Heaters??

[swank]

Have a 125, placed an order for fx5 ( ebay $210 shipping included). Looking at heaters... Do I go with one big one or two smaller ones? Whats a good reliable brand? Wheres the best place to set the heater in the tank? near the outtake or intake? Thanks for all your feed back. Have to laugh thou, so many different feed backs and opinions. Its utilmately toss of a coin and hope with the best. I was seriously looking at the Rena xp4 but went with the fx5.Time will tell..:D:D

[DiscusOnly]

Have a 125, placed an order for fx5 ( ebay $210 shipping included). Looking at heaters... Do I go with one big one or two smaller ones? Whats a good reliable brand? Wheres the best place to set the heater in the tank? near the outtake or intake? Thanks for all your feed back. Have to laugh thou, so many different feed backs and opinions. Its utilmately toss of a coin and hope with the best. I was seriously looking at the Rena xp4 but went with the fx5.Time will tell..:D:D

I assume your 125gal is a 6ft long tank. I suggest putting two 250watts heater in there. Put one on each end. For the best value, I say go with two Ebo Jager for about $60 and be done with the heating issue, next..

[Greenheinie]

I agree with using 2 heaters (placed horizontally towards the bottom of the tank), but I'm not sure about the Jager heater. I got one and I'm not a fan. The first one I had was messed up (calibration button wouldn't come out) and the second/replacement is better, but the temp always creeps upward a degree or two after water changes.

I know they say on the packaging that you're not supposed to fully submerge them, but according to many user comments (as well as Eheim support rep comments) it's ok to. It just stinks reaching down after a WC to dial the heat down a degree or two.

Just my experience. Good luck!

[Justice]

I would go with two 250 watt Jagers in that tank if it was me, They keep temp's super steady and are really tough.

Kensfish.com has them for $25 and some change

[spyder329]

I agree with using 2 heaters (placed horizontally towards the bottom of the tank), but I'm not sure about the Jager heater. I got one and I'm not a fan. The first one I had was messed up (calibration button wouldn't come out) and the second/replacement is better, but the temp always creeps upward a degree or two after water changes.

I know they say on the packaging that you're not supposed to fully submerge them, but according to many user comments (as well as Eheim support rep comments) it's ok to. It just stinks reaching down after a WC to dial the heat down a degree or two.

Just my experience. Good luck!

I have a question about this... Why place them horizontally and would you do this for all tanks? I have a 55gal tank with a 300W heater placed vertically and I have to turn it all the way up to get the tank to 82 degrees.

[DiscusOnly]

I have a question about this... Why place them horizontally and would you do this for all tanks? I have a 55gal tank with a 300W heater placed vertically and I have to turn it all the way up to get the tank to 82 degrees.

I don't think it really matter how you place them if they are fully submergeable. Most people place their heater across toward the bottom so that they don't have to deal with unplugging the heater when doing water change.

If you can't get a 300watts heater to get a 55 gal to 82 without turning it up all the way, the problem is with the heater. This has nothing to do with placement.

[spyder329]

If you can't get a 300watts heater to get a 55 gal to 82 without turning it up all the way, the problem is with the heater. This has nothing to do with placement.

Well, I can get it to 82 but I have to put the heater on 85 is that normal?

[DiscusOnly]

Well, I can get it to 82 but I have to put the heater on 85 is that normal?

What brand of heater? Might need calibration.

[Greenheinie]

When I place it vertically in the corner, the heat is kinda "trapped" in that half of the tank since my spraybar is located at the top/center of my tank. With the heater placed horizontally under the spraybar, a wider area of heat rises and circulates evenly throughout the tank.

Leave you settings alone and place it horizontally. I bet you'll notice an increase in temperature within a day, spyder.

[spyder329]

What brand of heater? Might need calibration.

Its an Aquoen 300W and its brand new. I just got it this past weekend because my other heater after a few years went dead.

[spyder329]

When I place it vertically in the corner, the heat is kinda "trapped" in that half of the tank since my spraybar is located at the top/center of my tank. With the heater placed horizontally under the spraybar, a wider area of heat rises and circulates evenly throughout the tank.

Leave you settings alone and place it horizontally. I bet you'll notice an increase in temperature within a day, spyder.


Yeah thats where i have it vertically in the corner. I will move it tonight and let you know how it goes..

Thank you for all the advice.

[Greenheinie]

By the way, the first time I tried moving it horizontally, the water shot to 98 degrees and all my fish and plants died.

kidding...

[spyder329]

Ok, I just moved my heater horizontally in the middle of the tank and all the way to the bottom. If nothing else at least I will not have to turn it off when I do my water changes.

Hopefully I will not loose all my fish from the temp shooting to 98 degrees like Greenheinie did.. lol

[mlov1022]

By the way, the first time I tried moving it horizontally, the water shot to 98 degrees and all my fish and plants died.

kidding...Wow :confused:

[Scribbles]

I would use 2 heaters, either 250w or 300w depending on the difference between the room temp and the tank temp. I have used the plain old submersible Visa-Therm heaters for years. I used to love them but lately they haven't been as good IMO.

Chris

[spyder329]

Within 2 hrs moving the heater from vertical to horizontal my tank went up 2 degrees.

[swank]

I have to admit Im learning alot on the heater placement! Thanks for all your insights

[Keith Perkins]

I assume your 125gal is a 6ft long tank. I suggest putting two 250watts heater in there. Put one on each end. For the best value, I say go with two Ebo Jager for about $60 and be done with the heating issue, next..


I agree with using 2 heaters (placed horizontally towards the bottom of the tank)...

I STRONGLY agree with using two smaller heaters, and if you ever had a single larger one malfunction and cook your entire tank of discus you would too. If a single smaller heater were to fail and stay on the affect on the tank heat would be a lot less and you'd have a much better chance of fixing the problem before losing all your fish. It's very cheap insurance going with two.

Placing them horizontally towards the bottom of the tank is the way to go. I had mine placed vertically right up until the day I saw one of my females starting to clean one. :shocked2: Obviously laying eggs on a heater would have resulted in cooked eggs, but a burnt ovipositor could prevent a female from being able to lay eggs and lead to death. Placing the heaters low and horizontal will virtually eliminate any chance of a discus ever thinking of laying eggs on it. The only thing better than cheap discus insurance is free discus insurance.

The temperature settings on my Jagers have never been very accurate, but they've always worked well for me once I got the temperature where I wanted it. The easiest way to keep your arms dryer is to simply adjust them while you're doing WCs when the water level is lower.

[mjs020294]

The temperature settings on my Jagers have never been very accurate, but they've always worked well for me once I got the temperature where I wanted it.

I have two heaters, one set at 79 and the other set at 85. The tank is 82.2 degrees and they both come on intermittently. You would have thought the manufacturers could get the calibration right.

[Keith Perkins]

Mine are set at 80, and keep the tank at 86. There also 10 to 12 years old and still working great.