Equipment

Turning Up the Heat on Tropical Saltwater Aquariums

Comments (6)
  1. Leslie Melling says:

    I would advocate an external thermostat connected to titanium heaters as the best and most reliable form of heating your aquarium.. If you do want a heater thermostat then do not skimp on one and buy a good respected make. Many suggest you change your heater thermostat every 2 years to reduce the chance of failure. The required wattage is best split into two heater thermostats that way if one should fail and stick on it will take some time to overheat your aquarium if at all and you are more likely to spot the failure. Likewise, if one fails and won’t come on at least the other will help keep some heat in the tank until you can buy another. Better still keep a spare heater for such emergencies as sods law will dictate a heater will fail at the most inconvenient time.

  2. Matt Filippi says:

    So with two heaters… Do you set them both to the desired temp, say 77 or do you stagger them say 77 and 76?

    1. Chris Aldrich says:

      I would suggest staggering the temperature settings. Then the second heater will turn on when the first heater isn’t able to support the desired temp.

      In my Carib system, I utilize two 300w Jager heaters. Their temperature settings are staggered AND I utilize a controller to turn on/off each of them depending on the temperature range I want the tank to stay within (currently 76-77 degrees). As the system is located in my basement, ambient air temps are much more stable. During the summer, one heater is easily able to maintain the system within the specified threshold. During the colder months, the secondary heater is activated more often to keep water temp within that range.

  3. Martha says:

    Such a great and informative post on how to maintain our aquarium. In this way, fishes will live longer. Keep posting.

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