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I finally got a decent heater for my 29 gal tank - Hagen Tronic. The tank is not fluctuating 6-10 degrees f every day now(it IS by a window). I have 2 questions:

1) Should I mount it horizontally?
2) Do I need to buy the heater guard?

I haven't had a problem with my tronics...

I've got them mounted vertically w/no guards...

What size tank do you have and how many watts is your heater?

If the heater's too small for the tank, it may pose a problem...

Or, if the heater is in an area where there isn't much circulation it will cause problems...

HTH

Yeah, the Tronic hasn't fluctuated more than a degree (F) or 2 since I installed it last night.

The tank is 29 gal, the heater is 200 watts. Yes, this is more than I need but the last 150 watt heater did not keep the temp' steady AT ALL. I think the 150 watt was just a bad heater and I'm going to see if Petco will take it back. The tank is right in front of a thermal window on the north side of the house so it's MUCH cooler at night. It's a great location to see the tank but maybe an unhealthy location for the fish? I put the heater about an inch from the filter intake so there should be plenty of circulation. I also have 2 power heads so the water is always circulating.

It sounds like the location of the tank is the problem...

Other than that and that it's a 200w heater (100-150 should be just fine... I've got a 150 in my 29), it sounds good to me...

Sorry I couldn't be of more help

If there's alot of circulation it won't really matter how the heater is sitting in the tank. Sometimes it can help to put it horizontally because hot water rises so vertically the water will rise up over the heater and shut it off a little prematurely. In a tank with lots of current that's not a problem. I have a 29g near an outside door in a room with lots of windows. In the winter the sun can heat the room up to 85F but when someone opens the door it's well below freezing and sometimes below 0F outside. I have 350gph of circulation and two 150w heaters set on 82F and in the past 2years it hasn't moved more than 2degrees. You don't have to move the tank but it does make it alot harder to create a stable environment for the fish.

The only heaters I've put horizontally are the ones in my shrimp tank that only has an air filter and my sparkling gourami tanks which only had about 10gph water movement on 5g tanks.

Thanks for all the good feedback, both of you. The tank is still holding a steady temp of 80 and the outside temp is in the low 30's. I'd recommend the tronic heater to anyone. Good point about the vetical mounting and the way heat rises. I never really added it up until now but I have, in theory, 460gph. The new location is on a new metal stand and I can visually check the undergravel filter for clogged power head draft tubes. If Sham can deal with his environment, I can too. The location is great for viewing, so I'll deal with the mechanics. If Sham is running 300 watts of heat, I may not have been too far off with the 200 watt heater. If I had to do it again, I would use 2 heaters.