Heater advice for 93 gallon rimless

mikellini · 07/27/2014, 07:24 PM

Hi all, I'm looking for help choosing a heater. Being open top with a large surface area, I'm not sure if standard rules of thumb apply. I plan to run the heater(s) off of an apex; as I understand it, this means I probably don't need to run two smaller heaters (not much risk of overheating due to a stuck-on heater). So, I'm thinking that two heaters sized appropriately to heat the tank on their own would be the way to go, with both running off of the same set point. Do you think 2 300 watt heaters would fit the bill? Or do you see any problems with my logic?

BTW I'm planning on placing both heaters in the overflow, I've heard this is generally OK as long as the temp sensor is somewhere else

mikellini · 07/29/2014, 07:38 AM

Anybody?

Mark Bianco · 07/29/2014, 07:45 AM

I have a 210gl open top with a 100gl basement sump and I run 3 300 watt heaters and there is not any problems keeping up, but then again I keep my house at 74 and the tank temp at 78. I also run the Apex for control and having multiple heaters are the way to go in my opinion.

Mark

mikellini · 07/29/2014, 07:58 AM

I'm on board with multiple heaters, and two should work in my case. I'm just not sure if I should have two smaller heaters that can heat the tank combined, or two larger heaters that can each heat the tank should one fail... The second scenario makes more sense to me with using the apex. The only thing is, how can I tell if one of the heaters fails in the on position? And does it really even matter? And I guess I'll have to check every once in a while to make sure one of them hasn't failed in the off position, but that should be easier to check

IPT · 07/30/2014, 12:20 AM

I don't know much about the Apex controller so can't comment there. I've been in the hobby a long time but admittedly not very active in the past few years following new trends and such.

That said I run two heaters that are each slightly under powered for my tank. Together they are more than enough for the tank. If one fails ON my tank will not become soup in a short period of time. If one fails OFF it will just struggle to keep the tank warm and be on all the time. The tank won't become an ice box in no time either. I had it happen once and the change was slow enough I could see the change in the livestock. The tank was warm and stuff was unhappy but it didn't get roasted. Just my 2 cents.

tofucube · 07/30/2014, 12:27 PM

Agree with multiple heaters hooked up to a controller. You can go with one smaller size and one larger size. Set temp on the smaller size so that it will kick on at the temp you want and set the larger heater at the temp slightly lower than the smaller one. That way, the larger one will only kick on if the smaller one is not able to keep up. That way, if the second larger one is not in use as often then that may prolong the life a little longer.

mikellini · 07/30/2014, 04:15 PM

Hmm those are two different ideas I hadn't heard before. Any others out there?

07/27/2014, 07:24 PM	#1
mikellini Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 376	Heater advice for 93 gallon rimless Hi all, I'm looking for help choosing a heater. Being open top with a large surface area, I'm not sure if standard rules of thumb apply. I plan to run the heater(s) off of an apex; as I understand it, this means I probably don't need to run two smaller heaters (not much risk of overheating due to a stuck-on heater). So, I'm thinking that two heaters sized appropriately to heat the tank on their own would be the way to go, with both running off of the same set point. Do you think 2 300 watt heaters would fit the bill? Or do you see any problems with my logic? BTW I'm planning on placing both heaters in the overflow, I've heard this is generally OK as long as the temp sensor is somewhere else

07/29/2014, 07:38 AM	#2
mikellini Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 376	Anybody?

07/29/2014, 07:45 AM	#3
Mark Bianco In Memoriam Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Infinity and Beyond Posts: 2,445	I have a 210gl open top with a 100gl basement sump and I run 3 300 watt heaters and there is not any problems keeping up, but then again I keep my house at 74 and the tank temp at 78. I also run the Apex for control and having multiple heaters are the way to go in my opinion. Mark

07/29/2014, 07:58 AM	#4
mikellini Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 376	I'm on board with multiple heaters, and two should work in my case. I'm just not sure if I should have two smaller heaters that can heat the tank combined, or two larger heaters that can each heat the tank should one fail... The second scenario makes more sense to me with using the apex. The only thing is, how can I tell if one of the heaters fails in the on position? And does it really even matter? And I guess I'll have to check every once in a while to make sure one of them hasn't failed in the off position, but that should be easier to check

07/30/2014, 12:20 AM	#5
IPT Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Alaska Posts: 3,197	I don't know much about the Apex controller so can't comment there. I've been in the hobby a long time but admittedly not very active in the past few years following new trends and such. That said I run two heaters that are each slightly under powered for my tank. Together they are more than enough for the tank. If one fails ON my tank will not become soup in a short period of time. If one fails OFF it will just struggle to keep the tank warm and be on all the time. The tank won't become an ice box in no time either. I had it happen once and the change was slow enough I could see the change in the livestock. The tank was warm and stuff was unhappy but it didn't get roasted. Just my 2 cents.

07/30/2014, 12:27 PM	#6
tofucube Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 53	Agree with multiple heaters hooked up to a controller. You can go with one smaller size and one larger size. Set temp on the smaller size so that it will kick on at the temp you want and set the larger heater at the temp slightly lower than the smaller one. That way, the larger one will only kick on if the smaller one is not able to keep up. That way, if the second larger one is not in use as often then that may prolong the life a little longer.

07/30/2014, 04:15 PM	#7
mikellini Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 376	Hmm those are two different ideas I hadn't heard before. Any others out there?