What heater should I get??!?

[ReefHomieJon]

Well, I have a 220g DT upstairs, and about 100g of sump in the basement, with about 1400gph flow between them. I keep my upstairs at around 69 in the winter, and the basment gets a little colder. Two 300w heaters in the sump keep up just fine all winter. I probably pick up heat from my submersible return pump and my lights, but even so, both heaters don't always need to come on at the same time.

What brand?? And maybe I’ll be ok with (2) 200watt heaters then.

 

[ReefHomieJon]

I run two 150w Eheim Jagers in my 275g system. My basement is usually 70F year round so they're more than adequate.

Like others said, you should get two under powered heaters vs one heater in case one fails. If one fails on, it'll take a long time to heat your system up to a problem temperature, if one fails off, the other should keep your tank warm enough for you to notice the issue.

Good point

 

[S2G]

Do an online price match with Petco or petsmart. Grab a jager whatever wattage then hook it up to a heater controller like an ink bird

 

[ReefHomieJon]

I'm an Eheim Jager user. For me, the best heater out there...but they are long. Also strongly agree with at least two heaters. No matter what brand you go with, they do fail. And if it's one heater dying, at least the other one will attempt to maintain temperature. If it's a stuck ON failure, this is why you want to get a temperature controller. I'd recommend either a Ranco or Inkbird. Both are quality controllers, but you do need to get a truly waterproof sensor.

Here's the chart for Eheim's. Don't know what your garage situation is as far as being heated, but my first though is two 250's, if they will fit. If it's a heated garage, two 200's would be fine. Eheim's are long.

Thanks for the chart and input!

 

[lapin]

I run 2ea 500W JBJ Titanium heaters on my 600 with temp probes and digital controllers. They are backed up by my apex, so if they do stick on, the power will be cut. I have used JBJ's for 8 years. These 2 are going on 2 years old. I believe heaters have a 2 to 3 year life span no matter what brand. If they are glass, I drop and break them quite often.

 

[lpsouth1978]

I have been using Finnex Titanium heater for years and LOVE them. Use them with an Inkbird temp controller and presto. Stable temps!

 

[foxt]

What brand?? And maybe I’ll be ok with (2) 200watt heaters then.

Eheim Jager

 

[ReefHomieJon]

Eheim Jager

Ok ok how about aquatop? Only brand my LFS has right now

 

[lpsouth1978]

I would think it will be fine so long as it is titanium. I would steer clear of glass heaters. I have had too many issues accidentally breaking the glass, or forgetting to unplug them during maintenance and having them explode. NOT FUN!

 

[ReefHomieJon]

I would think it will be fine so long as it is titanium. I would steer clear of glass heaters. I have had too many issues accidentally breaking the glass, or forgetting to unplug them during maintenance and having them explode. NOT FUN!

Ok thanks

 

[foxt]

Ok ok how about aquatop? Only brand my LFS has right now

What's the rush? Buy the eheim online, from a place like BRS!

 

[ReefHomieJon]

What's the rush? Buy the eheim online, from a place like BRS!

The rush is that I do t have any and the tank temp is dropping because today was the last day it’s gonna be hot enough for the chiller to have to come on at night lol. The sump is in my garage sits getting colder at night now that summer is over. We had like a straight 2 mo th heat stroke inducing wave out here in Socal but it’s pretty much over and my tank temp was 75 at 3am which is the first time I’ve ever seen it below 77 because of the chiller so I kno that even tho it warmed up during the day tomorrow at 3:30am it’s prolly gonna be 72 if I do t get a heater on it. I keep the water at 78 so I gotta get these u til I can get something else.i was going to buy some on Saturday but the fall weather decided to finally show up.....

 

[foxt]

You gotta do what you gotta do. If you are worried about the temps tomorrow, then seems like your only choice is the one you can get your hands on locally. Even if they are of lower quality, they won't fail right away ...

 

[gotem86]

Whatever you do end up getting, I'd consider an external temperature controller a must have . I'm currently using one of the Inkbird controllers and am very satisfied with the performance.

 

[ReefHomieJon]

You gotta do what you gotta do. If you are worried about the temps tomorrow, then seems like your only choice is the one you can get your hands on locally. Even if they are of lower quality, they won't fail right away ...

Exactly

 

[ReefHomieJon]

Whatever you do end up getting, I'd consider an external temperature controller a must have . I'm currently using one of the Inkbird controllers and am very satisfied with the performance.

And they’re not too expensive. Maybe I will get one of those too

 

[foxt]

+1 on the inkbird; you want something other than the heater itself managing the temperature.

 

[ReefHomieJon]

Yup I’m gonna get one. So I crank the heaters up to like 80 and then set the inkbird to my desired temperature(78) right?

 

[gotem86]

Yup I’m gonna get one. So I crank the heaters up to like 80 and then set the inkbird to my desired temperature(78) right?

That's exactly what I do. Just make sure that you setup the inkbird to stay within 1 degree of your desired temperature. I believe that the default setting is 2 degrees, and some people have left negative reviews because of that.

 

[jd371]

I have been using Finnex Titanium heater for years and LOVE them. Use them with an Inkbird temp controller and presto. Stable temps!

Same. These heaters are built like tanks.