If the heater goes straight in the tank make sure to inclose it in a housing of some sort or at least use the rubber suction cup clamps so the heater does not touch the acrylic. I like to use more than one heater, backup in case of failure and less chance of cooking your fish if it sticks on.
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If you super anal like me... One of my new best freinds. Pics are when the tank was first set up, all I could find.
This is a controller that has it's own thermometer. If the tank (or sump) gets to warm, it will kill power to the heater. If you worried about the heater sticking on, introduce a middle man.
The top display is a digi that tells temp of the air on top and water on bottom. It is set to sound an alarm if the temp is below 75 or above 87. The little white box is a warning alarm if it comes into contact with water i.e. - leaks. (useless for aro/pbass owners fyi... )
im a HUGE fan of pvc heater gaurds.. 1.5" pvc works wonders.. cut them to length and drill or slit the heck out of them and ziptie the heater cord to the pvc.. you can put the ziptie directly around the heater but they tend to make the zipties very weak which leads to the gaurd slipping off
why do i like pvc so much you ask...
-ive yet to ever have a heater even slightly melt into it
-fish can smash into them all they wont and ive yet to have one break
-you can hide them under driftwood/rocks without worrying about drushing them... just be sure to use a powerhead to keep the water moving
Ill definately do the pvc guard but i will cap the top and bottom , have the suction cups stick to the inside of the pvc pipe with holes and slites in it a slite in the top cap to slide the cord into.
Good question. I have had two 500 watt titanium heaters in my acrylic tank for about 1 1/2 years and have seen no deformation or clouding of the acrylic whatsoever...and believe me, I pay VERY close attention to details such as these. I honestly don't think any additional precaution is necessary, but as long as they don't interfere with the circulation of water around the heating element, they probably can't hurt.
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