Tank won't heat up?

[Giga]

I Have a a 4 tank system (2 tanks 2 sumps). The tanks are 20gallon(display fuge) 33 gallon(main tank) 20 gallon(sump) and a 10 gallon(sump) the 20 gallon and 10 gallon sumps only have about 15 gallon in them working so I have about 67 gallons total and they are all connected together. I have a 200 watt heater in the tank and I thought that would enough but it dosn't seem to get warmer then 75 degree's. We keep the house at 68-70 degree's. I thought the heater was bad but I took it out for a couple secs to grap it and it's doing it's thing nice and hot. Do I need another heater? I'm guessing that for winter I'll need another heater but what are other people thoughts?

20 gallon and 33 gallon tanks


20 gallon sump


10 gallon sump

[tydtran]

Very nice setup. There is nothing wrong with keeping the tank at 75 degrees. As long as you keep you ambient temperature the same, I would not spend any more money or electricity on an additional heat. Your fish and corals will be fine at 75.

[Giga]

oh I thought you had to keep it at like 80 degrees

[tydtran]

I don't think so. My tank in the basement frequently runs at 70 in the winter with no detrimental effects to LPS and soft corals. Obviously, you cannot let it get too cold <70 or to hot >85 but I think anywhere within this range is fine.

[Cove Beach]

Another thing is to place the heater in a high flow area. Or at least have it in a position where water will move past it, such as right by the intake of your return pump.

[ludnix]

How long did you let the heater try and heat up the water? I would personally prefer to keep it at 78F but I would do so using two smaller heaters. That way if one fails or sticks on you're not going to cook your tank.

I would just throw in another identical heater and have them both set to 78. You'll only be using a relatively small amount of extra electricity since they will both shut off at 78.

[tkeracer619]

I imagine your surface area to gallon ratio is why the single 200w heater isn't keeping up. Probably excess evaporation without a lot of water volume. See if covering portions of the sump helps. If it doesn't then put in another heater along with a Ranco or similar controller.

[Giga]

sounds like a good idea thanks

[Craig Lambert]

My system has a total of 68G. I use two 150W heaters, and they click on fairly regularly. (Especially during the winter when the house is kept at 67-68 and can drop to 58 overnight. I keep my tank at 79 degress. You might want to add another 50 or 100 watt heater.

[Giga]

yeah I think ima add another 100 watter