More beginner q's - Heater placement

[tony3]

I have another beginner question: Where should I place my heater?

I have a 55 gallon tank (fish only - with no fish yet) with a 200W heater and a 350 GPH canister filter and a protein skimmer. The intake of the filter is positioned about 2 inches above the crushed coral base, and the output is near the surface of the water. I was thinking that it would make sense to place the heater near the output of the filter to help circulate the warmer water, but that would be difficult because the output is so close to the top of the tank. Is there any standard recommendations for this type of tank, or should I just put it anywhere?

 

[BillyZ]

one thing you might hear is that the intake should be more towards the top of the water. There are a lot of protiens and bacterial films that can accumulate near the top of the water and it would be better to remove them. This is also why it is reccomended that powerheads be aimed to maximize surface agitation. As far as the heater, as long as you have good water flow in your tank it shouldn't matter too much where you put it as just normal water movement will disperse the heat enough.

 

[tony3]

Thanks for your help again BillyZ. My tank is about 20 inches in height with about 2 inches of coral at the bottom. Would you recommend putting the intake somewhere in the middle of the tank, or even closer to the top? This is the type of information that is NOT in the manual.