Heater failed :S

[paal]

I only run a single heater (yeah, stupid I know..) Anyway. It recently failed on me, probably within the last 24 hours. To make matters worse, I painted a wall in my living room yesterday and opened the window to get some fresh air. (its cold here in Norway – still snow outside)

When I got home from work today I noticed my SPS were looking bad. Tank was only 62 deg. I have a backup heater and have placed it in the tank now. My original plan was to run both heaters in the sump, but this one wouldn’t fit. I eventually forgot about the whole heater issue and “happily ran with only one”.

Some questions:
How quickly should I raise the temperature? Should I just set the heater on the desired temp and leave it, or should I go more “step by step” in order for the livestock to adapt? (Heater is 150W – total system volume is aprox. 25G.

For the future, how do you suggest I solve the heating “problem”.
I guess running 2x heaters is better than what I’ve done so far, but what if one of them is to fail in “on-setting”? I assume the best way is to run 2x and invest in a controller with a separate temp sensor that will shut them off in case of overheating…? It is a bit expensive, but so is loosing all the livestock

Thanks.

[Fizz71]

It will take a while to heat up your system so I'd just let it go. It's no different from "floating" new live stock in a tank after shipment which can get mighty cold.

As for heating..most people suggest splitting the required heating into 2 heaters to be as murphy proof as possible. However, I just have mine on one element controlled by a remote temperature sensor. I may eventually add redundancy to that via a computer for emergencies since I've already accidentally knocked the sensor out of the water which would have been bad if I hadn't noticed.

[thegrun]

I would bring the temperature up to 70 degrees F (21C) as fast as the heater will allow. After you hit 70, I would slow down to 3 degrees per hour if possible.

Most of us will divide the total wattage we need between two heaters. So if you need 150 watts, use two 75 watt heaters. I set them at 1 degree apart so the second heater will only run if the first cannot keep up with the demand. Running them through a controller is a good precaution, but I still use two heaters. At half your needed wattage, if one sticks on, it usually will not heat the tank to the point of killing livestock.

[fishychris]

I would have to say that you had a close one!!! I think that its dangerous to run only one, (for this very reason). Always run duel heaters. I hope you learned your lesson. Good luck with your warming.

[SaltieG]

Close call there for sure. Hopefully everything bounces back. These are the kind of reasons why I just ordered two brand new heaters for my tank, to replace the single one I have now.

[paal]

Thanks guys.
I'll do some shopping this weekend and start with two small heaters. Right now I can't afford a controller :/

Anyway:

Softies starting to look OK.
Clean up crew seem OK.
Montiporas are starting to show some polyp extension.
Acropora frags are still closed up.

Nothing is confirmed dead atm

[paal]

I think I'm gonna try 2x http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM6hGCKT7RM

I guess 2x50W should be ok for my 25gal total system volume..(?)

[thegrun]

Here in So. Cal, I run two 50 watt heaters on my 28 Nano with a 7 gallon sump/fuge. In Norway??? If you keep the house heated to 50 degrees Fahrenheit when you are not home you should be fine.

[paal]

Thanks
I'll start with two of those then, and hopefully a contoller later on.