Heater/heating questions from lazy wife

BummersReef · Jul 28, 2016

so I have been letting hubby handle all plumbing electrical stuff for our 125 reef and he's been awesome with plumbing. But I am worried about heating so I need to ask some dumb questions. He doesn't seem to understand overall idea and I need more info before I can help him.
Prompted by coming home yesterday to find DT temp dropped to 74!!
We are using all used heaters - cheap things except one Finnix titanium 150 watt that we have no idea how old it is. Only that one can be set to a certain temp. Apparently hubby is just turning others on with no way of knowing what it is set to - it's a mess
We have 125 DT with approx 60 gallon sump plus approx 60 gallon refug. Sump and refug in basement. FInnex is in DT - one cheap heater in sump - one in barrel of saltwater - no idea wattage of cheap ones.
We have to have a better system and need advice.
- which containers should have heater In them?
- what wattage for each spot?
So confused!!
See from some Videos all heaters just in sump? None in DT? Our sump in basement and it's cold down there
We have 2 cheap therms we use to tell us the temp. Display on Finnex that gives temp is at least 2 degrees off what those temps say
We gotta drop some cash on this but need to first have plan .. Off to do more reading

willthethrill · Jul 28, 2016

It's all about watts per gallon. I just went through this myself since my system is in my basement and it's colder down there. You're supposed to have 3-5 watts per gallon. So, I have a 120 DT with 55 sump and 40 refugium. Actual water volume is around 160 gallons altogether. I have 2 Eheim 300 watt heaters for a total of 600w. That maintains my temp 78-82. So you have to see how many watts those heaters are and add them up.

jsker · Jul 28, 2016

I have a finnex 300W for my 80 gallon water volume and like the fact that I can use my controller to control the temp of the system. I would add another Finnex 800 w and keep the 150 w and remove the cheap heaters. Were you live it is cold in the winter and you need heater that can keep up. We live in central Florida and do not turn the heat on unless the temp drops below 56 and night in the house and the 300 w keeps up. I switched to the Finnex last winter for the reason my other more expensive heater could not keep up

BummersReef · Jul 28, 2016

willthethrill said:
It's all about watts per gallon. I just went through this myself since my system is in my basement and it's colder down there. You're supposed to have 3-5 watts per gallon. So, I have a 120 DT with 55 sump and 40 refugium. Actual water volume is around 160 gallons altogether. I have 2 Eheim 300 watt heaters for a total of 600w. That maintains my temp 78-82. So you have to see how many watts those heaters are and add them up.

Where are you putting your heaters? Your system is very similar to ours. But I don't think hubby has a good handle on exactly how much water total we have running - he's doing a guesstimate thing

BummersReef · Jul 28, 2016

jsker said:
I have a finnex 300W for my 80 gallon water volume and like the fact that I can use my controller to control the temp of the system. I would add another Finnex 800 w and keep the 150 w and remove the cheap heaters. Were you live it is cold in the winter and you need heater that can keep up. We live in central Florida and do not turn the heat on unless the temp drops below 56 and night in the house and the 300 w keeps up. I switched to the Finnex last winter for the reason my other more expensive heater could not keep up

Where do I put the heaters? In sump?

MCooper · Jul 28, 2016

Following along as need better heater for my tank. I put mine in the sump

donnievaz · Jul 28, 2016

BummersReef said:
Where do I put the heaters? In sump?

As long as you have sufficient wattage to maintain the desired temperature it doesn't really matter where you place them in the system.

BummersReef · Jul 28, 2016

Ok I warned of my ignorance but a heater controller is different from the heater? I looked for Finnex 800 online but it appears to have no digital thingie to set or read the actual temp?? I'm so confused! If I got for Finnex 800 won't I also need to get controller??

donnievaz · Jul 28, 2016

BummersReef said:
Ok I warned of my ignorance but a heater controller is different from the heater? I looked for Finnex 800 online but it appears to have no digital thingie to set or read the actual temp?? I'm so confused! If I got for Finnex 800 won't I also need to get controller??

Here's the controller
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...mpid=03cseYY&gclid=CMWTrtWwls4CFddbhgod3pgCnQ

shoelaceike · Jul 28, 2016

Just get new heaters. They are one of the cheapest components of a reef tank and one of the most important. The Aqueon pros are good and cheap.....you could also get a Fluval which shows the temp. 2x 200 watt heaters should work fine unless you live the Arctic.

jsker · Jul 28, 2016

BummersReef said:
Ok I warned of my ignorance but a heater controller is different from the heater? I looked for Finnex 800 online but it appears to have no digital thingie to set or read the actual temp?? I'm so confused! If I got for Finnex 800 won't I also need to get controller??

