How many watts for a 90 galllon?

[hohm44]

I'm considering moving up to a 90 Gallon planted set-up. How many watts of heat would I need, keeping in mind my tank will be in the basement. Also, what brand of heater has the best reliability?

[hedut]

I use 2 heater 250 watt

[KDodds]

What is the ambient room temperature of the basement at its coldest? What is your desired target temperature?

[hohm44]

The basement gets pretty cool in the winter, probably around 68 F. The tank would be kept around 85F.

[marnold]

I keep my 90 in the basement as well.I use two 250 watt and a 300 watt inline.I keep the tank at 86 and the room drops to 66 at night and is 68-69 during the days.It gets realy cold here sometimes and with just two 250's I had a hard time keeping a constant 86.It is much better in the summer.

[KDodds]

Yeah, with an almost 20ºF pull up, I'd want a minimum of 5wpg across 2-3 heaters. I would prefer something more like 7wpg, just to play it safe.

[Eddie]

2 each 300 Watt


Eddie

[Jhhnn]

You can cut the need for wattage by insulating the back, sides and bottom of the tank, as well- foil-backed 1/2" rigid iso-cyanurate from the home center would make a huge difference.

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