Broken heater

Broke my heater, derf! Is 200 watts okay for a 55 gallon? Does the heater need to be completely submerged if I put it in my sump? I'm not sure if sump is the right word, I have the filter/refugium pictured below. I have removed all the bio-balls from the middle chamber and I planned to put a light on it and try to grow some cheato in that chamber. Is it okay to place whatever heater you guys recommend in the chamber with the return pump (chamber all the way to the righthand side in pic) or should it go somewhere else? Does it need to be completely submerged? Because that chamber usually only has about 4-5 inches of water in it.

Thanks as usual!

 

You need to see what the heater says, but most need to be submerged to a marked point. 200 ot 250w should be fine. I have a 250w on my 80g system (65 display) and it works just fine. What about inside the overflow? That is, if you have a drilled tank with an overflow in it. Also, many quality heaters allow you to put them in horrizontally, check the info on the heater for that too.

 

Being a former New Yorker my self why would you be worring about a heater this time of the year. Do your DT water go below 70 degrees? If not I would not worrie about a heater. If you do feel like you need it a submersable would be fine to put in your sump. Yes it do need to be completely under water

 

a heater's job is more than keeping a tank from getting to cold it's actually used to avoid large temperature swings, you dont want your tank going from 80 when the lights are on to 71 when their off

 

That's true but, it's the summer here and when lights are out temp will only drop a degree or two no more than that

 

To address you concerns, 200 watt is fine and no the heater should not be placed with return for the reason you stated. If you have a built in over flow that is where I put mine. You can lay it down in the middle chamber also. A titanium heater is a good investment. I use the titanium one with a sensor and
remote thermostat. The fully submersible type is what you want, they are marketed as such. I am not sure about making the bio ball chamber into a refugium. I think if you left the drip tray on, maybe, but then how would you get light to it. If you ditch the drip tray, flow from over flow might be too much. And yes, sump is the correct word. You have a sump with a built in wet/dry filter .

 

Unclejed,

Just wanted to say thanks for addressing all my questions in one post! Most-appreciated!

 

Always a pleasure.........