Heater for small tank

[Krish]

This is a first for me! :shock: Never had to buy a heater for a saltwater tank, but seeing I am setting up this nano and I know the water will get very cold, I was wondering what size heater I would need for a 10 gal nano? Also, what brand is good to go with. I had a 40 gal freshwater tank with a canopy on it and the temp got to 76F so I'm sure this one will go lower with an open top and less water volume. Can't believe I will be buying a heater, but I guess there is a first for everything

 

[Krish]

What about this guy?? Eheim makes great pumps so what about their heaters (Eheim-Jagger) ? http://premiumaquatics.com/aquatic-supplies/EJ-19075.html

 

[Scooterman]

Use a water heater element in it from your house unit!

Like the jaggers but still use a controller like Ranco!

 

[Krish]

LOL!! That'll work

On the controller, why is that needed? Do heaters go bad and stick and stay on? Heaters are by far not my thing. I am usually on the opposite end of the scale trying to keep things cool. I figure in the day, the lights will keep the water a bit warm, but at night when they go off is where I will have the problem.

I'll look up those ranco controllers.

 

[Krish]

That thing is bigger than my tank :lol:

Is this what you are talking about? http://premiumaquatics.com/store/me...ore_Code=PA&Product_Code=TW-SC&Category_Code= From reading what it does, I kinda get the idea of why it is needed. Seems like a more accurate way to monitor temp and control it than relying on a heater to do it. Is that correct?

 

[gothunder3022]

I've had good luck with the stealth heaters in my small tanks. They're compact and shatter-proof. You could use the 50W model on your nano.

 

[gothunder3022]

Ranco's are great...but for the same price you could pick up a Reefkeeper lite (RKL 1) and use it to control the heater as well as your lights and pumps.

 

[Krish]

Thanks for the info!! I feel like such a noob when it comes to heaters

 

[Dalbery]

x2 I'd go with a rk lite. Heaters can and do stick on. It makes for a nice safety net plus you get all the other features.

 

[cptbjorn]

I found the hysteresis on the stealth heaters to be pretty large for small tanks, upwards of 2 degrees in my 3g. Should be 1/3 of that in a 10g but still a good 50w titanium will never stray out of a 1/2 degree range. Doesn't matter though if you go with a RKL.

 

[cptbjorn]

whoops just saw that I posted the wrong pic, here's the comparison of a stealth 50w and a cheap jalli 100w titanium heater. you can see that the stealth only turns on a couple of times each day while the titanium does hundreds of cycles:

I would assume the water temps around wild reefs don't just jump up 2 degrees like that very often, but whether or not it makes any difference in practice is anyone's guess...

 

[Krish]

Thanks for the info!!