Heater Reccomendations

[Marty]

Hi all,

Looking for a nice heater that will do my 2ft tank that was given to me by a friend. I really want to know what whattage I would need, and which are the best brands for bang/buck.

Also, are the water capacity ratings on sponge filters a good guide? I thought I heard somewhere that you should get one with a higher capacity than your tank.

Thanks!

 

[Bol]

Can't help you much, but for what it's worth, when I consider heaters I reference the chart on the bottom left of this page.

 

[Great Lakes]

Hi Marty.

Not knowing the exact size, I would guess it to be around a 20gal.

This would require a 100 watt heater. You can err on the safe side and go with 150. Try and spring for a submersible, they are gaining in popularity and dropping in price.

You do get what you pay for as far as quality though, so you be the judge.

Sponge filters. Instead of getting one rated for more than your tank, get two smaller ones for placement in opposite corners. Then you can change/clean/rinse the filters at different intervals so as to save your bacteria.

GL

 

[Marty]

Thanks for that Great Lakes. Much appreciated. I'll follow your advice.

I'm not sure of the exact size myself... I think 2ft long, 1ft tall, no idea how deep lol.

I'm picking it up from my friend next week.

 

[Marty]

Oh, and just to be on the safe side I should ask wether I can just plop the sponge filter in the tank as is, or wether I need any other form of hardware to make it work?

Thanks,
Marty.

 

[Sang72]

Sounds like a 20 Gal to me, mine is 2 ft long 16 High and I think 14 wide. I think you need an airpump for a sponge filter. Will it be enough for a 20G? You might want to look into a power filter. I have a Tetratec PF 130 (rated up to 30 gal) with dual carbon filter/floss inserts (you change one at a time to preserve the bacteria) a separate additional bio filter, adjustable flow control, tidal flow and an integral heater (really nice but you gotta clean the slime off it once a month)

http/tetra-fish.com/tour/virtualtour.html

I was a fool and paid full price, but....

http/cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...&category=46311

that's the heater it's a steal at 9.99, I paid 39 bucks for mine.

I saw a PF130 a week ago for like 18.00 new in box.

*I'm not promoting this product and have no affiliation with Tetra(tm), it affiliates or subsidiaries*

I hear the Bio-Wheel(tm) filters are really good too.

 

[Stryker]

I bought an EcoTherm on the recommendation of a mate. They are not too expensive (around £14 - £18) and do a damn good job. So easy to use. Its thermostat controlled and the control dial is not too sensitive so it made an easy job of reaching the ideal temp for my fish.

I put a 200w ecotherm in my 120L tank. My house is central heated so the ecotherm is hardly ever on.

If you buy a heater that is too low, you will notice it spends longer 'on', so perhaps may fail in a year or two. If you buy one that is too big IE 300w for your 2ft tank, then it will spend less time 'on' but God I hope the thermostate never breaks and sticks in the on possision

I'd go with 100w or maybe 150w for your tank on the assumption its about 70L and your house has central heating anyways.

Also the size of thermostat heater you buy makes no difference to your electric bill, it will use the same amount of energy to heat that volume of water come what may.

The only mistake you could make is to buy a 50w in a house thats not central heated and wonder why its 'on' 24/7

BTW, I dont work for ecotherm, I can only relay my experience of the product so far B)

 

[Marty]

assumption its about 70L and your house has central heating anyways

LOL! I think you mean central cooling! Austrlian summers ain't cool I'm afraid

Sang, thanks forr all your help. The reason I was originally asking after a sponge filter is because this is for a betta spawning tank, and they say that sponge filters are the best. What d'you think?

I'll have a look at all those other cool things to

 

[Sang72]

Well, I have never spawned sucessfully, but I'm hoping my swordtail will be the first. It makes sense to me, because I believe bettas build foam nests, and you'd probably want to keep the water surface as undisturbed as possible.

 

[Marty]

So long as it won't disturb the surface or suck in the tiny fry then I'm all for it

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Stryker]

sorry marty had not noted your details on the left there.

Interesting question, over in oz do you even need heaters? for that matter cant you stock your tank from the local stream.... or billybong or whatever you call it?

 

[Marty]

I dunno if we even need heaters now that you mention it. I think we probably do for spawning tanks, but for general stuff the water temp would be about 25C, maybe more depending on the weather. I got thinking about it the other night...

I believe you mean a billabong... I don't know if those fish would appreciate being dumped in my tank... Maybe a platypus?

 

[Stryker]

sorry, no pun meant. I was wondering if given your climate out there, there were any native tropical fish.

I mean over here in pom we keep your flying rats (cockateils) caged for our enjoyment