External Heaters

[yabadaba]

I'm looking to buy a heater, or heaters, for my 496 litre ND Aquatics tank and quite like the idea of the external heaters. The only ones I ever see mentioned are the Hydor ones, but the most powerful one (300w) is only rated for tanks up to 300 litres. Is it possible/advisable to run two of these like you can with internal heaters?

 

[Truck]

I'm looking to buy a heater, or heaters, for my 496 litre ND Aquatics tank and quite like the idea of the external heaters. The only ones I ever see mentioned are the Hydor ones, but the most powerful one (300w) is only rated for tanks up to 300 litres. Is it possible/advisable to run two of these like you can with internal heaters?

yeah you could run two...might be worth running them on two separate filters though

 

[yabadaba]

I'm looking to buy a heater, or heaters, for my 496 litre ND Aquatics tank and quite like the idea of the external heaters. The only ones I ever see mentioned are the Hydor ones, but the most powerful one (300w) is only rated for tanks up to 300 litres. Is it possible/advisable to run two of these like you can with internal heaters?

yeah you could run two...might be worth running them on two separate filters though

Thanks for that, but can I just ask whether you are advising running them on two separate filters because they're not really designed to be run in tandem on one filter or because you think I need two filters? I certainly would consider gettingh a second 2080 (or maybe a 2078), but not straight away.

 

[Geoff1991]

I think the first heater will already be heating the water so the second one wont actually switch on...

 

[Truck]

i would use two as it will distribute heat better...as the water travels through it doesnt heat the water to the optimum temp until its been through a few times

 

[yabadaba]

Hmm, looks like I might be best looking at a couple of internal heaters instead then. Unless anyone makes a higher powered external one that is.

 

[yabadaba]

I think the first heater will already be heating the water so the second one wont actually switch on...

Yes, that makes sense. I've never had an external canister filter before, so might be talking rubbish here, but I guess the only way around that would be if you could split the outlet into two and then have one heater on each branch?

 

[jmkgreen]

You could have a 1000W heater it probably wouldn't help that much as the water still needs to flow through several times. By using two filters you give yourself a lot more coverage, and a bit of redundancy too. I have a 4x2x2 ND tank with a Eheim 2075 and Hydor 300w and so far it works well but over winter I'll get a second filter+heater as I suspect there'll at least be some dead spots due to the volume of water being circulated by just one filter.

 

[Rooster]

Heating is a hot topic.... HOT ? geddit ?

How much Wattage you need depends on YOUR conditions...
Is the room heated 24/7 ?
Is the tank, and or room insulated ?
Do you live in a warm climate ?
Does the sun play on the tank ?

The list is endless, but the "you need this wattage for this size tank" is ONLY a "rule of thumb"
If you live in a centrally heated house that always "warm" or you live in the tropics, then you may NEVER need a heater !
On the other hand, put your tank in the shed at the Arctic, and you will need a LOT of heating to achieve the ideal temp.

I doubt very much there's a tank in the UK that needs more than 300W ! (indoors...)

 

[drtim]

I have that very tank.
I run two externals and two external heaters, I have run the tank on one external system for a few weeks with no problems, the heaters are on for a very short time.
T.

 

[yabadaba]

I have that very tank.
I run two externals and two external heaters, I have run the tank on one external system for a few weeks with no problems, the heaters are on for a very short time.
T.

Out of interest, which externals and which heaters? Thanks.

Buying a second 2080 is something I'd definitely consider, but I'm wondering whether two 2080's would create too much water movement, which would then limit the types of fish I could consider.

 

[yabadaba]

Okay, I'm going to go with 2 x Fluval E Series internals. The 200w version is for up to 250l and the 300w version is for up to 375l. My tank is listed as being 496 litres, so do you think I should go for 2 x 200w or 2 x 300w heaters (or even one of each)? I don't mind paying the extra few quid, I just want what is best.

To answer an earlier question, I'm in London so you'll know what kind of temps we get here, my house is centrally heated and we try and keep it at about 20°C, but it will fall lower over night in winter when the heating switches off and gets warmer in summer. The tank will not be insulated. The room gets a lot of light (south facing), but no direct sunlight will fall on the tank.

Thanks for the advice guys. I know I've been asking a 'million and one' questions lately, it's just that I really want to get this new tank setup right

 

[drtim]

I have that very tank.
I run two externals and two external heaters, I have run the tank on one external system for a few weeks with no problems, the heaters are on for a very short time.
T.

Out of interest, which externals and which heaters? Thanks.

Buying a second 2080 is something I'd definitely consider, but I'm wondering whether two 2080's would create too much water movement, which would then limit the types of fish I could consider.

Hydor 300 external
tetratec ex1200 filters

T.