[Sir_BlackhOle]

I have heard that it is better to use two heaters in a tank instead of one. What heaters would you recommend and what wattage for a 75 gallon tank?

 

[Rex Grigg]

I see this all the time. And there are many flaws in the theory. So lets start poking holes in the idea.

First off having two heaters will work if you have them set high and hooked up to a temperature controller that actually controls them and turns them on and off. Without the controller then one heater will almost always end up doing almost all the work due to slight differences in their thermostats. If you have a LARGE tank, 6'-8' then it makes since to have two heaters since they are so far apart they will both actually work. But in smaller tanks that's just not the case. In a 4' tank one heater is enough.

 

[Sir_BlackhOle]

What would be your recommendation on heater size/brand?

Thanks!

 

[Rex Grigg]

Well for brand it's really hard to beat the new Titanium heaters. As for size it depends on how warm you keep the room and how warm you want to keep the tank.

 

[Sir_BlackhOle]

The room will be probably around 75F on average and I would like to keep the tank at probably 78F.

 

[jerseyjay]

Two things to look for when choosing heater:

- external thermostat: - I never understood why someone would position thermostat on actual heating tube. This is why so many people have problems with tweaking their heaters.

- external controller: - very convenient if further tweaking is necessary.

 

[Sir_BlackhOle]

Makes a lot of sense. Big Als has some titanium heaters with external thermostats that look very nice. #51053 is 150watts. Will that work for my 75?

 

[Rex Grigg]

A 150 would work but I would go to the next bigger size so it's not working quite so much. A 3° difference is not a lot so you don't need a monster sized heater.

 

[Sir_BlackhOle]

Thanks for the info. Im placing an order tomorrow and will get the 200.

 

[hubbahubbahehe]

The Ebo Jagers in my experience are the best. Very accurate and very strong and they have a long track record

 

[niko]

I had a bad experience with a Titanium heater. One night it overheated and it loosened one of the hoses of the canister filter resulting in 50 gals. of water on my floor.

...Made me really see how dirty carpet is, even though I vaccumed it every week. I hate carpet even more now.

--Nikolay

 

[hubbahubbahehe]

I'm sorry to hear that Nikolay....Terrible, terrible. IS it ALL titanium heaters that are bad or one specific one?

 

[Sir_BlackhOle]

I have two titaniums in seperate tanks that have been up for a few months now with no trouble yet.

 

[hubbahubbahehe]

I've never had titanium heaters, I've had ebo jagers, which are great, but if i wanted to get myself some titanium heaters, what brand should i get?

 

[CKfish]

I have heard that it is better to use two heaters in a tank instead of one.

I believe the idea is to have one heater set about a degree below the other. That when one heater does most of the work, but when the temperature falls too far the second heater kicks in to assist. Having two heaters provides a failsafe-- if one cuts out, you've still got at least one working, and can hopefully have enough time to notice before there's a disaster.

I'm setting up a 150 that will use a 200 watt substrate heater and two 250 watt Ebo Jager heaters in the sump. My two bits.

CKfish

 

[hubbahubbahehe]

Yes it's totally a backup measure...like if one craps out, then the other one takes over and you don't have a drop in temperature and kill your fish... then while the other one takes over, you have time to buy another one to back up this one.