Heater upgrade

[TekCat]

I have decided to upgrade my heaters (won bros) before they sease and cook my tank. From reviews, I suppose I am going to get Ebo jagger ones.

Now questions:
1) Is it better to get 2 or 3 smaller heaters for fault-tolerancy instead of 1?

2) What wattage I am looking for in 90G tank + 30G sump (minus rocks)?

 

[Andrew]

I would get a 300 watt heater. It should be enough to heat all of your tank. I used to use a 250 watt heater on my 75 and it kept up fine.

 

[TekCat]

Thanks Andrew. 300 Watt it is

Since I couldn't find 300W Jagger, that means I'd have to go with multiple heaters. Which is better: 2 x 150W or 3 x 100W?

 

[bertoni]

I use multiple heaters plus a temperature controller in my display tanks. I don't trust heaters anymore. I'd go with at least two that can heat the tank on their own. Tronic heaters seem to have the advantage of failing "off", rather than trying to boil the tank.

 

[TekCat]

Thank bertoni!

1) what are Tronic heaters?
2) the biggest that Jagger I could find is 250W. will it be sufficient to keep up if one fails?

 

[auto_loader]

I run 2 seperate heaters on a temp controller. I also dont trust heaters either.

Without a temp controller 2 heaters can definately offer some good protection against heater disasters. If 1 gets stuck on then it wont be enough to cook the tank. If 1 gets stuck off then you should notice problems keeping temp up but it will buy you enough time to get a replacement before it becomes a real problem. Just choose the appropriate wattage so that 1 heater is almost enough to keep temperature by itself. For my 120 gallon setup, that wattage is 250 watts (each heater). I would guess two 200 watters would be about right for a 90 gallon. If you go with 2 you should check the heaters occasionally to make sure they both still work and monitor your tank temp daily for changes.

 

[TekCat]

Thanks all! Some good info! I'd definatey gonna run 2 heaters

Could you guys and gals point me to some temp controller info?

 

[bertoni]

Hagen makes a line of heaters that they call "Tronic". I use a DIY overheat prevention device described at SEABay.org. The Ranco controller gets reasonable reviews, and most of the aquarium controllers will also do the job, I think.

 

[TekCat]

Thanks bertoni. .... off to googleing for tronics )))