a Strong enough heater for my 240 gal.

[NikkO]

I'm starting to put together a 240 gal and im wondering if there is a strong enough heater out there for it. I heard that a good rule for heaters is 5W a gallon, but that would mean a 1200 w heater. The strongest ive found was a 1000w titanium heater by Pro Heat. I could just put a 1000W and a 200W for it, but I dont want to make the electric company rich. Or, i could jus use a 500w that would run longer.

The type of heaters that I'm reasearching are the Pro Heat titaniums since they can be fully submersible and that they can come with a digtial controller, or some other kind of contoller.

 

[Dabbler II]

Well it all depends if you have a sump style system you might get awat with a couple of 500's but if you are going with in tank heaters I would go with 3 heaters (both ends and the middle)
I know with my 120 that once I was finished with the light hood I didn't need any heaters for the tank but I have 1 300 in just incase. How big is the tank LXWXH ?

 

[NikkO]

the tank is 96"x24"x24" and i am going to use a sump tank( the Bio Rocker requires one) and put the heaters in there. Thanx

 

[blitzen25bm]

you should use a few smaller ones than a huge 1000 watt or so. will the heaters fit in the sump. wattage all depends on your ambient temp. my room is cold so the 5 gallon has a 25 and the 40 gallon had a 150 when the 180 in the living room is fine with a 250.

 

[OrionGirl]

As tanks get larger, the wattage per gallon drops. If you have about 2-3 watts per gallon, you'll be fine. I would go with 2 300 watt heaters, personally, since that will spread the work out, and still provide some assurance if one should fail.

 

[jeffro426]

I agree, as long as you dont keep your house at artic temps, 2 300 watt heaters should be just fine...you could go 2 500s just to be on the safe side.

 

[gman52]

id go with 2 600 watt heaters. one on each end of the tank

 

[ashdavid]

I use 15 * 500w heaters with an industrial thermostat and the tank is 1850g, which would make it 4w per gallon, but I also live in a very cold climate. That being said I could probable get away with 3w per gallon.

 

[Madness]

I guess it really does depend on the ambient temps, tank setup, and where the heater is used. My 150 gal cichlid tank runs without a heater. I have do have a Tetratec 500 powerfilter with a 200 watt heater insert, but the heater isn't used. My house stays within 70 to 74 degrees year round with HVAC. My tank runs about 4 degrees above ambient just from lighting and internal pumps, 60 watts of light and about 50 watts of pumps. Most of the heat from the lighting escapes out the top of the light fixture but all the heat from the pumps goes into the water because they are submerged.

I have used the Tetratec heater and found that it had no problem raising the water temp an additional 10 degrees above ambient to 86 degrees when treating Ich. That's a ten degree rise with just a little over 1 watt per gallon. The heater was certainly capable of more as it did not run continuosly once the desired temp was reached.

If your ambient temps require that you'll need to keep your tank temp above ambient then I recommend finding a way to run submerged circulation pumps to capitalize on their heat. In a tank of your size every little bit helps. Conversely, it helps to avoid them if you don't need to run above ambient.

 

[chefkeith]

I agree with what Oriongirl said.

If your room stays warm all year, and you have a hood and lights over your tank, you don't need much wattage.

For my tanks which equal 460 gallons, (was 270g before adding a new 190g a month ago) I use 3 - 300w heaters. My room temp year-round is between 76-82F. I keep the heaters set for 79F and I've never seen the water temp go below 78F. Also, I rarely see my heaters turn on because the water is usually above 79F.

For my 33g q tank, I use a 50w heater.

I use Via Aqua Titanium Heaters. I think they are good heaters, but it's hard to tell since I don't think they are used much.