Heater question

[Where the river goes]

I'd read (forgot where lol) that a general rule of thumb for heaters is 5 watts per gallon. Upon further reading and investigating I've noticed a lot of people use bigger heaters than the 5 watts per gallon thing...which to me seems like the 1 of fish per gallon rule...kinda vague. Anyways, I was thinking of getting a 25 watt heater for a 2.5 gallon tank. I already have one of those junior heaters in there, I just want to see if I can get a heater w/a thermostat. The only thing stopping me at this point is the worry that the thermostat will stay stuck in the "on" position

Any opinions/advice?

 

[Aphelila]

I used a 25 watt heater for my 2 gallon tank and it worked just fine! Just make sure that you don't turn the heat up too far - it will heat up your tank fast because there isn't much surface area in a 2.5 gallon tank.

 

[Lateral Line]

The "stuck on" scenario is the important thing here. A massively overpowered heater doesn't really do much harm in a smaller tank as long as it works correctly.

I almost invariably run two heaters/thermo filters each rated at about half the tank requirements. If one sticks on, the other switches off, and the one that is stuck on does not have the power to cook the tank.

That said, I don't have really small tanks so it is easy for me to find gear that matches my requirements.

How much Wattage is, of course, vague. In a centrally heated living room where the room temperature is maintained at 25C, you may never need a heater even in a big tank, in an unheated room - well, you obviously need more. There never can be a hard and fast rule that fits every case.

 

[Lithril]

I really wish I had thought of the two heaters scenario before I bought the one for my 30 gal tank, using a 300w heater in there as I thought the heater wouldn't have to work as hard... works well at the mo but I'm dreading the thermostat sticking on

 

[Alien Anna]

I really wish I had thought of the two heaters scenario before I bought the one for my 30 gal tank, using a 300w heater in there as I thought the heater wouldn't have to work as hard... works well at the mo but I'm dreading the thermostat sticking on

I've had that scenario twice, but neither time has it happened all of a sudden. Generally, the temperature creeps up gradually. Just keep an eye on it.

 

[Where the river goes]

How much Wattage is, of course, vague. In a centrally heated living room where the room temperature is maintained at 25C, you may never need a heater even in a big tank, in an unheated room - well, you obviously need more. There never can be a hard and fast rule that fits every case.

True. We rarely use the heater in winter, the house stays around a comfortable 65-68 degrees. In the evening the temps often fall to between 50-59 degrees. We like to keep the house on the cool side but I definantly want an automatic heater...I'm not getting up at night to plug in the junior heaters! I'll try a 25 watt heater on one of my tanks.

Just make sure that you don't turn the heat up too far - it will heat up your tank fast because there isn't much surface area in a 2.5 gallon tank.

I want to keep the water temp around 82 while cycling and around 78-80 when I put a fish in there.