Heaters

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erato

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Sep 30, 2006
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2
I just bought a 29 gallon tank which I am setting up for live plants and obviously fish, I have a biowheel filter and a freshwater aqualight but, I am getting some conflicting advice on heaters.
How many watts do I need?
Should I go with clip on or submersible? Are there any benefits to go either way?
What's a great sturdy heater?
And I was all set up to buy a used Ebo Jager because I thought it was submersible and then read somewhere else it was not totally submersible?

Thanks
 
General rule is 5 watts per gallon, so you'd want a 150 watt heater.

I prefer the submersible heaters since they're easier to hide and no worries about getting the water level just right, the non submersibles have the advantage of being less expensive.

My current favorite heater is the Visitherm Stealth Heater which I'm using in all three of my tanks. Great little heater that turns off automatically when removed from water and is especially easy to hide since it's completely black. Only drawback is that it doesn't have a light to tell you when it's on.

I've used the Ebo Jager as well, and think that they are also a good buy. I think part of the problem with these is that the instructions have been translated into English so some of the instructions aren't completely clear. I kept mine 100% submerged with no problems.
 
I should have said this earlier too but....

Also I should preface this by saying I've never had a tank with live plants so this CO-2 thing came as a surprise to me. At the local petshop I was shown what I should by, just a kit with one months supply and then looking online I see a kit where I add my own table sugar, which is better and lasts longer? Can you make your own all together just by adding yeast and sugar?

Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks
 
Yes you can build your own system. Do a search around here and you will find numerous discussions about it and many different plans and recipes. Should cost you less than ten bucks.
 
Sounds like the kit you were shown was basically DIY CO2 in a pretty package. You're really better off building your own as you can taylor it to the size of your tank and it'll cost less too. Here's some really good instructions on to build your own DIY CO2 system and some instructions for an alternative method of diffusion. DIY CO2 is variable by nature, so you'll want to have at least two bottles for CO2 generation so that you can alternate when you change out the mix to achieve steadier CO2 levels. With a 30 gallon tank you are looking at two-three 2 Liter bottles to get good CO2 levels. If you can afford it you'll be much happier with a Pressurized CO2 setup. Over time it is less expensive than DIY even though the start up expense is high and it is much easier to maintain and get good results.

Whether or not you absolutely need CO2, depends on how much light you put over the tank. If you keep it at Medium Light or less, then CO2 while helpful isn't a requirement.

If you haven't had the chance yet, take some time to read through the links in the Read This First sticky. There's a lot of great information for planted tanks including topics like CO2.
 
My current favorite heater is the Visitherm Stealth Heater which I'm using in all three of my tanks. Great little heater that turns off automatically when removed from water and is especially easy to hide since it's completely black. Only drawback is that it doesn't have a light to tell you when it's on.

I have four Stealth heaters and they are very accurate once set; keep the tanks within a degree of the setpoint. I also dislike not being able to tell when they're on, but once they are set where you want them they stay there.
 
I would avoid the clip on type, or any cheap heater for that matter. After breaking one too many heaters in the water. Nowadays I also use those Stealth heaters. For me, I like that they are plastic and not glass. As others have said, the only disadvantage is the lack of a light.

My other choice in heaters is the Hydor brand heaters, they are glass but are sold as "shatterproof" and so far they hold up very well.

I prefer to buy heaters that are smaller than recommended as there is less risk when (not if) the unit fails. So for a 29g I would buy a 100watt.

Of course, you have to consider the temp where you live, If the house is fairly stable in temperature year round, then a smaller heater works fine. If you live in the Northeast, and your tank is in the Garage, it had better be a dern good heater. ;-)
 
Sorry for hijacking the thread.

I see the stealth but I don't like the idea you can't see the settings like the standard visotherm. Is it worth the protection from breakage to get the stealth and are they that easy to set without much worry of them being way too hot or cold right out of the box?
 
erato said:
And I was all set up to buy a used Ebo Jager because I thought it was submersible and then read somewhere else it was not totally submersible?

Thanks

That has to do with UL listings for different countries and not a translation error. Now that eheim has purchased Ebo-jager, now jager, they are being made in germany so it has to get all new UL certificates for the counties in which they are sold and as of rightnow, Jager is not UL certified in the US for being completely safe fully submered. HTH.
 
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