What type of heater do i need ?

[Fishy_lover]

I want a dwarf puffer fish ( just one ) and I'm getting a 5.5 gallon tank for it , and I was wondering what heater I need and how many watts it should be , please help I really need to know

 

[dmolavi]

A heater for a 10 gallon tank will work well. You can find Tetra brand heaters for tanks that small, but it is not adjustable, and has a set temp of about 78F (+/- 2F). Eheim makes good heaters (I use Jager heaters in my SW tank), as does Aqueon (their Pro heaters are what I use in my FW tanks).

The smallest Aqueon Pro is 50 watts, good for tanks less than 20 gallons. They also have "mini heater" that doesn't appear to be adjustable (Aqueon » Mini Heater | Products).

Eheim has an adjustable 25 watt heater for smaller tanks. Products has info (click "technical data" tab for more info). They run around $25 (see Eheim JAGER TruTemp Aquarium Heater - Bulk Reef Supply for one place that sells them).

 

[mohican]

Something like this would work.

Aquarium Heaters | Hydor Slim Heater for Mini Aquariums

 

[Fishy_lover]

A heater for a 10 gallon tank will work well. You can find Tetra brand heaters for tanks that small, but it is not adjustable, and has a set temp of about 78F (+/- 2F). Eheim makes good heaters (I use Jager heaters in my SW tank), as does Aqueon (their Pro heaters are what I use in my FW tanks).

The smallest Aqueon Pro is 50 watts, good for tanks less than 20 gallons. They also have "mini heater" that doesn't appear to be adjustable (Aqueon » Mini Heater | Products).

Eheim has an adjustable 25 watt heater for smaller tanks. Products has info (click "technical data" tab for more info). They run around $25 (see Eheim JAGER TruTemp Aquarium Heater - Bulk Reef Supply for one place that sells them).

Would a 25 watt get a 5.5 gallon to 80 degrees ?

 

[Fishy_lover]

Something like this would work.

Aquarium Heaters | Hydor Slim Heater for Mini Aquariums

It has to get my 5.5 gallon to 80 degrees

 

[dmolavi]

Based on the specs for the Eheim Jager, I would say that it would get the 5.5 gallons up to 80.

 

[Oohitsae]

Yeah, you should get a 25 watt for a 5.5 gallon, you can get up to a 50 watt without any issues. Make sure it's adjustable though, preset heaters tend to only keep the water at 76/78*
Practically any brand will work just fine. I like hydor theo's because they don't break if you run them out of water accidentally, which I have a very bad habit of doing. I use them on every tank and haven't had any issues at all with any

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

+1 on the Hydor Theo 25w. It's the smallest and most reliable heater i can find that has an adjustable thermostat. I use one in my 6g.

 

[Fishy_lover]

+1 on the Hydor Theo 25w. It's the smallest and most reliable heater i can find that has an adjustable thermostat. I use one in my 6g.

How much is it

 

[dmolavi]

Petco shows it at about $21.

 

[Oohitsae]

They are pretty cheap on amazon, I got my 100w for like 24, can't remember what I paid for the rest, the 100 was the most recent

 

[Fishy_lover]

They are pretty cheap on amazon, I got my 100w for like 24, can't remember what I paid for the rest, the 100 was the most recent

Oh cool , I found one that 20 dollars at my local petstore

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

$16 at Dr. Fosters. Ships free if you buy $50 worth of stuff. I can usually find that easy to do (i.e. prime, excel, food, cleaning supplies, etc.)...lol

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=11368