Heaters

reefer125g

Non-member
I have 2 x 300 watt heaters in my 180 and thay cant keep my tank at temp . My old ebojag's handled my 210 no issue. Want my old heaters back !
 
That seems odd, maybe you have a malfunctioning heater. Do you have a smarthome plug or Apex with energy monitoring to measure them? I used to have a "150w heater" that was barely pulling 60w. What's the temp of the room?
 
I have a 2 250 watts in my 72 bowfront. Room in winter is around 65-70. One is set a couple degree below the other on their internal on/off switches.

I agree with Jason... Is it on a switch? Or are they set up like mine? If I had issues not keeping temp I might go into a finnex controller style set up. Or Apex/reek keeper controller system.

Tim
 
If they're pulling the advertised watts, then your problem is not your heaters. Save for the tiny amount of energy that is radiated as light (visible or invisible), and the tiny amount of energy transformed to kinetic if it's vibrating, the rest of it is going into your tank. That's just basic conservation of energy. Two internal heaters pulling the same watts will put (almost) the same amount of heat into your tank.

Maybe your room is colder than it was when it was back when you had a 210. A few degrees can make a big difference. Maybe you have more evaporation. Was the old one covered by a hood and the new one uncovered? Does your new one have a lot more surface agitation? Is the footprint (square footage) of the 180 larger? Is the air more dry? These factors will make a huge difference.

Edit: Another thing to consider is other sources of heat. Old school AC pumps will put out a lot more heat than DC pumps and wavemakers. Also, what's your lighting? T5s or even worse metal halides will put out crazy amounts of heat. LEDs much less.
 
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Running 3 250 watt HQI lol . Issue is the drop at night. Foot print is the same as old tank set up exactly the same as the old . I do have more flow and a DC pump .
 
Is the only flow in your sump from the return? I noticed adding a powerhead to the heater container in my sump reduced how often the heater was on.

When was the last time you cleaned your heaters? I cleaned mine a month or so after adding the powerhead and noticed less usage again.
 
I’m going for not enough contact time. The water is rushing through th e sump to fast to heat up. Also you’re probably getting a lot of surface agitation which in turn is also releasing heat
 
Is the only flow in your sump from the return? I noticed adding a powerhead to the heater container in my sump reduced how often the heater was on.

When was the last time you cleaned your heaters? I cleaned mine a month or so after adding the powerhead and noticed less usage again.
Both of these are the same problem. If your heater is isolated due to low flow or encased in gunk, it will heat up and turn itself off before it makes a dent to the rest of the tank. @reefer125g when you say that your heaters can't keep up you mean that they're staying on all night and the temperature is still dropping right?

I’m going for not enough contact time. The water is rushing through th e sump to fast to heat up. Also you’re probably getting a lot of surface agitation which in turn is also releasing heat
Surface agitation making a difference, yes, definitely. Water rushing through the sump too fast to heat up would defy the laws of physics. Where is the thermal energy produced by the heater going?
 
Both of these are the same problem. If your heater is isolated due to low flow or encased in gunk, it will heat up and turn itself off before it makes a dent to the rest of the tank. @reefer125g when you say that your heaters can't keep up you mean that they're staying on all night and the temperature is still dropping right?


Surface agitation making a difference, yes, definitely. Water rushing through the sump too fast to heat up would defy the laws of physics. Where is the thermal energy produced by the heater going?

Both heaters are brand new. and yes heaters are on all the time.
 
Try adding one in your display tank for the night and see if it makes a difference. Also where’s your heater probe located?
 
I have a 160 gallon tank with a 30 gallon sump in the basement and run 1 finnex 300 w and can maintain 789 degrees
 
Finished on display side back room is unfinished but heating system and hot water tank are in the back room never gets below 65 68
 
That seems odd, maybe you have a malfunctioning heater. Do you have a smarthome plug or Apex with energy monitoring to measure them? I used to have a "150w heater" that was barely pulling 60w. What's the temp of the room?

Yes, some no name heaters are under rated, including some sold on Amazon .


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