Porc Chop's Tank

[Hondatek]

What brand heaters are you using?

 

[FDshoes]

I have 300 w hydor 300 w fluval and 200 w aqueon

 

[Hondatek]

Ok just got home from work and it's still the same temp and salinity. I guess I'm going to get another heater.should i still wait on adding salt then ?

 

[FDshoes]

U can add the salt that's fine. As long as u have water movement in ur tank. It is gonna take a lot of salt to go from 1.019-1.024 just so you know.

 

[Hondatek]

Ok I just spend 10 minutes staring at my Heater and I did not come on once I turned it up a little bit I'm going to see if that helps any

 

[FDshoes]

Unless u live in florida or somewhere where it is 75-80 yr round 250 w of heater wont cut it. As I said it took my third just so I wouldn't see it jumping up and down

 

[Hondatek]

Trust me I'll get another heater . I'll probably swap this 200 watt for the 300 watt in my discus tank. And replace the 50 watt for another 200 plus heater.

 

[Hondatek]

Quick skimmer question . I turned mine on adjusted the water level in the skimmer. I turned the gate valve to the Max to get it below the maximum water line. Occasionally the bubbles come over that line. Is that ok or do I need to make a bigger platform?

 

[coffeetwitch]

may i suggest one of these two heaters?

http://www.aquacave.com/500w-titanium-heater-brwith-jbj-true-temp-br-digital-controller-2580.html

800W Titanium Heater with JBJ TRUE-TEMP Digital Controller - AquaCave

i wouldnt worry about the bubbles in your skimmer until it is broken in. i know you want to be prepared for when that happens, but until it does i would imagine it would be hard to be sure.

 

[Hondatek]

Hmm it doesn't say how long they are. That would be my only concern. Pretty sweet heaters though. I can return the 200 watt I bought yesterday and go to a different store and get two of them for the same price . I'll figure that all out ASAP since I am broke after buying my powerheads and the heater. Anyways I have my ammonia shook it up no foam or bubbles.how do I know how much to dose? Will it over activate my skimmer when I put it in?

 

[coffeetwitch]

brent (humahuma) has one? might pm him if your interested. wish i could help with the dosing of the ammo. but im at a lose. if it where me in your shoes i would have cap full at a time it until i get it to the correct ppm.


i wouldnt think that your skimmer would be affected. at least i dont think thats what the skimmer actually skims. again its still breaking in correct? if thats the case it wont actually pull anything out until it is broken in.

 

[Hondatek]

Ok I'll send him a message. But i turned the heater up from 78 to 82 and my temp is almost at 76 now. So I'm thinking the other 200 watt would work . It sounds crazy for the low wattage but I'm not that far off 78 degrees. I'll just do a cap at a time then up to 4 ppm . My understanding is I dose just once until my ammo drops then dose again ?

 

[FDshoes]

Very crazy cause usually a 200 w heater is only rated for abt 70 gallons. At the same token its not good for your heaters to be running them higher then ur desired temp. Plus if one fails you have backup.

 

[coffeetwitch]

i know that i have two identical heaters in one of my tanks and both are set differently from one another. i always chalked it up to quality control at time of manufacturing.

anyway. it will help until you figure out if you want to go big or use the second heater you purchased.

just for giggles because im curious, has your sg changed since the extra temp in you tank?

 

[Hondatek]

Cant really say . I turned up the heater. And added some salt at the same time. Then went out and got ammonia. Came back temp was 76 and it's reading 1.020 now.I do think it's the manufacturing calibration of the thermostat on these heaters are out of wack because it is cycling like it should.

 

[FDshoes]

The calibration is not that out of whack its that 180 plus whatever ur sump is is a crap ton of water. Plus a lot of surface area for the heat to dissapate.

 

[Hondatek]

It's nothing I need to fix right away anyways. I used the tap from outside to fill it so it was really cold to begin with. I'm going to wait until my powerheads get here and the temp stabilizes. It's alot harder for the heater to heat cold water than it is to maintain a temp. I'll have the powerheads hopefully before the end of the week. Take one thing at a time.

 

[Hondatek]

This mornings test. Temp 78 salinity 1.024 ammo 4 ppm. 0 nitrite 0 nitrate ph is 8. Officially cycling .

 

[Ibrahim]

This mornings test. Temp 78 salinity 1.024 ammo 4 ppm. 0 nitrite 0 nitrate ph is 8. Officially cycling .

That's great!

 

[Hondatek]

Came home from work to find my temp still at 78. Also my skimmer is actually skimming. It's pure white skim. I'm hoping its not sucking the ammo I dosed with out . I'm checking that now