Placing your heater in your sump

[undertaker777]

"RULE OF THUMB" how much higher than 80 degrees should you run your heater in your sump to get a safe temp in your display tank?

[MMacro]

I just set my heater to whatever I want the rest of my tank at...
Not much heat is lost from the time the water comes in contact with the heater to when the water goes back into the DT.
IME...

[LesPaulPlayer]

I set my heater to 77 in my sump. Keeps the entire tank at 77.

[undertaker777]

thx for that !!!

[sturner91]

I have two heaters in my sump set for 80 and my display is usually about 78

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[Desmondkg]

I run 2 300 wat heaters set a 25.5 c on a stc unit sat in my sump. 1 in supply side other in return.

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[fishsuse29]

On a side note do you find the heaters work more efficiently in a highflow area of the sump or a low flow section?

[Pandagobyguy]

High flow is best and the only real reason to set a different temp is if your heating a display from the sump

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[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by fishsuse29

On a side note do you find the heaters work more efficiently in a highflow area of the sump or a low flow section?

Doesn't really make much difference. Key is to have adequate turnover between the sump and the display to prevent heating differences. 3-5x display volume should suffice.

[moondoggy4]

I like the Finnex Titanium heaters they have little rubber feet on each end of the heater so the element does not touch the bottom of the sump.

[CindyK]

My heaters are in my sump and set to my desired display temp

I suspect that, if there is a difference, it is related to the distance the water has to travel (ie my sump is in the stand, so not much compared to those who have the display plumbed into a basement). The longer the water travels in tubing, the more time it has to cool off.

[hogfanreefer]

I have one heater in the sump and one hidden in the overflow. I don't really look at what the heater is "set" at. I control them with my Apex. Simply turn them on and let the temp equilibrate. Then check to see if both have shut off and adjust and repeat until the tank is at the desired temp. I then set the Apex to shut off the heaters if the tank temp gets more than 1.5-2 degrees above the desired temp(79 for me)

If one heater fails in the off position the temp will drop but not to harmful levels. If one fails in the on position the Apex will shut them off and send me a text.

[ca1ore]

Originally Posted by CindyK

My heaters are in my sump and set to my desired display temp

I suspect that, if there is a difference, it is related to the distance the water has to travel (ie my sump is in the stand, so not much compared to those who have the display plumbed into a basement). The longer the water travels in tubing, the more time it has to cool off.

I measured this one time (from a basement sump) and it is negligible. PVC is actually a decent insulator, and as long as the flow is reasonable there is no change.

[schandler88]

I run a basement sump, there is probably a 40ft run of PVC to the tank and then 40ft back. I currently have my heater set to 78 in the sump, the display is 76.

[SpeedKilz]

I'm running 2 heaters at 78. DT is at 77. Completely open top sump.

[Justin330]

Mine are set at 77 and my dislplay is 78 also

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[75mixedreef]

Why not just have the temp sensor in the display tank and the controlled heater in the sump? Wouldn't that be best?

[Sparky0028]

Yep what he said.

[Buzz1329]

Originally Posted by ca1ore

Doesn't really make much difference. Key is to have adequate turnover between the sump and the display to prevent heating differences. 3-5x display volume should suffice.

+1. Before I recently replaced plumbing in my 75, I had VERY slow flow between tank and sump, which reduced temp of DT by 2 degrees. I put a 150 watt heater in DT with Finnex heater controller, and it cut variance in half. With new plumbing and adequate flow, no longer an issue.

Mike

[Sonyardo]

Thermostat accuracy is notoriously bad on hobby heaters. You will need to use trial and error to see what temp the heater actually turns on and off. Use the temp numbers as a starting point and adjust. For example I have a finnex thermostat that is set at 84 but it turns the heater on at around 76 and off around 78. A controller as a safeguard is a wise decision.

[skiingfast]

Some posters have made good comments.

You will lose heat if the water travels a long distance from the heater to DT. If you let the water splash for example cascading over a partition in the sump you will lose a lot of heat.


This is why it's more ideal to heat it in the return pump's chamber.

[ktownhero]

If it's a normal tank set up where the sump is in the immediate vicinity of the tank, then there's no magic here. Just set the heater to the exact temperature you want. The only way you would have to set it to a "buffer" temperature is if you have a long run. And by "long run", we're talking like 20'+.

[ktownhero]

Originally Posted by 75mixedreef

Why not just have the temp sensor in the display tank and the controlled heater in the sump? Wouldn't that be best?

This is only good advice if the heaters you are using have their own thermostats. If you are using a "dumb" heater, then you really ought to keep the heater and thermostat in the same body of water, to prevent major overheating during a power outage. If you have heaters with their own thermostats then at least that prevents over heating. I use Eheim Jagers and keep them to set 80 while my controller is set to 78. That way they work like "dumb heaters" on the controller, but if there's ever a failure the heaters will shut themselves off at 80.