🚀 go-pugleaf

Yea,

That's a good question. I have a 40gal[M]. with a 100watt, that's 2.5
and it keeps the temperature pretty stable...

but oddly enough I have a 100watt in my 26gal. reef. It seems to 
a harder time keeping the temperature at a steady level.

So I think the 2.5 is really a minimum rating depending on other variables.
i.e. house temperature where it's located in the house.. My reef is on a tile
floor right near the front door. So it gets a lot colder at night in that
hallway vs. my Main tank which stays at a fairly level 79.

Dave.

In article <Bxwnvy.8Cw@ecmwf.co.uk>, sya@ecmwf.co.uk (Adam Bracewell) writes:
> Hi netters,
> 
> Just been reading the FAQ for these groups and something struck me as odd.
> In the section titled Starting a new Aquarium, the heater wattage recommended (as a rule
> of thumb) is 2.5 watts per gallon.
> My question - is this really enough ? I've recently seen 8 watts/gal recommended.

I've seen 5watts per gallon posted in more thatn one peice of literature, so
that's what I go by.  I'd say 2.5watts per gallon would be the minimum I would
supply...anything more than around 5 or 8 would just be 'extra security' I'd
think.

					-Matt

> That's a good question. I have a 40gal[M]. with a 100watt, that's 2.5
> and it keeps the temperature pretty stable...
> 
> but oddly enough I have a 100watt in my 26gal. reef. It seems to 
> a harder time keeping the temperature at a steady level.
> 
> So I think the 2.5 is really a minimum rating depending on other variables.
> i.e. house temperature where it's located in the house.. My reef is on a tile
> floor right near the front door. So it gets a lot colder at night in that
> hallway vs. my Main tank which stays at a fairly level 79.

I'd say above all else, the thing that will help your heater keep the most
consistent tank temp. is good water circulation around the heater.

I run two Panguin 550 powerheads and a Dynaflow3 in my 20high tank (i.e.
PLEANTY of circulation) and the tamp. in my tank never goes above or below
81 degrees Farenheit.  (Except in the summer of course, when room temp. is
above 81 deg.:)
			-Matt

Well the old formula I vaguely remember took into acount
difference between room temperature and water temperature.
2.5 wats per gallon as 25 watts on a 10 gallon sounds
verey low to me unless there is only about one degree
difference between the room and the tank.  8 watts
or 240 watts in a 30 gallon tank sounds a bit high.
Remember you don't want so much wattage that if the 
termostat sticks you bake the fish in a couple hours.

--
---------------------------
| UP TIGHT                 | 
| OUT OF SIGHT             |
| EVERY THING IS ALL RIGHT | 
___________________________

The usual disclaimer of self
 and employer applies to all
 above comments.
#

In article <1992Nov20.005518.12151@bsu-ucs>,
01mbmccabe@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu writes:
> 
> I run two Panguin 550 powerheads and a Dynaflow3 in my 20high tank (i.e.
> PLEANTY of circulation) and the tamp. in my tank never goes above or below
> 81 degrees Farenheit.  (Except in the summer of course, when room temp. is
> above 81 deg.:)
> 			-Matt


I have two power heads in my 20 gallon tank, when I installed them my tank
went up two more degrees - it is now consistently running at 84 degrees F.

Fish seem to be more active - I guess theydon't mind the temp.

Rich Littell (rlittell)

In article <1992Nov19.222848.12139@bsu-ucs> 01mbmccabe@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu writes:
>In article <Bxwnvy.8Cw@ecmwf.co.uk>, sya@ecmwf.co.uk (Adam Bracewell) writes:
>> Hi netters,
>> 
>> Just been reading the FAQ for these groups and something struck me as odd.
>> In the section titled Starting a new Aquarium, the heater wattage recommended (as a rule
>> of thumb) is 2.5 watts per gallon.
>> My question - is this really enough ? I've recently seen 8 watts/gal recommended.
>
>I've seen 5watts per gallon posted in more thatn one peice of literature, so
>that's what I go by.  I'd say 2.5watts per gallon would be the minimum I would
>supply...anything more than around 5 or 8 would just be 'extra security' I'd
>think.
>
>					-Matt

    However, if your heater ever get stuck, you'll have a tank of soup
in no time flat.  Whereas if you have 2.5 Wpg, the tank maybe at 85
degrees when you come home from work.  If you want extra security, you
should have both big heaters and big chiller.
    I have 200W in a 75g, the house is at 68 degree, I have a fan blowing
across the top of the tank so there is about a liter of evaporation a
day, the tank stay at 75 degree all the time.

-Anthony

Adam Bracewell (sya@ecmwf.co.uk) wrote:
: Hi netters,
: 
: Just been reading the FAQ for these groups and something struck me as odd.
: In the section titled Starting a new Aquarium, the heater wattage recommended (as a rule
: of thumb) is 2.5 watts per gallon.
: My question - is this really enough ? I've recently seen 8 watts/gal recommended.
: 
: Can anybody clarify ?
: 

Well, I think something is missing there.  The formula should contain
the DIFFERENCE in temperatures between the water and room temperature.

