Heater Not in Sump?

[BeanAnimal]

Ahhh very cool. Thanks for the insight on that!

Your quite welcome! The more we share, the more we all know.

 

[BeanAnimal]

heater in sump is fine, till return pump fails. Then display gets no heat

The failure rates differ by several orders of magnitude.

In general, there nothing wrong with placing the heater IN the display other than looks and the fact that if it does shatter (actually rather common) then the mess and damage will be much more significant.

The point is (was) that there is no reasonable disadvantage to placing the heater in the sump and that is contrary to the advice the OP was given.

 

[BeanAnimal]

My experience is that the heaters tend to fail more often then the return pump. If your return pump shuts off for more than a few hours, you've got bigger issues to deal with than a heater.

Correct, but the point is even broader than that.

The heater is the least expensive piece of equipment in the aquarium and has the ability to do the greatestd amount of damage in the shortest amount of time.

Livestock can do without heat for extended periods of time, even if it does cause stress.

Livestock can go without light for extended periods of time, even if it does cause stress.

Livestock can go without significant flow for extended periods of time, even if it does cause stress.

Food... the same.

On the other hand just pushing the temperature slightly out of the safety zone for a brief period can quickly cause many creatures (fish, coral, fauna) to perish.

 

[MHG]

I too am planing on using my apex. Good advice on the set points. makes perfect sense...

I did see some who say an independent controller is needed, but since the thermostat in the heater and the one in the apex create a backup, I am not sure why i would want to buy a third... sure a third failsafe is nice but not a must IMO... Yes beananimal, I did read your article and it all makes sense (as most of your writings do) but buying another piece of equipment and bypassing one of the uses of a $500 apex is not in my immediate plan. perhaps after I am done with the pain of the $2500 I have into this tank and have not even added water yet...