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greenmonkey51    Fish Master Posts: 1571 Kudos: 1692 Votes: 5 Registered: 28-Jan-2004   | im going to setup my 55g and wondered if i could take 1 of my 200wt heaters from the 75g and use it singly on the 55g and then take the 100wt heater on the 20g(which is coming down) and put it on the 75g to give the 75 4wts per gallon and the 55g 3.6 wts per gallon. |
 Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:40 |     |
FRANK      Moderator Posts: 5108 Kudos: 5263 Votes: 1690 Registered: 28-Dec-2002  | Hi, The choice is up to you. The generally accepted "rule of thumb" for aquarium heaters, is to have 5 watts/gallon. That can be on large heater or a couple of heaters at each end of the tank. It also depends upon the placement of the tank within the home. If its kept in the cool ba drafty area then the best advice would be to stick with the 5 watts/gallon rule. If the tank is kept in the living area where the temperature is always near 72 or higher, then lower wattage heater(s) could be used. If you use a higher wattage heater in a cool environment, then it will come on, warm up the water, and then cut off, all within a reasonable on/off cycle. This lengthens the life of the heater. If you use a lower wattage heater, in a similiar situation, then it will come on, and stay on for a longer time, (work harder to raise the same amount of water to the same temperature as the example above.) This creates problems with the parts of the thermostat that carry the high current. (The thermostat, the nichrome heater wire, and all the connections.) Eventually, the high current, coupled with the frequent on/off cycle, and ambient moisture inside the heater will corrode the contacts of the thermostat, and the nichrome wire connections. Additionally, each time the heater cycles on, and off, a small spark is created at the contacts, and that spark transfers some of the contact from one side to the other side. This causes a buildup of me and a corresponding pit on the other. Eventually the contacts build up resistance and this causes more heat and larger sparks, which accellerates the pitting and soon the heater fails. If you know what you are doing, and the contacts are copper (Cu) then you can take the heater apart, and burnish the contacts to remove the buildup and pitting, then reassemble the heater and continue using it. BUT, you have to KNOW what you are doing. Frank  [span class="edited"][Edited by FRANK 2004-08-31 09:43][/span] [span class="edited"][Edited by FRANK 2004-08-31 09:44][/span] -->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<-- |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:40 | |
Babelfish    Administrator Small Fry with Ketchup Posts: 6833 Kudos: 8324 Votes: 1570 Registered: 17-Apr-2003    | Gotta say  frank, that gives me a perfect answer for the people that always insist that you can heat the tank no matter how cold the room is. While yes you can, it does shorten the life of the heater.Just wanted to suggest, that if either of the tanks are in cool parts of the house (say 10degreees cooler than the tank) you can get styrofoam sheets from home depot (in the roofing section) and cut pannels for the back and sides of the tank. The less heat that is lost, the less the heaters have to work to make up for it.  That's my theory @least .^_^  |
| Posted 26-Jan-2006 11:40 |    |
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