Then things may more complicated.  One may consider is whether there is
alot of air flow near your tank.  More air flow around the tank will
cause your tank to loose heat more rapidly.  A second thing to consider
is whether much water is allowed to evaporate.  The tank will be cooled
from any evaporation.  Yet a third factor to consider is whether you have
any power filters.  Power filters will add heat to the tank.  I have a
Magnum power filter in a 37 gallon tank.  By itself, it keeps the tank
about 4 degrees above room temperature when the room temperature ranges
between 65-70 degrees.  I refuse to consider the thermal conductivity
of the heater itself.  I think that will only effect things if you are
running your heaters near their limits. 

With all These things to consider, I think the best way to really know
is to just experiment and see what happens to your particular tank :-)

I have a 35 hex (with no power filter) that maintains a temperature of
80 degrees with two Ebo Jaguar 100 watt heaters.  The room temperature
varies between 65 to 70 degrees.  So my personal experience with this
tank is that I can heat 35 gallons 15 degrees above room temperature
with 200 watts.  If I turn off one of the heaters, the temperature
starts to fall, so I know that the exact wattage required, with these
heaters, is something between 100 and 200 watts.

--
Dale Skiba

>> I run two Panguin 550 powerheads and a Dynaflow3 in my 20high tank (i.e.
>> PLEANTY of circulation) and the tamp. in my tank never goes above or below
>> 81 degrees Farenheit.  (Except in the summer of course, when room temp. is
>> above 81 deg.:)

> I have two power heads in my 20 gallon tank, when I installed them my tank
> went up two more degrees - it is now consistently running at 84 degrees F.
> 
> Fish seem to be more active - I guess theydon't mind the temp.

Yea...your tank is probably 84deg all over instead of 85 or 86 right around the
heater.  Can't you lower your heaters thermostat?

				-Matt

In article <1992Nov20.165753.7695@medtron.medtronic.com> ds0007@medtronic.COM (Dale Skiba) writes:
>Adam Bracewell (sya@ecmwf.co.uk) wrote:
>: Just been reading the FAQ for these groups and something struck me as odd.
>: In the section titled Starting a new Aquarium, the heater wattage recommended (as a rule
>: of thumb) is 2.5 watts per gallon.
>: My question - is this really enough ? I've recently seen 8 watts/gal recommended.
>
>Well, I think something is missing there.  The formula should contain
>the DIFFERENCE in temperatures between the water and room temperature.

Mmm.  Haven't looked at the FAQ for awhile.  For general interest,
VisiTherm heaters come with a little chart for determining wattage
based on number of gallons and the required temperature pull-up.
I'd type it in right now, but it's at the very bottom of my stack
of fish-stuff boxes :-).  If there's demand, I'll dig it up.  Might
be nice to add to the FAQ.

And yeah, you can go on all night on modifications to such a
chart, but barring obvious deviations (such as my open topped
tank with a fan and metal halide lighting), I've found that that
those two parameters (gallons and delta(T)) seem to work ok.

I'll second (third?) the caveat about getting too powerful
a heater:  a friend of mine recently converted his African
tank to bouillabaisse that way :-(  (when his heater jammed on).
Some of the better, more modern heaters claim to be solid state
so that this is a less likely occurrence, but there's little
point in taking the chance.  

-- 

James Harold                 "There is always an easy solution to
harold@wam.umd.edu            every human problem -- neat, plausible,
                              and wrong."    --  H. L. Mencken 

In article <1992Nov20.135958.12177@bsu-ucs>,
01mbmccabe@leo.bsuvc.bsu.edu writes:
> >> I run two Panguin 550 powerheads and a Dynaflow3 in my 20high tank (i.e.
> >> PLEANTY of circulation) and the tamp. in my tank never goes above or below
> >> 81 degrees Farenheit.  (Except in the summer of course, when room temp. is
> >> above 81 deg.:)
> 
> > I have two power heads in my 20 gallon tank, when I installed them my tank
> > went up two more degrees - it is now consistently running at 84 degrees F.
> > 
> > Fish seem to be more active - I guess they don't mind the temp.
> 
> Yea...your tank is probably 84deg all over instead of 85 or 86 right
around the
> heater.  Can't you lower your heaters thermostat?
> 
> 				-Matt


Hi Matt,

I tried your suggestion - infact, I unplugged my heater - the tank
still stays at 84 degrees F.  I even stuck a different thermometer
in the tank to see if I was getting a false reading.

I live in Florida - my house is always at 78 or 79 degrees.

Coolers and chillers are just to expensive at this time - my wife
had a cow when I spent the 40 dollars on the power heads.

The only down side to the warmer temp seems to be the growth of brown
alge.  I can't seem to get rid of it for more than a week or so.

Ugh!

Rich Littell (rlittell)