Heater too small? Three hours to heat two degrees....

[PigDaddyF15E]

I have a 100 Gallon tank and Platinum 39 sump. I measured about 22 gallons of water in the sump but didn't get an accurate tally of the water in the tank after aquascape / sand...so I'm assuming it's around 100 - 115 gallons total. Temps recorded on Apex.

Based on that I bought the 300W heater with controller from BRS and set it to 77degrees. It typically kicks on around 76.3 and off around 78.4 (I understand they have a tolerance...and I'm assuming those temps aren't that far from 77 so no harm done).

The issue is that it takes that heater about three hours to bring the temp up. so it's heating 2 degrees in about three hours.

Is this ok? seems like it's running for quite a while.

I'm thinking of buying a 500W with controller and putting the 300W away as a "backup" when / if needed...or perhaps leaving it in and setting the apex to turn on that outlet if the temp drops to a certain point (primary 500W failure).

 

[alysak6075]

thats actually perfect. you WANT the heater to be slow. Slow is steady. Steady is good. Nothing good happens fast in a reef. I have a 220 gallon and the same sump and I use a 300W heater.

 

[T-J]

I run a 600w BRS Titanium heater on my 120g (w/ 40g sump). Always go bigger than what you need.

 

[FishyFishFish]

I think the bigger issue is whether it can maintain the tank temp in all conditions.

e.g. what is the current room temp and does it ever get any colder?

I agree that the slow heating is probably helpful, but if it gets to the point when it is permanently on and the tank is still too cold then it’s not powerful enough.

 

[PigDaddyF15E]

We live in florida...so not really worried about it getting very cold inside the house. Power outages are uncommon in winter here...so not too worried about that.

Temp is set around 76 degrees in the house...the gas heater will wait until closer to 73 before it comes on. So only about 4 degrees of difference between the air and the tank.

This is the first "winter" as the tank was setup a couple months ago. I'll watch and on the "cold" nights if I see it on for longer periods then I might think of upgrading.

I'm still thinking I should buy a second heater...regardless....just to have one "in house" in case the one I have fails.

 

[T-J]

We live in florida...so not really worried about it getting very cold inside the house. Power outages are uncommon in winter here...so not too worried about that.

Temp is set around 76 degrees in the house...the gas heater will wait until closer to 73 before it comes on. So only about 4 degrees of difference between the air and the tank.

Why do you keep the tank temp so low? If you're running a reef tank, temp should be around 78. You can use the BRS Titanium heater, along with a controller (like an Inkbird) to keep it within 1 degree.

 

[blaxsun]

We live in florida...so not really worried about it getting very cold inside the house. Power outages are uncommon in winter here...so not too worried about that.

Temp is set around 76 degrees in the house...the gas heater will wait until closer to 73 before it comes on. So only about 4 degrees of difference between the air and the tank.

I agree with the above - in your scenario you don't necessarily want it heating really quickly. I also have the BRS titanium heaters (600-watt) on my 200-gallon system and they heat relatively quickly; a 0.5 degree drop in temperature takes maybe 20-30 minutes to rectify.

 

[LuizW13]

Or you can get another of the same type for redundancy.

 

[Gtinnel]

I use 500 watts of heaters in my 140ish gallon system, and during the winter my tank has to run the heaters for about 1.5 hours before the temp rises enough to turn them off. If I were you'd I'd probably add a second small heater if that is an option. But ultimately @FishyFishFish said it best, as long as it can maintain temps under any normal circumstance than it should be fine.

 

[PigDaddyF15E]

Why do you keep the tank temp so low? If you're running a reef tank, temp should be around 78. You can use the BRS Titanium heater, along with a controller (like an Inkbird) to keep it within 1 degree.

Sorry....I was a little unclear. The tank heater is set to 77 degrees. Someone asked about the temp in my house. I have that set to between 76 and 73 depending on the time of year.