heater help 180 l

[dave2010]

Hi I have a 180 litre tropical aquarium with one 200 watt heater, I want to put another heater in the tank set at a slightly lower temperature just incase 1 heater fails or breaks! Would it be ok to add another 200 watt heater or would I need to get rid of my 200 watt heater and buy two 100 watt ones, please help because I don't want to harm my fish or cook them with too much heat! Thanks

 

[mfdrookie516]

Welcome to AA

What kind of heater do you have? If you make sure the heater has an actual thermostat and a failsafe to shut off rather than staying on when broken, you would have no issues IMO. I definitely wouldn't put a pre-set heater in there though.

 

[dave2010]

My heater is a aquaclear it does have a thermostat I can change the temp up and down, I'm worried about it failing without me knowing and my fish dying, I do have a digital thermometer on the side of my tank which let's me know the tank is at the right heat but I don't always look at it! I've heard its better to have 2 heaters rather than 1 just incase 1 fails and so that the water is heated more evenlly. Do you know any good heaters you can recommend to me? Thanks

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Hi I have a 180 litre tropical aquarium with one 200 watt heater, I want to put another heater in the tank set at a slightly lower temperature just incase 1 heater fails or breaks! Would it be ok to add another 200 watt heater or would I need to get rid of my 200 watt heater and buy two 100 watt ones, please help because I don't want to harm my fish or cook them with too much heat! Thanks

I keep a spare around, but not "in" my DT. If one failed, I think I'd catch it before the water had a significant drop in temp. One thing I do is, I have a heater rated for a much larger tank (got a deal on it) so as the lfs owner said, it's not running at full tilt all the time, less wear & tear on it and it should last much longer.

Welcome aboard!

Sent from my Epic 4G using Aquarium

 

[dave2010]

Thanks for the advice I think ill get myself a 300 watt heater and replace it with my 200 and then just keep my 200 as a spare, thanks

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[mfdrookie516]

I think a 300w heater is a little overkill for that tank. Not necessarily too much, but I run 300w heaters on my 125g and 150g... about 3 times the size of yours. I would stick with a 200-250w myself.

 

[dave2010]

Would it be too much even if the temperature is turned down to around 26?

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[mfdrookie516]

Like I said, it wouldn't necessarily be too much, but if it gets stuck in the 'on' position, it'll cook your fish quicker than a 200w

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Like I said, it wouldn't necessarily be too much, but if it gets stuck in the 'on' position, it'll cook your fish quicker than a 200w

Never had one get stuck on. Does that happen often?

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[mfdrookie516]

It does... A lot are coming out with failsafes to keep them from sticking, but I used to read a lot about it. Not as common lately, but still something to consider.

 

[dave2010]

Do you know if my heater has a failsafe its the aquaclear 50 I think, if not can you recommend me a good heater with the fail safe feature

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