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1 or 2 heaters?

Started by Parisiot, April 07, 2015, 05:58:28 PM

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Parisiot

Im planning on getting a new heater soon and I've been on the fence for a while with wether I should get 1 bigger heater, or 2 smaller heaters. Whats everyones thoughts?
Ive got a 50G tank with a 30G sump. Sump is 2/3rds full and taking into account the live rock, lets just say theres approx 50G of water. What Size heater(s) would you recommend?

exv152

One heater with a separate temp controller for insurance.
Eric...
125g, 32g, 7g

Graham

I'd recommend a 200 watt eheim. Check and make sure that the sump will fit the heater when it is horizontal as the eheims are very long heaters.

fish finatic

I would recommend 2 150 or 200 watt eheim heaters. I always run 2 on my setup for insurance and you also get more even heating. Hope this helps.

bitterman

If you are running 2 heaters you should use a heater controller.  Running 2 heaters you will never get then to the exact same setting so 1 will do mos the work and burn out first.

If you have a heater controller like the Ranco setup it will turn the heaters on and off.. It allows you to set the heater max temp to say 81 if you tanks are running at 78. This way if the heater controller has issues (Very rare, more rare than a heater failing),  you have insurance you will not overheat your tank and kill everything.

Bruce

robt18

I'd run 1 150 watt eheim. Good price, good quality. If you have a sump I'm sure your water flow will be fast enough to move the heat around. As long as your house isn't too cold it'll be fine. You could even try to get away with a 100w. I find heaters are far underrated on the boxes..

ramblnpony

What Bruce said. I have 2 on my 180g and 1 on my 45g. Both are plugged in to basic Reef Keepers. I wish I had 2 heaters on the 45 but it is lightly stocked and doesn't have a sump. If they ever fuse closed the controllers will shut the power off to the set temperature. The only thing to think about is if the 1 heater in the 45 would fail, the temperature would drop. The majority of heaters fail by staying on and cooking your tank. A controller is a must have insurance safe guard when you consider your investment in a saltwater tank.