500W heater too much for a 50G system?
- Thread starter funman1
- Start date
Sounds like you'll want to keep an eye on that thing. I actually went with two 150w heaters for my 55g because I figured it would be better to have just barely enough in order to prevent inadvertently boiling my tank if some circuit got stuck in the on position. I usually only need to heat my water 5-10 degrees, and I've actually been getting away with just running one of the two. That way, even when I found out the hard way that the temperature setting on it is at least 5 degrees off, the water temperature topped out at 81 degrees and no harm was done.
In other words, the Tim Allen approach to heating your water sounds a little risky to me.
In other words, the Tim Allen approach to heating your water sounds a little risky to me.
NCreefwannabe
New member
yeah lol if anything bad happens with that 500w your tank is fried. I have 1 150 now and its not enough for cold nights, so im getting another. but probably a 200 and save the 150 for backup temp.
dwd5813
New member
yeah, i went with a 200 for my 55.
also, i can vouch for a heater thats too big overheating a tank.
my 30 got set up with a 150w that is old now and its getting stuck in on mode and trying to boil my fish:thumbdown .
500w of this problem would be unbelieveably bad. very FAST.
i will be getting a 100w to replace the heater for my 30.
also, i can vouch for a heater thats too big overheating a tank.
my 30 got set up with a 150w that is old now and its getting stuck in on mode and trying to boil my fish:thumbdown .
500w of this problem would be unbelieveably bad. very FAST.
i will be getting a 100w to replace the heater for my 30.
boxfishpooalot
Active member
Yep too much watts. You will have to adjust the temperature dial down to about 70f if you want it to stay at 78f or somthing. On my tank (125 gallons) I use 1 350 watt digital Won brothers titanium heater. Works ok and my house is cooler than most.
A heater I would not suggest is the EBO-Jager. It's not fully submersible like I thought it was, and although you have a separate controller, the temperature controller that's on this unit doesn't seem worth much. It says it can control the temp +/- 1 degree, but I have to set it 5 degrees cooler than what I really want, and then it's still +/- a few degrees. Of course, this may be an issue for most heaters. On the good side, it does have a pretty good design otherwise, looks like it'll last me, has an automatic shut-off if you don't submerge it far enough, and even though it's not fully submersible (I worry about the suction cups failing and it falling into my tank), it does seem to be pretty water tight (I've already dropped it into my mixing bucket once with no damage).
rlschne
New member
actually, i have one of those jager heaters that says it isnt submersible - in the instructions it says the water cant be below one line at the top of the heater, and then a line that is lower than that says that the water can't be above it 
.. anyway, ive read some threads where people called the company about that and they said that it really was fully submersible but that because of some canadian consumer laws or something they had to say it wasnt... anyway, who knows... i had the thing completley underwater and running for weeks before i even looked at the instructions... and bigals sold it as being submersible... still underwater.. and no problems yet....
.. anyway, ive read some threads where people called the company about that and they said that it really was fully submersible but that because of some canadian consumer laws or something they had to say it wasnt... anyway, who knows... i had the thing completley underwater and running for weeks before i even looked at the instructions... and bigals sold it as being submersible... still underwater.. and no problems yet....
smoknreefrs
In Memoriam
ive been running ebos underwater for years...both old and the new ones
That's good to hear about the EBO-Jager heaters actually being submersible. I did think it kind of strange when it said it wasn't in the instructions, but also said it was fully waterproof. In that case, this would probably be a pretty good heater for someone with an external controller. My only real issue with it would then be that it definitely doesn't seem to keep the water temperature +/- 1 degree of where you set it on the dial, unless I just happened to get two defective ones.
