Heater Preference.

[Blue Lip]

Room temp plays a big role. If your place is cold, water temp drops faster. You will also need a bigger heater to maintain temperature. 800 watt heater seems big to me. I have no doubt it keeps your tank warm, & power bill high.

 

[trido]

Multiple heaters IMO is the only way to go. Also having a heater on a nice reef without a controller is like playing roulette. Sooner or later the temp controller on the 30 dollar heater will go out and either freeze or cook your tank. Having two or three smaller heaters will prevent the sudden over heat or cool down if one dies and having a separate controller is aven safer yet. My system is 340 gallons and I have the sump and frag tank in an unheated/insulated remote tank room. The tank is the only thing heating the room. I have only needed 750 watts of heaters for the last 8 years. With our recent cold spells and with all LED lighting I've been running 1000 watts regularly and sometimes need a fifth heater for 1300 watts to keep my temp at 78-79 where I like it.

I doubt that anyone with a tank in the house will need much more than 500 watts to keep a 180 gallon reef tank warm.

 

[Craiz]

I completely agree with multiple heaters. I've also had the fun an excitement of a cracked heater so I'd also recommend a non-glass heater. I use a titanium heater. I have an older version of this one: http://www.marinedepot.com/ViaAqua_...uarium_Heaters-ViaAqua-VA73334-FIHTTH-vi.html

 

[reefman069]

i will not put a glass heater in my tanks. i had one brake and killed everything in the tank. buy a titanium heater. the only way to go.

 

[MAC2]

I have a 300 watt cascade heater on a 240 gallon tank, 100 gallon sump, 40 gallon refugium. The room temp is 70°. My tank is 78°. The heater isn't constantly on either.

I have almost the same set-up as you. What lighting do you have? I am about to switch to LED's, which will significantly reduce the heat to my tank. I am looking at heater(s) to replace the heat.

 

[Blue Lip]

I recently switched from metal halides to LED's. It is easier to keep the room @ 70. I noticed my temperature is 76°.

 

[1guydude]

Finnex 500w. U have to buy controller seperate too.
Not digital but no swings

I used.to.run an aqueon pro 250w and a.ehiem jager 150w. Grear heaters. No controller or probe though...and my tanks got.bigger
Hths
D

 

[MAC2]

Thanks Blue Lip. Good info.

 

[jordanphulet]

+1 for plugging the heater into a controller. A controller is a little bit of an investment, but its really nice to have the peace of mind that if the heater goes haywire the controller won't allow it to cook the tank.

 

[Fahzza]

I run 2x 300 watt titanium ViaAqua's on my 240 gallon. since ive only had water in it for 3 days id say its pretty early to declare mission complete, but my tank is only varying a few tenths of a degree during the day. holding steady at 77.1 +/- 0.2

 

[NanaReefer]

I run 2x 300 watt titanium ViaAqua's on my 240 gallon. since ive only had water in it for 3 days id say its pretty early to declare mission complete, but my tank is only varying a few tenths of a degree during the day. holding steady at 77.1 +/- 0.2

Excellent heaters! A+++

 

[Fahzza]

Excellent heaters! A+++

well good! They came highly recommended to me. so that makes me happy

 

[ngreenaway]

the fluval e-series is really the cats pajamas for me..although for in sump use, what makes it attractive to me may not be such a big deal in a sump. i originally ran them in my discus tanks, and the color coded digital readout was easy to read across the room (green is good...red or blue will get me off the sofa to see how many degrees off it swung), the plastic cage gave me some sense of security as i didnt have to worry about my fish trying to lay eggs on it, theres a low flow indicator that ensures you put the heater in a high flow area...

but for use in a sump, i can see a lot of those features are kinda moot. i used to be a big fan of ebo jagers, but not really a fan of bi-metal strip controlled heaters (ie non digital) anymore. ive got a few still kicking around, but the writing is on the wall, and their time is coming..