Heater size

chucklez

chucklez

Active member
beginning to wonder if mine is to big. I have 1 800w Finnex titanium rod heater. Apex is set to turn on heater at 79.5 and off at 80.5. it is taking about an hour of on time to heat up my system, which is currently about 350 gallons (soon to top 400g once i get my frag tank in). Once heater turns off at 80.5 it is taking 1.5 or so for it to cool down to 79.5. Constant 24 hour cycle. hour on, hour and a half off.

So my question is, is the heater to big? Should i go with something smaller? I know its only 1 degree but I am wondering if that constant cycle so often isnt either a) running up my electric bill, or 2) detrimental to the longevity of the heater.

Once my application to reeftronics is approved I will post a link to it to show yall.
 
May i ask why there is a degree difference between the two? Why not on below 79.5 and off above 79.5 ? Wouldnt this produce a more steady temp? I am new to apex so pardon my ignorance.
 
Our system is about 525g we also have a 800 watt with 1 degree swing and are seeing about the same thing. Not saying if it's right or not, but we are in the same boat
 
I would say that's not good for your apex power bar. If you were to kill the heater where does your room temperature keep the tank temperature? i wonder if it would be better to let the room dictate your tank temp. That's kind of what I do.

The swing on my tank is between 80.4 and 83.7 every day due to the 500W of glorious halides :) Everything is happy and I don't mess with it. I have my heaters set to kick on at 79.5 just in case the heat in the house dies or the wife decided "oh it's a perfect 26F outside and it's time to open the windows" but they rarely ever kick on. The house is set to 75 all year round.
 
If your Apex is controlling it, I don't think a smaller heater would change anything. Can you get your high and low settings closer?
 
My system is in the walkout basement. Also have LEDs so I dont have the benefit of collecting heat from the halides as you do. As far as what temp the water would settle at...my little thermostat/humistat shows temp at around 73 WHEN dehumidifier is running. I have seen it get down to 68 or below down there when the humidity is low
 
Heater size

I'm high jacking your thread with you, hope you don't mind. We also have LED providing no heat value. Without heater, tank settles down to 67.
 
not sure this will help but i run 2 heaters now they kick on every 1.5 hours but im running a socket expansion module. ill run the eb4 and 4 heaters on my 300 once i get it up and running.
 
Have you checked your temp prob with say a lab grade thermometer? Also it might be the location of your probe. In the overflow box is where I would recommend the temp probe to be located if its not already. If you have another heater, why not try adding it to the system so your recovery time is reduced. You also might have a lot of evaporation going on which also can cause this kind of issue
 
I would insulate as much of your tanks as possible. . I like having a swing of atleast a degree. . I think it helps corals and fish survive if there is a power loss. . I would also think about lowering your temp too.
 
IMHO, the heater is not too big, a smaller one would just run longer.
As mentioned, insulate as much a possible & drop the running temp by 2 degrees.
 
I have read multiple places that the ideal water temp is 80. When I look at water temps from places like Grand Cayman or Belize they also say the water temps are 80-81.

What is the benefit, other than energy savings, of running the tank at 76-78?
 
I've read that lower Temps retain more oxygen. I have seen success with many Temps my tank has a 2°swing.
 
I have been busy last several days with the impending arrival of the new tax deduction. Havent played with my tank much. Now that reflooring the 3rd bedroom is done I should be able to spend some much needed time on the tanks.
 
Update. I now have my heater set for between 79.5 and 80. It hasnt stopped the constant on/off of the power bar. If anything, it happens more often due to the smaller values in between. I am going to pick up a smaller heater of the 300w to 500w variety and put that on the system as well. That way that will run most of the time and the 800 will come on less often and as redundancy.

Since I now have my fuge light on my apex timer, my PH swings have been drastically reduced and overall PH levels have actually risen. System was around a 7.7 near constant. Now during the day it is 8.25ish and in the midle of the night when only the fuge light is on, it dips to around 7.99. Best of all the swing is in a gentle dip rather than a precipitous fall.

My cond readings still jump a bit but I attribute that to the probe not yet being placed in a holder. Probably catching alot of bubbles. Never really messed with ORP or dissolved Oxygen. Upon further reading, dont really know if I even want to worry about them. Im more looking at adding an ALD or AFS first. Possibly even swapping my reeflink for a WXM.

http://www.reeftronics.net/Ca/chucklez/apex-status
 
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