Heater question

[KLKelly]

I have bad luck with heaters.  My fourth unlucky one isn't working.  Its an Eheim - even at its lowest setting its heating the tank to 84. Its supposed to automatically shut off and it isn't.  I'll try resetting it now that its a bit cooler. The weather has been so warm this summer I've kept it unplugged.  I've had heaters stop working and break apart (don't leave them plugged in during water changes, water is temperature matched during changes and the heater is plugged back in after the water is in and filters are restarted).

I was thinking of going the dual heater route so if one fails the other will pick up the slack but I don't want cooked fish if by some freak accident both fail. 

How do people do this and what wattage should both filters be to cover a 90 gallon heated to 77degrees.  I just have the one 250watt that I don't trust right now.

Do you set them both to the same temperature?

Thanks.

Karrie

[bitterman]

This might help you http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=20106.0

I have 3 250 from my 195 so 1 250 may not  be enough, but I always go overboard on heaters.

A Heater controller will give you better control of your heat and keep multiple heaters in sync (So they do not fight with each other).

Bruce

[KLKelly]

Thanks Bruce!

[normc]

I have a jager 250 in my 140 and it heats it to 29 C 84 F.

[bitterman]

I have a jager 250 in my 140 and it heats it to 29 C 84 F.

Heater size is not only related to the size of the aquarium, but also the temperature differential from the room it is in. You will need alot less heater if the room is heated to about 70 to get to the 80's versa if the rom is in the 50's or 60's F

If you do not have enough heater it a tank, the heater will run continuiously and prematurely burn it out. For redundance in an resonable sized tank I like to have 2 heaters. This does 2 things, first you have a little redundancy, secondly it decreases hot spots. 1 larger heater in the corver of the tank and you will notice the temp on that side of the tank is 1 temperature adn the farther away from the heater the cooler the water is, that is unless you have perfect flow in the tank to spread the heat around.

Bruce

[BigDaddy]

I use a 250W to heat my 75 to 86 degrees.  Unless your room is crazy cold, 250W should be more than enough.

Karrie, Eheims are adjustable.  The little blue knob on top of the unit can be pulled up, and you can adjust the dial to reflect the actual temp of your tank.

Here's what you do.

1)  Make sure you have a proper reading (a good thermometer) and that your heater has lots of water circulation (you don't want to be measuring a "dead spot" which would wind up a hot spot.

2)  Pull the blue knob up.  Set the temp on the heater to the temp you measured.  Push the knob back down.

Your Eheim is now calibrated.  Of course, you want to do this when your heater is unplugged for safety reasons.

Here's the Eheim manual in case you misplaced yours... the calibration instructions are in the back

http://www.eheim.de/eheim/pdf/en/anleitungen/heizer/3602_to_3608_USA.pdf