Questions about heaters

BarbH

Okay have continued to do more research on how I am wanting to set up this tank. On larger tanks I know it is recommended to run two heaters in case one fails. I saw the Hydro ETH which can be hooked up to the return on the canister filter. What I am wondering is if I was to use the Hydro ETH should I still set up a second heater in the tank as a back up? The tank is a 72 gallon bowfront. Thanks.
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jaysee

I don't see why you couldn't put 2 inlines in tandem. If each one will be capable of heating the tank on their own, then the second one will only come on if the first fails.

AbbeysDad

I like the idea of two heaters for load balancing and redundancy in the event one fails. Also, it affords added capability in the event that the room temperature falls below the threshold of one heaters' ability to maintain the desired temperature.

Unfortunately I can't really speak to the issue of one or more inline heaters as mine are conventional, except that they are Aqueon Pro's (200w/250w in my 60g) which are plastic covered aluminum (nearly indestructible) and feature red light/green light so I can see at a glance how they are working...and adjusting for load balancing.
Although submersible, I have them installed vertically on the back wall with the controls just above the water line.

I can see that in-line heaters would be nice in that they're not in the tank. Not sure of adjustability controls and monitoring.

Chesherca

*subbing to this thread*

I've been wondering about switching to this type of heater for a long time. I think I just get paranoid because I can't see that little red light on to be sure they're working *ish paranoid* You'll have to let us know, if you go this route, how things turn out. I'd LOVE to be able to get rid of some of the junk hanging in my tank, if at all possible!

Sookielee

I have a 75 gallon tank with 1 Hydor ETH 300 w and this one heater keeps my tank at temp with no problem. I have thermometers on each side of the tank, one near where the heated water comes in and one at the farthest point. Both thermometers consistently read the same temperature. We are still cycling our tank and the one heater maintains an 81-82 degree temp. This heater does have a red light that shows you when it is actively heating.

75 Gallon Tank
2 Filstar XPL (previously XP3)
1 Hydor ETH 300 watt.

JDM

I would say yes.

I'm not sure where anyone got the idea that you were considering two inline heaters on one filter, but that would work too. If you had two filters, two inlines would work, otherwise the backup should be in the tank. With the inline the heat distribution will be very good. I am going to put one on my filter and my now primary (Aqueon Pro, nice non-glass heater) will become my backup. I like that it has a green power light as well as a red heating light and they (it, probably a single bi-color really) are LED so the light is not likely to fail.

Jeff.

jaysee

I didn't think that that's what they intended to do - I made an alternative suggestion.

If the point is to get the heaters out of the tank, then I don't know why one would put a backup heater in the tank. Seems to defeat the purpose.

JDM

True. I look at it that if I need to have two heaters, one will be in the tank and one will be out of the tank. There was someone here who did two canister filters and two inline heaters. For me two canisters on a 37 gallon is WAY overkill but that is a proper backup setup.

The two inlines would work as primary and backup for each other, or even primary and auxiliary, but if you turn off just the filter or it fails, you have zero heat. The in tank at least gives you a proper fully standalone backup, not a system dependent backup.

Jeff.

jaysee

were the OP's tank mine, I would have 2 canisters on it and so one heater on each would make more sense. Anything over 50 gallons gets 2 canisters.

Turning off a filter is not going to make a difference with the temperature of the tank, for the reasons anyone turns off a filter. The only time I turn off filters is when I change the water, during which I also turned off the heaters (though my tanks have been unheated for years now). I understand the concern about the filter breaking - but that's a pretty rare occurrence with canisters. Too, larger tanks take a while to lose heat. having a traditional heater on hand would be a good idea if both inlines are on the same filter, in order to be prepared for anything.

aricrocks123

I think the idea of a heater is not a bad idea . I have had a tank for 12 years and only had one though.