Heater questions

[Hara]

ok, if I were to have the heaters in the 175 gallon, I would need 2, 250 watt heaters. If I were to put the heaters in the sump, certainly, that much wattage would not be needed? Please correct me if I am wrong, but this is a rather odd point that I am arguing back and forth with myself about.

 

[reefrunner69]

Either way, you are heating the same amount of water...whether the sump or the tank the requirements are the same. You need both.

 

[Hara]

dang, I had really thought that seeing as the sump was so much smaller, that was the area of water to be heated....yes, I know that the flow rate will be quicker, but I was rationalizing it to my tetratec filter, which I think is the equivalent of a hang on the back sump

One tiny area of heater, heats 46 gallons of water in a short amount of time

 

[roadster3043]

Won't the water cool off when it reaches the tank?

TIA

 

[Hara]

the warmer water blends with the cooler water....

 

[fishfreek]

In fact dont forget the sump adds water to the system so your not really heating up 175Gal. And with that said your rock and sand will displace water so you really dont even have 175gal in the main tank unless your gonna have nothing in the tank in the way of substrate, etc.

Knowing that your not going ot have a empty tank then its just best to use teh tank capacity of 175 as a way of estimating the amount of water in the system.

Water is a great insolator and with that said it takes alot to heat/warm the water and at the same time it taks a fair amount to cool the water. Its no less efficent to put the heater in the sump or in the main tank.

I prefer to double up on my heaters incase of a failure.

Another item to note is how much above room temp you need to increase the water temp. If your going to increase it 5 degrees F then you need less heater than if your gonna increase it 15 degrees F.