Heater Placement

jharding08 · 11/01/2014, 04:04 PM

I have a 200W submerible heater in the 40g sump of my 120g reef tank. I live in southern california, but in an old drafty house. In the mornings, nowadays, it gets 65 in the room where the tank is. My heater is set for 78-79 by the apex and i see that the heater outlet is on, but the tank still only gets to 77.6 or so.

I bought a 300W Jager heater to replace the 200W, but it is so long, it doesnt fit horizontally in my sump!

If I put it diagonally, it will still touch the side of the sump. I know its in water, but could it still be dangerous if it is touching the side of my sump. Its 3/8" Acrylic.

I might just buy two of the highest watt heaters I can get (mayb3 250W?) and run both of them. Redundancy is good. But for right now, the 200W cant keep up so I need to use this huge 300W. Sump is 20" across.

mcgyvr · 11/01/2014, 04:08 PM

FYI..I run 2 x 250W aqueon pro heaters in my 120G w/40B sump with no problems keeping the temp at 78-79 via my controller.

jharding08 · 11/01/2014, 07:06 PM

I just ordered two x 250w as well. How do you have them set up? Same low and high temps? Or staggered?

In the meantime I need to use the "too big" 300w heater. If the bottom of the heater is touching the acrylic, will it do anything bad?

postie1686 · 11/02/2014, 06:10 PM

no it will not get hot enought to damage anything as long as its in the water!

NSimpkins · 11/02/2014, 07:56 PM

I would vote for the Cobalt Neo Therm. They are very low profile which means you can have 2 200W or 3 and not take up a lot of room at all. As a user of them I also believe that their temp control is dead on accurate. They are also pretty fail safe from what I have read.

jharding08 · 11/04/2014, 04:46 PM

got two x 250W jager tru temps. anyone have a good Apex program for their heaters? Should i Just have the two of them running the same temp range (78-79)? or should i have one run prmary and the other only kick on when the primary cant keep up?

11/01/2014, 04:04 PM	#1
jharding08 BlueWorldAquatics.com Join Date: May 2012 Location: Murrieta, CA Posts: 657	Heater Placement I have a 200W submerible heater in the 40g sump of my 120g reef tank. I live in southern california, but in an old drafty house. In the mornings, nowadays, it gets 65 in the room where the tank is. My heater is set for 78-79 by the apex and i see that the heater outlet is on, but the tank still only gets to 77.6 or so. I bought a 300W Jager heater to replace the 200W, but it is so long, it doesnt fit horizontally in my sump! If I put it diagonally, it will still touch the side of the sump. I know its in water, but could it still be dangerous if it is touching the side of my sump. Its 3/8" Acrylic. I might just buy two of the highest watt heaters I can get (mayb3 250W?) and run both of them. Redundancy is good. But for right now, the 200W cant keep up so I need to use this huge 300W. Sump is 20" across. __________________ Stats: 180 g Mixed SPS/LPS reef tank, 30 gallon sump, live rock, GFO\Carbon, AquaMaxx AM250 in-sump skimmer, felt filter socks, cleaning crew

11/01/2014, 07:06 PM	#3
jharding08 BlueWorldAquatics.com Join Date: May 2012 Location: Murrieta, CA Posts: 657	I just ordered two x 250w as well. How do you have them set up? Same low and high temps? Or staggered? In the meantime I need to use the "too big" 300w heater. If the bottom of the heater is touching the acrylic, will it do anything bad? __________________ Stats: 180 g Mixed SPS/LPS reef tank, 30 gallon sump, live rock, GFO\Carbon, AquaMaxx AM250 in-sump skimmer, felt filter socks, cleaning crew

11/04/2014, 04:46 PM	#6
jharding08 BlueWorldAquatics.com Join Date: May 2012 Location: Murrieta, CA Posts: 657	got two x 250W jager tru temps. anyone have a good Apex program for their heaters? Should i Just have the two of them running the same temp range (78-79)? or should i have one run prmary and the other only kick on when the primary cant keep up? __________________ Stats: 180 g Mixed SPS/LPS reef tank, 30 gallon sump, live rock, GFO\Carbon, AquaMaxx AM250 in-sump skimmer, felt filter socks, cleaning crew

11/01/2014, 04:08 PM	#2
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	FYI..I run 2 x 250W aqueon pro heaters in my 120G w/40B sump with no problems keeping the temp at 78-79 via my controller.

11/02/2014, 06:10 PM	#4
postie1686 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Minnesota Posts: 191	no it will not get hot enought to damage anything as long as its in the water!

11/02/2014, 07:56 PM	#5
NSimpkins Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Location: Jersey Posts: 149	I would vote for the Cobalt Neo Therm. They are very low profile which means you can have 2 200W or 3 and not take up a lot of room at all. As a user of them I also believe that their temp control is dead on accurate. They are also pretty fail safe from what I have read.