# Baby it's cold outside...



## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

It has been particularly cold at my place lately, and I have my tank (temporarily) down in my unheated basement, and I think that the cold is causing problems for my tank's heaters.

When I set up this tank back in November, I tried to re-purpose as much equipment as possible. I set up the tank with three Stealth heaters: 150w and twin 75w. The heaters kept the tank nice and warm between 78 and 80 degrees. When I was doing maintenance on Saturday, I noticed that the water felt colder than normal. Sure enough, both thermometers were reading around 70. I had a spare 50w Stealth that I soaked for a few hours and then plugged in, and the temp has crept up to around 75-76.

My theory is that since I used heaters that were really too small for the tank in a cold setting, one or more of them was/is nearly constantly on and has burned out or become somewhat worn.

I have decided that I need to replace the heaters in the tank. I'm thinking that twin 200w Stealths will do the trick, but also thinking about trying Theo or Jaeger and considering maybe going up to 250w single or twin units. Thoughts?


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## SueM (Jan 23, 2004)

COM, With large tanks that need a full load heat always use heaters of the same make and wattage, that way one will not have to work harder then the other. 
The average is 5 WPG, but if its in a cold room, Id go a little higher. Or add 3 of the same make & WPG, set at the same temp. 
The other side of the fence would be adding to many watts and one getting stuck, you get pretty warm fish.


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

Thanks, Sue.

I'm very cautious as I once had a tank boil. Literally. It was a ten gallon tank and I was in the fifth grade. I came home to a funky house and a fish tank that was at a rolling boil. Pet SPOT heater.

So should I go ahead with twin 200w Stealths?


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

COM said:


> Thoughts?


COM:

I have had excellent luck with *Stealth Heaters*.

They should be available at your local PetSmart or PetCo.

TR


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

yep always go for quality. I just lost a tank of petricolas when a cheapo tetra tech heater stuck on. No one to blame but myself for not having ebos or stealth heaters all around.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I got some new Jager heaters. They work nice, but were a royal pain to get adjusted properly and you need to have them stick out of the water which, IMO, kind of defeats the purpose of buying a submersible. I haven't used theo's yet. I did have a tetra cook a tank. The stealths seem to die quietly. They stop heating and because they don't have the little light, you don't notice right away. But at least they don't cook the fish.


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## COM (Mar 15, 2008)

So, for a 55g in a cold room, do you all think that I should do twin 150w or twin 200ws? There really is nothing in between.

I'm leaning towards twin 200s since that would be a bit more. Also sorta thinking maybe go nuts with twin 250s. Could give me options with future tanks...


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

emc7 said:


> They work nice, but were a royal pain to get adjusted properly and you need to have them stick out of the water which, IMO, kind of defeats the purpose of buying a submersible. I haven't used theo's yet.


COM: I only quoted the Stealth Heaters because I have had very good luck with them over several years now but they are not "the know all and end all".

This just a hypothetical as it has been a couple of years now since I got them adjusted but

[1] when one of the inside heater's thermostat is set to 78F the tank's water temperature is 78F;

[2] when the other inside heater's thermostat is set to 80F the tank's water temperature is 78F; and

[3] and when the outside heater's thermostat is set to 76F the tank's water temperature is 78F.
I have "strip" thermometers fairly well hidden on the tanks' walls and now rarely check the tanks' water temperatures with a digital thermometer.




COM said:


> So, for a 55g in a cold room, do you all think that I should do twin 150w or twin 200ws? There really is nothing in between.
> 
> I'm leaning towards twin 200s since that would be a bit more. Also sorta thinking maybe go nuts with twin 250s. Could give me options with future tanks...


COM:

The concept of dual heaters is kinda a very debated topic (ie. twice as many heaters = twice the probability of cooking a tank versus if one heater fails the tank water will freeze.)

All that I can say wrt this issue is that in my sump I have two very high end heaters and associated independent thermostats which are externally controlled.

My gut reaction and this is just what I would do is to go with the two 150W heaters.

TR


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I agree. Supposedly, a 200W can do a 55 alone. To go with dual heaters to reduce fish cooking, you should go with smaller ones. But when everything is working right, it won't matter at all.


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