250W heater for 72 gallon tank, enough?

No, That should be good. A general rule is one watt to every litre of water.

I have a single 250 in my 72 bow and it keeps it at a nice 80 F no problem.

ScottyNorq said:

Im setting up my new 72 gallon bowfront and i have a 250w stealth. Do i need to buy another one?

Click to expand...

ScottyNorq:

The "rule of thumb" is 5W/Gal.

IMHO you do need to purchase and install another 250W heater.

You have "done good" with your current purchase as the heater is approximately 70% of the recommended wattage.

Having two heaters of this wattage will do three things for you:

1) You can place them remote in the tank in order to obtain better uniformity of water temperature;

2) Should one of the heaters fail the water temperature will probably not decrease to an extent such that the temperature will be lethal to your fish (as I am certain you know, fish are cold blooded).

3) Should one of the thermostats fail and a heater "stays on" the water temperature will probably not increase to an extent such that the temperature will be lethal to your fish.


An additional item:

IMHO I would purchase a thermometer for your tank and check it's value daily. My experience has been that the temperature setting of a thermostat cannot be trusted.

TR

:iagree: I have a 72 Bow as well. I keep my temps higher with discus so I have 2 300W Visitherms. This way one heater doesn't have to work constantly to keep the temps up. Also, if you keep your room temperature lower, you'll need more heater to keep up the temp. Sometimes there's a 20F difference in my room temp (66F) to tank temp (86F) since i turn my house heat down during the day when no ones home!

I'd do 2 for that size tank. I have two 300's on my 90. I don't want to make the heaters over work, then wear out. Piece of mind.

Another heater isnt necessary or anything....but its always good to have a back-up and 2 will keep the temperature steady throughout the tank.