Yes down in the sump. Finnex has a guard the snaps around the heater with suction cups to keep the heater off the bottom of the sump. Question you have to ask yourself, does the sump have the room for the length of the heater? you can put the heater on a diagonal but the heat always needs to stay submerged.

I have a Apex controller that I control my heater with, and I can off set my temperature variance if need be. I am a -2 degrees to the actual temperature and adjusted for the variance. I use the Apex also, if the heat is to high it shuts down the heater by cutting power and I should not have a boil the tank issue, unlike a unit controller or the dial on top heater. The heater are titanium and do not break like glass. Here is more information from the Finnex site. I was going to go with the Eheim if I did not go with the Finnex.

willthethrill · Jul 28, 2016

Mine are spread. One down in sump and one in refugium. I like to think that they heat different locations and ultimately keep the temp more stable. Instead of there being one hot spot and it taking a few hours longer for the total system to actually rise in temp. That's where heater testing and experimenting come into play. Let's say you set your temp to 78. If it's above 78 it obviously turns off. Then when it drops below 78 it turns back on. However if you plot it on a chart like I was able to see on my apex the first day I got it, the temp was down to 76 then upppp to 82 then downnn to 76. Not too stable, especially for coral. I think I saw a video on YouTube recently and those new cobalt heaters were the most accurate. Temp stayed within a degree. They're a little pricier though

BummersReef · Jul 29, 2016

yeah I think we are going to go with the Finnex 800W. and put that in sump and the 150 in refug. can't afford a real deal controller now so will probably just get the finnex heater controller for now. so much to buy, so little money. Heck, in this hobby $100 is considered cheap! LOL
saving for lights ... yeah!! (Radion yes yes please)

jsker · Jul 29, 2016

BummersReef said:
yeah I think we are going to go with the Finnex 800W. and put that in sump and the 150 in refug. can't afford a real deal controller now so will probably just get the finnex heater controller for now. so much to buy, so little money. Heck, in this hobby $100 is considered cheap! LOL
saving for lights ... yeah!! (Radion yes yes please)

FYI AI and Ecotech are the same company and I went with the Hydra 26 hd's for that reason and the cost saving. Really like my Hydra's. One reason some go with the Radion is they can control them with the Apex but that is another module with Apex

and cost.

CubanHogFish · Jul 29, 2016

I have a 125g DT and a 55 sump. All in the house i live in florida dont have basement but i keep my house cool at night around 70/71 and i have 2- 400w won brothers titanium heaters that i control with an apex and it keeps my tank i check temp never gets lower then 77.7 and apex kicks on and maintains the temp i agree with the 3-5 watts per gallon but my advice if you care about energy$$$$$ go with more watts then you need like that the heaters heat water up quickly and less $$$ on energy. Won brother heater can be purchased with or without controler at marine depot

Defiant Arms · Jul 30, 2016

I am considering the Won Brothers HT Titanium 1500 just because the cobalt Neo-therm I was originally planning to go with I cant get a higher watt model. I will be controlling it with either a apex or digital aquatics reef keeper not 100% yet

Vaughn17 · Jul 30, 2016

Defiant Arms said:
I am considering the Won Brothers HT Titanium 1500 just because the cobalt Neo-therm I was originally planning to go with I cant get a higher watt model. I will be controlling it with either a apex or digital aquatics reef keeper not 100% yet

I love my cobalt neo-therms. Have had two for two years with no issues. They are easy to set and reasonably accurate (maybe off a hair).

Vaughn17 · Jul 30, 2016

BummersReef, you have the right attitude for this hobby. You're reading, you're asking, your tank will be awesome someday!

Triggreef · Jul 30, 2016

Aqueon backs their heaters with lifetime guarantee. Hard to argue that point. I love my apex to control, that keeps my temp within a half degree. If you use a controller don't go setting the temp on the heaters too hot. If you do that and the controller fails you'll boil your tank.

One thing i didn't notice anyone mention is your better off with several smaller heaters rather than one big heater. The theory behind that is if one heater fails the others will keep up. If there's only one, then there's nothing to back it up when it fails.

Everything you're setting up in this hobby, think about what happens when it fails. Make a back up plan for everything.

stunreefer · Jul 30, 2016

Whichever brand you decide, I highly recommend backing it up with an external controller for redundancy. Heaters are evil, and when they fail it's bad. This article explains it simply.

Is your basement super cold in the summer? I'm in Michigan too and do not run heaters through the warmer months. While 74 is cool, it's nothing to worry about if it's consistent. Your corals will grow a bit slower. I consistently run our office reef at 74F year round.