Heater Questions

[jwildman]

Hi again,

 

Thanks in advance ...

 

Looking at heater(s) I am told to look at 5W's per gallon of water, so that puts me at 900watts, as I have a 180gallon tank. Couple of questions about this ...

 

1. Is 5W per gallon reasonable? too little? too much?

 

2. I am planning on getting a Titanium heater, as I dont want to deal with breakage. Any issues with this?

 

3. Am I better off getting one big heater like a 1000W or should I consider getting 2 @ 500W's?

 

4. Can I put all my heating in the sump? or will I need to put some in the tank itself?

 

I have a 180 gallon AGA reef Ready and will have (still making) about a 40-60 gallon sump.

 

Thanks again,

 

John

[lmeyer]

I have two titanium heaters in my sump. I went with two instead of one for a redundant system. I placed them in the sump since I like keeping equipment out of the show tank, but I have seen it recommended to do one in each. The rationale was that given my layout, if the return to the show tank fails while I am away the sump will be kept at 78 degrees while the show tank will cool to room temp. That is a risk I've been willing to take.

[steveoutlaw]

John,

I have a 120g with a 30g sump. I have 2 200w heaters in my tank and they seem to do fine. I would second lmeyers suggestion for 2 because it does give you redundancy. You could probably get away with 2 300w heaters for your system.

 

Steve

[flowerseller]

I have a 220 and also use redundant heating.

I don't have a heater in the tank or in the sump so that is my redundancy.

[Lee Stearns]

Come on chip-

I know the odds of the heater kicking in in the basement even in the winter are slim- but you do not have at least one heater in there? Yes the lights are great heating sources- too great for many tanks.

I keep two in the sump but move one back and forth between the sump and my new saltwater makeup container when i am curing a new batch of water to change out. The ones in the sump have almost nevre kicked on- which is why Chip is saying once you have your system tweaked you may not need them at all-

[Folta]

Definitely go with redundancy. This is for three reasons - if a heater fails ON, it won't provide enough heat to kill the fish (assuming you get appropriate wattage, and not just double up the same heater you were originally going to purchase). If a heater fails off, you still have the other heater going, keeping water warm. Third, if you heat in more spots, the distribution of heat will be better. (Pending good water flow this isn't as much of an issue, but think of it this way - how many air conditioning vents do you have in your house? The heater will only heat the water immediately around it).

 

Another thing to consider - if you have your heater in the sump, and no heater in the main tank and have an issue with the return pump, then no water will be heated in the main tank.

 

I think it'd be best to go with one heater in the main, and one in the sump. I know, however, many people try to minimize the equipment that is in the main tank, so you may not want to do it for aesthetic reasons.