Newbie Heater Question

[k23fish]

I’m setting up my first salt water / reef aquarium. I have about a 45 gallon tank lagoon style, with about 20ish gallon sump. I was given some working eheim heaters. How do I go about setting them up? Do I use just one? Does it go in the sump by the protein skimmer? Or should it go in the tank. It’s a glass heater and I don’t have the suction cups so it would just have to lay down. Does it need to be turned off every water change? Thanks

 

[[Cameron]]

You can lay them down in the sump but I would still secure them in the sump at some point since you will want to clean, move equipment around, etc and don't want them banging into things. Keep in mind heaters are notorious for failing and many replace them every year or two even if they are working fine. I personally I would not rely on a used heater.

As for the way to set them up. Many run two heaters since as mentioned heaters are very prone to failure. I strongly recommend a separate temp controller. Set the heaters thermostat to 2-3 degrees warmer than you want to keep the aquarium and then set the temperature controller to the temperature you want to normally operate.

The reason for this is if a heater gets stuck on, the controller will shut it off. If a heater fails to heat, the other will keep the tank warm enough. Some run two temp controllers and two heaters but that is overkill on a small tank without expensive livestock.

 

[Philly Reefer]

Buy a temp controller (inkbird or bayite) to control your heater.
Eheim jager has a pretty good track record. So you should be good for a while. How big is that heater? You probably need around 100w or 150w for your size of tank.
Place it in the sump where it won't be exposed in the air.
So not in the return pump chamber

 

[k23fish]

You can lay them down in the sump but I would still secure them in the sump at some point since you will want to clean, move equipment around, etc and don't want them banging into things. Keep in mind heaters are notorious for failing and many replace them every year or two even if they are working fine. I personally I would not rely on a used heater.

As for the way to set them up. Many run two heaters since as mentioned heaters are very prone to failure. I strongly recommend a separate temp controller. Set the heaters thermostat to 2-3 degrees warmer than you want to keep the aquarium and then set the temperature controller to the temperature you want to normally operate.

The reason for this is if a heater gets stuck on, the controller will shut it off. If a heater fails to heat, the other will keep the tank warm enough. Some run two temp controllers and two heaters but that is overkill on a small tank without expensive livestock.

Thanks so much. So should I just toss the eheim heaters? Any recommendations on 2 new ones? Glass vs titanium? And would inkbird be good to control both of them?

 

[k23fish]

Buy a temp controller (inkbird or bayite) to control your heater.
Eheim jager has a pretty good track record. So you should be good for a while. How big is that heater? You probably need around 100w or 150w for your size of tank.
Place it in the sump where it won't be exposed in the air.
So not in the return pump chamber

Thanks. I’ll check to see what size they are. He gave me 3 because he had one spare, one set up with his whole rodi set up, and one in his sump. Do you recommend having 2 of them as well? Both in the sump?

 

[Philly Reefer]

Thanks. I’ll check to see what size they are. He gave me 3 because he had one spare, one set up with his whole rodi set up, and one in his sump. Do you recommend having 2 of them as well? Both in the sump?

No. One is enough for your size of tank. I have 1 for my 40breeder+20L sump. I use the 125w eheim jager.

And I dont use the suction cups either .. cause those jager are too long...

 

[[Cameron]]

Thanks so much. So should I just toss the eheim heaters? Any recommendations on 2 new ones? Glass vs titanium? And would inkbird be good to control both of them?

I would use the used ones in a QT tank, as a backup or to heat saltwater mixes. I think glass Jagers are just as dependable as titanium. What I look for is heaters with a built in control as a failsafe to a controller failure. That way both the controller on the heater and the temperature controller it is plugged into have to fail. IMO it is really hard to beat Jagers in terms of value. Titanium ones tend to last longer but few have a built in thermostats and they tend to cost twice as much.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Titanium units have never let me down.

 

[Ippyroy]

Thanks so much. So should I just toss the eheim heaters? Any recommendations on 2 new ones? Glass vs titanium? And would inkbird be good to control both of them?

I'd use them to heat the water for water changes.

 

[Hugh Mann]

+1 to pretty much everything here.

Can use one, or can use two slightly undersized heaters, that way if one fails your tank doesn't freeze. Stuck on, can't cook the tank.

Best place for the heaters is in the sump. Can be laid down, but careful about banging them around.

Inkbird or other temperature controller is a must. By a substantial percentage, the most common equipment failure I see posted is heaters. I myself have had 3 fail in the last year.

Keep the Jagers as long as they work. Useful for quarantines, heating water changes, or just backups in case of failure.

A titanium heater with a built in, separate temperature probe connected to a temperature controller is by far your best bet for stability and reliability.

 

[neeper]

Titanium units have never let me down.

vetteguy53081, I concur! I've been using two 200w aquamedic heaters for over 10yrs now and they've never let me down. I've got two new spare eheim jagers for the day they do fail. I regret not purchasing another set of the aquamedics for spares as they're virtually impossible to find now. I found some on european websites but they're the wrong voltage and plug type for north america.

 

[vetteguy53081]

vetteguy53081, I concur! I've been using two 200w aquamedic heaters for over 10yrs now and they've never let me down. I've got two new spare eheim jagers for the day they do fail. I regret not purchasing another set of the aquamedics for spares as they're virtually impossible to find now. I found some on european websites but they're the wrong voltage and plug type for north america.

Not saying they’re the only ones but been using titanium over 30 years with dependability and they are shorter in length in many cases