aquarium heater

unitednations161

I had a similar post about a heater for a 40 gallon, but I'm going to upgrade to a 65 gallon, same size but taller. What heater/ heaters should i get in this? With my house being 62 degrees in the winter.

I know how to calculate it, just want she real world answers.

Adamson

Any 200 watt heater should be good. Or duel 100s.

unitednations161

they told me 250 in the 40 gallon tank.

Adamson

The LFS? Of course they did..

Adamson

I am normally never too concerned about my heaters, I honestly don't think that it matters all that much as long as you aren't trying to hear a 6 foot tank. A 200 watt heater is going to do fine by itself on anything up to 75.

unitednations161

wow, a 50 watt wouldn't get my 10 gallon steady at 78 degrees, all it could do was 76 on full blast.

Byron

I would probably prefer a 250w or 300w heater if there will only be one in a 65g tank. But that assumes a room temp around 70F.

Most heaters will only be reliable if they are not having to heat the aquarium more than about 10 degrees above the ambient room temperature. Most will tell you in the instructions that they are designed for this. It's one thing for a room to slowly cool to 62F in the winter at night, if it is heated to 70F during the day. But if 62F is the temp permanently, the heater is going to have to work overtime and this is what causes malfunctions. And most heaters simply will not heat an aquarium to 78F if the room temp remains near 60F.

unitednations161

its 62 at night and 68 during the day. I have a 400 watt in my 75 gallon turtle tank and that sure kept the water at 80.

unitednations161

no i never listen to them. People on here.

AbbeysDad

In my original setup I had a 200w Aqueon Pro submersible heater in my 60g. I like these because they are a plastic coated aluminum heater which I feel are more indestructible than glass. They also have the green light/red light LEDs to indicate operation.

After some discussions here, I liked the idea of having two heaters in the tank so that in the event one failed, there was a back-up, so I added another Aqueon Pro 250w. Although I've adjusted so they are very close, one is slightly more dominant heating than the other. However, if/when the room gets cool, both will kick in. Heaters are a case where 'oversizing' is a good idea. Byron is correct - most manufacturers rate heaters for tank sizes where the room will not be more than 10 deg F cooler than the target tank temperature....But what if/when the room temperature gets lower? Always better to have more heater horse power than a minimum requirement to ensure a stable temperature. I guess a caveat is if a larger heater sticks on, the time to over heat the water is reduced.

So, I'd use two 200w or 250w heaters. Set properly each works less than might otherwise be the case and if room temperature drops, there is extra capacity to maintain temperature....and if one heater should ever fail, there's a backup.