Inkbird and heater setup

[Danyole]

I'm currently running two 250w heaters with electronic controllers on my 65G setup. I know 500w is a bit overkill and I should have aimed for 300W total but I already had one heater from my freshwater tank. I see everyone swears by Eheim Jagers and was wondering if there are any drawbacks to my current setup. Will a Inkbird work with my heaters? I've been keeping my house at 64F over the winter and it's usually 70-72F in the other months. Does running 2 higher wattage heaters pose a larger risk of cooking my fish and if so should I replace them with two 150w Jagers on a Inkbird? I have one that came with the tank when I purchased it used. Curious to know if running two higher wattage heaters is better due to less stress on them or worse due to risk of a fish fry

 

[Idech]

I have 2 x Eheim jagers 200 w on my 75 gallons, with an Inkbird. Eheim heaters are notoriously hard to calibrate so they work even better with an Inkbird controller, IMO.

Just make sure you set them higher than the Inkbird setting so it can turn them on and off.

I’ve never had a single problem with this setup in more than 2 years.

About running too high wattage, yes, it is riskier in the event of an Inkbird failure. I don’t know if 500w is enough to fry your tank though.

 

[Danyole]

Oops checked and they're only 200w each so 400w total. The only thing i'm worried about is the electronic controller somehow resetting itself to a factory setting from turning on and off constantly by Inkbird

 

[TheBear78]

One positive to running two larger heaters is that if one fails, the other should keep the tank reasonably warm.
If set up as above, you'd have to lose control of the Inkbird and both heater thermostats to cook the tank.
If the heaters fail, the Inkbird should warn you of a temperature drop.
If you lose Inkbird power (stuck in the off position) the unit may still be able to warn of a temperature drop or another error.
Complete Inkbird failure is difficult to mitigate against except for running a separate system.

 

[Uncle99]

Oops checked and they're only 200w each so 400w total. The only thing i'm worried about is the electronic controller somehow resetting itself to a factory setting from turning on and off constantly by Inkbird

No, I don’t see that as an issue.
While they could stick on, (always heating) the Inkbird is to catch that and stop the power.
If you can set your heater to go off at say 80 and the Inkbird at 79, then if Inkbird fails, heaters only allow 1 degree increase before they turn off.
It’s unlikely two things would fail at once.

 

[Danyole]

Exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks everyone

 

[jda]

Use the heaters that you have. I do feel that Eheim are good, but you can get some later when the current ones fail. If you do get Eheims, read the the directions about how to set them and and they are very reliable - they do take a bit of work.

InkBird is OK. No better. They have a high failure rate for equipment - one of the highest that I can think of. Ranco are better pieces of equipment - they are industrial grade compared to the so-so hobby grade InkBird. If you want the reliability, then see if you can find a Ranco near you on the used market. Ranco are not expensive anyway, but when used they can be the same or less than an InkBird.

 

[Danyole]

I'll look into Ranco. I have a non-WiFi Inkbird laying around that i'll use for now but was going to purchase the WiFi version

 

[fishyjoes]

I use eheim heater to control the temperature with an inkbird as the emergency shut off.

I find the eheim internal thermostat keeps my tank within about half a degree of my desired temperature (76.9 to 77.3) - I just set the inkbird to turn heating off if the temperature gets above 80 (heater stuck on)

 

[BairCorals]

Hey I have the inkbird with the 2 temp probes running 2-200w heaters on my 60 breeder setup. My house sits at 65 year round and haven't had any issues.
My Jager I turned up to 80 and the inkbird off at 78.5 and on at 78. It's been a year now and it's been solid except the wifi connecting then not connecting (it's the distance from the router I'm sure) but she still runs strong without it so I wouldn't worry too much.
The only downfall to the Jagers I've noticed is how big they are. I have a 20gal long sump and it takes 2/3s of the tank length. Had to ditch the idea of a fuge. But covered it with the ice cap turf scrubber.
The next set of heaters I'm going to get are probably the brs heaters. I have a 300w one sitting on the shelf and it's quite a bit smaller than the 200w Jager. Only downfall is it doesn't have an internal thermometer, but I've noticed the inkbird is pretty reliable.

 

[reef tank 2.0]

since we're talking about running two heaters with the inkbird...........what method are you using to plug two heaters in, since there is only one heating outlet on the unit? I think I already know this answer, but would like verification.

something like this -

 

[EricR]

since we're talking about running two heaters with the inkbird...........what method are you using to plug two heaters in, since there is only one heating outlet on the unit? I think I already know this answer, but would like verification.

something like this -

The 3 different InkBird controllers I've had all had 2 outlets to control 2 separate heaters.
*on/off was same for both but there were already 2 outlets

What model InkBird are you looking at?

 

[reef tank 2.0]

I have the inkbird ITC-308 with wifi. it only has one outlet for heating, and the other outlet for cooling (which im not using)

 

[EricR]

I have the inkbird ITC-308 with wifi. it only has one outlet for heating, and the other outlet for cooling (which im not using)

Oh,,, I see.
If you're not going to use the cooling feature, you would've been better off with a heating only model.
Doesn't really matter since you can just put an AC splitter on it but it'll just be a bit more bulk to deal with.

 

[reef tank 2.0]

what model are you using?

 

[EricR]

I currently run ITC-306A (Wifi) but I've had a couple of ITC-306T (cheapest) on other tanks.
I like 'em and haven't had any problems but I know people swear by Ranco if you don't mind the price and industrial aesthetic.

 

[reef tank 2.0]

i just got this one in. i can easily return it. i saw your model, definitely like the two heater outlet option. i'm getting that one instead. thank you!!

 

[EricR]

i just got this one in. i can easily return it. i saw your model, definitely like the two heater outlet option. i'm getting that one instead. thank you!!

My only tip is that, even within the same model, they sell aquarium models with coated probes vs same with steel probes (although people still use those without issue either by sealing themselves or not) -- I'd get one of the aquarium ones, personally.

ITC-306T has no Wifi, only 1 probe, and MIN 1 degree on/off variance.
ITC-306A has Wifi, 2 probes, and MIN 0.5 degree on/off variance.
*so consider that vs price,,, and who knows if there's more variations than what I've seen.

Good luck...