keeping temp stable, which heater responds quickest

[jazer80]

i have a 2 gallon, and it is fluctuating very badly to my heater, meaning that many times a day, all day, whenever the heater goes on, my tank goes up, then when the heater kicks off, the tank goes down.

this fluctuation is roughly a degree, back and forth all day.

i figured i will just put a heater in the tank, but
1) it needs to be aluminum, or another material that i can have in open air for maybe 10 minutes during water changes without it breaking when water goes back in (read: no glass!)

2) it needs to be either oversized, or highly efficient. the heat in my apartment comes and goes quickly, and if the heater has lag, and heats slowly, it will barely get it back to optimal before the home heater kicks back in.

basically just need recommendations on a highly responsive/efficient aluminum heater (they can sit out of water, right?)

 

[kaserpick]

Won Brothers Pro-Heater is a really good one. I have for my 30 gal. and it responds really quickly. It's also titanium so no breaks!

Thumbs up!
Kaserpick

 

[jazer80]

how many watts should your recommend? i am heating a 2 gallon, and the degrees it needs to raise it are minimal, but i figure the stronger it is, the quicker it will respond/keep the tank where it needs to be, so it will have less fluctuation. good idea?

 

[Buckeye ME]

With only 2 gallons you need no larger than a 50W, do they even make 25W?

I don't know that I would worry about the apartment heat, so you don't need (or want) to be oversized. That is probably what's causing the fluctuations now. Water will hold/resist heat fairly well, so sudden changes in water temp don't have much of an effect.

What kind of heater do you have now?

 

[jazer80]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6793076#post6793076 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Buckeye ME
With only 2 gallons you need no larger than a 50W, do they even make 25W?

I don't know that I would worry about the apartment heat, so you don't need (or want) to be oversized. That is probably what's causing the fluctuations now. Water will hold/resist heat fairly well, so sudden changes in water temp don't have much of an effect.

What kind of heater do you have now?

you don't think it's bad at all for the tank to show (on dig thermom) a swing of a whole degree, back and forth maybe 30 times daily? i know it won't kill stuff right away or anything, but wouldn't that be stressful to my corals, just bouncing back and forth like that long term?

yeah, it is definitely the apartmnet heat. when you hear the unit coming on, a few minutes later the tank starts rising with it (i think it rises so quickly because of the water movement, 90gph in my 2 gal tank). when the heater in the apt goes off, the tank starts dropping again until the heater comes back on in my apt. I was hoping to just put in a very responsive heater unit (this cycle is short, so if the unit is slow to adjust it will be useless), and just keep my tank at like 80.5, so that every time the apt. heater kicks off, the heater in the tank kicks in

 

[Mikeeal]

If you want something that precise, you'll need a controller. Also, it's not a good idea to put a huge heater in such a small tank, imagine what would happen if it were to stick on....JACUZZI!

 

[Buckeye ME]

Is this thing sitting right be an output from the apartment heater? Your apartment heat shouldn't be fluctuating that much to cause the sudden changes in 2 gallons of water.

 

[pulse13]

I have a Tronic heater, they use an electronic thermostat. With my old heater, it would fluctuate 2 degrees. If I set it to 80, it would heat to 82 then shutoff, then when it wnet back down to 80 it would heat to 82 again etc. With the heat of the tank lights, my tank would hit 83. With the Tronic, the fluctuation of the heater is 1/2 degree instead of 2. When set to 80, it will fluctuate between 80 and 80.5. I'm pretty sure I've seen some titatium heaters with electronic thermostats.

 

[kaserpick]

Yeah won bros. has an electronic one as well, but I think they only go as small as a 50w and that's probably too much for such a small tank.

Thumbs up!
Kaserpick

 

[jazer80]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6794524#post6794524 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Buckeye ME
Is this thing sitting right be an output from the apartment heater? Your apartment heat shouldn't be fluctuating that much to cause the sudden changes in 2 gallons of water.

no, but it is in the path of the heater (the heater is on the opposite side of the room, maybe 12 feet away, but aimed in its general direction. i'm sure having such high turnover makes it more responsive to changes in ambient temp...

i'm considering just looking into a small chiller, are they known to be responsive? i heard something about a smaller / cheaper one designed for nanos/picos/minis/whatever