I've learned through accidents that fish really aren't fazed by a temperature drop when well-fed and in good water. My 55g heater died and the tank crashed from 80 down to 60 degrees in about ten hours as I frantically tried to come up with a free heater and ended up taking the debt and buying one new. Anyway, the angelfish, jurupari, giant otto and other supposedly sensitive fish didn't even seem to notice. And I just met a guy breeding bushy-nose plecos in an outdoor shed at about 70 without a problem. I strongly suspect we overheat our fish most of the time. And that an occasional catastrophic temperature crash is something a healthy fish should have no problem enduring. So it's one heater per tank from now on for me. :)
Click to expand...
your experience backs up a longstanding belief of mine! Most Freshwater fish HAVE to endure seasonal instant temp changes. If you live in a river or small lake and it rains......Unless you live very, very deep. saltwater fish live in a much more stable environment which swings much more slowly.....I found that Saltwater setups are far more sensitive to changes of any kind. When I lose power now I do small continuous(once an hour) water changes with heated water to both aerate and keep temps above 60. I heats the water with propane backup.....Battery powered air pump....never lost a tropical fish!
 
I have a 300w Jager in the sump for my 210. The pickup for the return pump is right over the heater(lays horizontally). The temp is a constant 80º-82º. I dont know exactly how often the heater cycles on-off but even with the heater on a timer(turning the heater off for 12hrs I still maintain this temp. I have noticed a cooler tank in the morning, but never found a need for additional heaters.
This could all be a different story if the tank were outside or in the garage or basement.
Justmy2¢
 
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