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I think I'm going to need a new heater 73.9 degrees!

asonitez

asonitez

For the first time ever after removing pumps and consolidating them into one large pump to a manifold I just realized that I'm going to seriously need a heater. Last night my temperature dropped to 73.9 according to the Apex and it hovers around 75 normally and 77.8 with the Metal Halides on. Err... Is this OK? My fish seem FINE and the coral seems ok though I don't have much. Mostly Ricordea's and a few SPS. What kind and how many heaters you folks think I'll need for my tank? I got a 150 with 40 gal breeder Sump.
 
downbeach

downbeach

I would go with two heaters too, a little redundancy is always a good thing. Are you controlling your heaters with the Apex?
 
steamman

steamman

I have a similar sized system as you. I run one external return pump. I have two large power heads in the DT. I use gravity to feed my reactors and my skimmer. My skimmer has two aquabee pumps on it. I have an air conditioner running in the room 24/7. I use two Ebo Jager 250 watt heaters. I control each heater independently with my Apex. The first heater is set at 79.0. The second heater comes on if the temperature drops to 78.8. My tank runs at a temperature that fluctuates between those numbers. No higher and no lower.
 
NikkiT

NikkiT

I run two of my tanks between 73 and 75 degrees. One is mostly lps, the other has sps, zoas, and acans. The two tanks house a pair of clowns, a yasha goby, a Dracula goby and a helfrichi fire fish. The corals and fish do fine in both. Prior to moving, we ran all of our tanks at 75 degrees (the only reason our 45g and 57g are warmer is because mike has not built screen covers for them yet, and at the moment they have glass covers which trap heat). So long as you minimize the temperature swings, you can run your tank cold with no problem, you just don't want a big swing in temperature on a daily basis. I find that my nanos do just fine with temp. swings of up to 2 degrees, more than that and my sps start to brown out.
 
dnov99

dnov99

FRAG SWAP VENDOR
Trust me, you are fine. My system runs at 75 even 74 all winter longer. Your corals and fish will be happier. As we get into the winter though you will probably see the tank get even cooler, so at that point you will need to add a heater.
 
steamman

steamman

Like NikkiT and dnov99 said your tank temperature would be fine running that low. Personally I would still run more wattage in your system. You can still adjust the temperature to whatever you like. Keep it low or a bit higher.

I would use two smaller heaters rather than one large one for redundancy. If one heater failed you would have the second one to take over. If you do nothing else you probably should add another 150 watt heater.

I used to run just one 250 watt heater in my system. During the day with the lights on my temperature would stay where it was set. At night the temperature would drop as much as 3 degrees:eek:. I only noticed the large temperature swings when I installed my Apex controller. Once I added the second heater my temps are rock solid:cool:.

What temperature will your home be kept at in the winter. If you are like most people you will keep it cooler inside than it is in the summer. This will have a tendency to bring your tank temperature down lower. So although you may be fine now. You may not be later.
 
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