Will 200w suffice?

[Sinister-Kisses]

Thinking of booting my goldfish out of their tank for some new cichlids I'm eyeing up, which means I'd need to purchase new heaters. My go to is Eheim Trutemp heaters...not as great as they used to be but still good and a good price.

This tank is a 6ft, 135 gal tank. My natural default thought is 2 x 300w Eheim heaters for it...but they're so damn LONG. This tank is a custom size so is only 18" tall, making the 300w length pretty tight when mounted vertically.

For a tank this size, will 2 x 200w Eheim heaters be sufficient? Or should I just suck it up and do the 300w. I don't want to undersize them and have them working hard.

 

[jjohnwm]

Most of the time, when a heater fails it's because the thermostat sticks, either on or off. A heater that is on the small side actually doesn't wear out as fast as one that is too large. The smaller one takes longer to heat the tank, and so it isn't constantly switching on/off/on/off as often as a higher-wattage model that heats the tank quickly and then immediately switches back off again. Whatever size you get, the element is either on or off, so there really isn't any such thing as a heater working harder...but thermostats certainly work more, and therefore fail earlier, in larger heaters.

Unless you keep your house unusually cool, or want to keep your tank unusually warm, I'd expect a pair of 200-watt heaters to be sufficient for you.

 

[chopsteeks]

What is the ambient temperature where your tank is ? I have a 180 gallons, I use 3 Fluval E300 as the temperature in the basement is 60 degrees during winter. Once warmer weather rolls in, where the ambient temperature rises to 70 degrees, I will only use 2 Fluvals. I could really use one, but I will always use 2 just in case one fails.

 

[Rocksor]

2 x 200 watt heaters should be fine. I ran that with a 125g for 13 years (65f-68F room temp, heater set to 75f), and yes, one eventually stuck on. Easy solution was to get a heater controller.

 

[Gourami Swami]

What fish do you want to keep, and what is your normal room temperature? Some cichlids prefer cooler temps. I generally don't use a heater except with young grow-outs, since I keep my home 70+ all the time anyway. Saves a bit on electric and doesn't risk heater failure.

 

[Sinister-Kisses]

Lol I live in Canada...there's only about 3 months of the year where a heater isn't really necessary to keep temps where my cichlids like it. The tank will be a growout for juvie pearsei and argentea for a month or two (to QT), then the pearsei will go into my 8ft tank and the argentea will get the 135 to themselves until I pick one individual to live solo in the tank. It's in a colder part of my house, an add-on room the previous owner put in converted from a carport...but they didn't bother to run ducts to heat the room and it's an exterior wall, so right now I think the room temp sits at about 17°C (62°F). Definitely needs heaters. I know for a fact what that tank sits at without heaters because right now it's a cold water tank with goldfish. Temp is about 60°F in the tank.

Thinking I would need to go the 2 x 300w route.

 

[Gourami Swami]

In that case yes, you should use heaters you are correct. I think either the 200 or 300w heaters will do the job, and like rocksor mentioned a controller is the best way to make sure it won't get stuck "on" and overheat your water. Inkbird is a brand that lots of people use, they are readily available from amazon etc.

 

[RD.]

2 x 200W would be enough. My basement (that is heated) is cooled to high 60's during spring/summer/early fall when AC is running. I use two 200W heaters in my 125's, to keep tank temp at 78 ish.

 

[Sinister-Kisses]

Perfect, thanks all.

 

[J. H.]

I would insulate that tank as much as possible. 2x 200w can put a serious dent in your energy bill,