# Heater



## waterlilly (Aug 22, 2010)

A couple of nights ago the heater in my small tank malfunctioned and didn't turn off. Everything is fine, the fish is doing well. I'm just wondering if it would be wise to have 2 heaters instead of just the one. 
It is a 10 gallon tank. Right now it is running with my spare 50 watt heater. 
Would it be ok to get two 25 watt? I'm a bit concerned that the tubes wouldn't be long enough. Would two 50 watt be overkill? Any thoughts out there?
Thanks.


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## fish_r_kewl (Sep 3, 2010)

My thoughts on heaters. I don't use them because room temperature is good enough for the fish I keep, guppies, gouramis, corys and some killies. If you don't keep anything finicky, it might be worth a try going without. It sure beats stressing when the power goes out. To answer your question though, two heaters will probably be overkill on a 10 g. One will do all the work, while the lower setting one will rarely comes on.


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## waterlilly (Aug 22, 2010)

fish_r_kewl said:


> My thoughts on heaters. I don't use them because room temperature is good enough for the fish I keep, guppies, gouramis, corys and some killies. If you don't keep anything finicky, it might be worth a try going without. It sure beats stressing when the power goes out. To answer your question though, two heaters will probably be overkill on a 10 g. One will do all the work, while the lower setting one will rarely comes on.


Our suite is pretty chilly. The temperature goes down to as low as 16 in the nights, up to about 18 - 19 during the day. I don't think this would be warm enough for tropicals.


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## Captured Moments (Apr 22, 2010)

For a small tank size of 10 gal, I probably wouldn't go with 2 heaters because it is a bit difficult to synchronize them. One will tend to work harder than the other. You can get it close but it is not ideal. Besides it is an extra plug to plug in rather than just one and then you would have to look at 2 tubes in the tank rather than one. Space is limited in a tank that small. In a large aquarium, it makes more sense to use two or multiple heaters. If your room is pretty chilly and down to 16 C (that's 60 F) at night and 18-19 C (that's 64-66 F) during the day, and you want to maintain the temperature of the aquarium water at a constant say 26 C (78 F) for tropicals, you find the temperature difference of 18 F that the heater would need to handle. Using a heater size guide that you can find on the internet, then a 75 watts heater should be sufficient. Using an undersized heater or overworking the heater because the water difference is too much to cover, will shorten the life of the heater considerably. For example, I had a 150 watts heater in my 60 gallon tank with only one black Piranha in there. The tank is in the entrance foyer which is pretty cool and maybe not quite as cool as yours. Anyhow, I maintained the temperature at 76-78 F and it was fine for a while but then I noticed that the light on the heater was always on but the water was cold. I replaced it now with a 300 watts heater. There is a rule of thumb about 3-5 watts per gallon depending on the temperature difference between the room and the temperature that you would like to keep the water at but in your case where the difference is that great, then the 75 watts would be a safer bet. Hope this helps.


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## waterlilly (Aug 22, 2010)

I got my new heater, a 75 watt as it was suggested. I neglected to look at the dimensions before I ordered it and realized today, that it is slightly too long for my tank. It is a Eheim TruTemp fully submersible but it states in the instructions to install it vertically. Is it not possible to have it diagonally or horizontally if it is supposed to be fully submersible? If not I might have to return it.


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

Submersibles can go in sideways.


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## waterlilly (Aug 22, 2010)

Even though the manual instructs to install the heater vertically?


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## TomC (Apr 21, 2010)

waterlilly said:


> Even though the manual instructs to install the heater vertically?


I don't know about that. I have never worried about it, but haven't seen that in a manual before.


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

For the heater to pass CSA testing for the Canadian market, it needs to have a water level mark on it. In the US, the same heater does not have a water level mark for UL specifications. It is fine to orient the heater horizontally. Just food for thought.

Respectfully,

Stuart


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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