New Heater ratings?

[AL210]

I’m looking to purchase a heater for my 1st salt water tank setup.

105 Gallon cylinder with a 20gallon sump

I was looking at the Finnex line of titanium heaters. The 500 watt is rated for 70-130 gal & the 800 watt is 140-265 gal
Would the 500w be enough or would it be overworked?

 

[Fishnut]

The rule of thumb was always 2.5 x gallons. Unless your room temps are kept colder then normal 70ish. 300 watt is all i would recommend.

 

[SteveEreef]

I would use two heaters for redundancy and put them on a controller

 

[AL210]

I would use two heaters for redundancy and put them on a controller

I was planning on using an Apex for temp monitoring and alarms.

 

[Fishnut]

I have had a lot of heaters break and it was always where they locked in the on position. As said be StevEreef two smaller heaters can save livestock should one big one break quickly cooking the tank

 

[Aardvark1134]

Alot of things goes into this. Brand makes a huge difference jagers can heat more than most brands without overloading but allow bigger swings than some. Also how much heat is going into your tank from lights, pumps, UV etc. Acrylic or glass makes a big difference. Open top or closed top. In short you could need anything from 500watt to possibly no heater at all and a chiller instead.

 

[AL210]

Alot of things goes into this. Brand makes a huge difference jagers can heat more than most brands without overloading but allow bigger swings than some. Also how much heat is going into your tank from lights, pumps, UV etc. Acrylic or glass makes a big difference. Open top or closed top. In short you could need anything from 500watt to possibly no heater at all and a chiller instead.

Well I have an acrylic tank with a closed top. Does acrylic hold heat better than glass?

 

[Aardvark1134]

Acrylic with top usually needs about half the heater compared to a simular topless glass tank.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I'm a big advocate for multiple smaller heaters for redundancy.