Heaters for 800g+

[salty joe]

Electric heaters are 100% efficient but still cost a lot more to run than using gas, at least here in NE Ohio.
I use a tankless water heater, 100' PEX for a heat exchanger and a Ranco for control on my 800 gallon system.

If I had radiant heat in my house, I'd set up a separate zone to heat the fish tank in a heartbeat!

I have two concerns with using a standard water heater to heat a fish tank. When the water heater fails, and it will fail, the fish tank will call for heat but instead of the water heater heating the fish tank, the water heater will strip the heat away from the fish tank. My other concern is the possibility of disease organisms growing in the loop that feeds the fish tank. I'd be worried something bad could end up in my drinking water.

 

[Muttley000]

The stagnant loop is a legitimate concern IMO, my system is in the basement so I heat year around, but if that is not the case the loop should either be emptied, or circulated occasionally even though heat isn't needed. I use a Ranco also, and my apex alarms if the temp drops. I should make it kill the Ranco if calling for heat and the temp actually drops....

 

[theMeat]

Yup, gas or oil should be cheaper to run. If it’s easy maybe worth it. If you have to run pipe/tubing across the whole house and patch holes when done, maybe not .

Think lotsa tanks hardly need heat with lights, skimmer pump, return pump, and all other pumps you have running. If the room is colder than room temp then sure you need more heat for tank. Use mag drive pumps for everything and you won’t need heat, but instead a chiller.

Think it’s a good idea for any new tank is set up in room as you would have it and let run for a few days to see what temp it’s going to run with no heat. Then you know how much heat you need.

Have seen some pretty interesting ingenuity for heating large tanks. Boiler and hot water heaters as discussed. Titanium spa heating elements. Even bucket heaters.

 

[ca1ore]

If I had radiant heat in my house, I'd set up a separate zone to heat the fish tank in a heartbeat!

That does seem like the best way to handle a really large water volume. If one has facility with a blowtorch, not all that hard to do. I'd not do the water heater loop myself. My tank doesn't need a ton of heating watts, but now that I use LED lights, incidental heat is much less.

 

[TheRealDmorty217]

The w

Electric heaters are 100% efficient but still cost a lot more to run than using gas, at least here in NE Ohio.
I use a tankless water heater, 100' PEX for a heat exchanger and a Ranco for control on my 800 gallon system.

If I had radiant heat in my house, I'd set up a separate zone to heat the fish tank in a heartbeat!

I have two concerns with using a standard water heater to heat a fish tank. When the water heater fails, and it will fail, the fish tank will call for heat but instead of the water heater heating the fish tank, the water heater will strip the heat away from the fish tank. My other concern is the possibility of disease organisms growing in the loop that feeds the fish tank. I'd be worried something bad could end up in my drinking water.

The water heater failing is definitely a concern and the legionella that can result from reusing water is a major concern. I imagine that with a aquastat a extra ball valve or two and a bypass you could keep the water from growing bacteria. Titanium heat exchanger with bronze Grundfos or Taco pump is the direction I am leaning. For the $400 investment or so I could see a savings return within a year.

 

[ca1ore]

Don’t know how many folks have been around long enough to recall that the original incarnation of the quiet one pump was a grundfos - though plastic rather than bronze wet parts. It ran hot, and not reliably, though it was indeed quiet.