Heaters for outside the tank, rather than inside?

[Gohans_Onna]

I've only ever actually seen heaters for inside the tank, and usually they are obstrusive and ugly and you can't really hide them.

I have been reading a lot of threads on this forum and I have read someone mentioning Hydor Inline heaters.

I have a 125 gallon planted tank that right now has cardinals, rummynoses, SAE, and otos in it, and I will be putting discus in it soon, once I am 100% pleased with the setup.

However, I have this hideously ugly heater on the back of the tank at a diagonal, and it's impossible to hide.

I have two filters hooked up, a fluval 405 and fx5, and I am really interested in getting rid of this ugly heater. Any suggestions?

[DonMD]

I have a 125 gallon show tank with Eheim 2026 & 2028 canister filters. Each one has a Hydor inline heater. I have had ZERO problems with these heaters, best I ever had. And, no heater in the tank. -Don

[ZX10R]

I have been using two Hydor inline heaters for over a year and no problems here

[Skip]

Make a FISH ROOM and HEAT the room, at a high temp!.. i have been a few rooms like that :)

[DiscusOnly]

Hydor inline are pretty good. I use it in one of my tank without any problem but I do have it hook to a temp controller. They come in 200 and 300 watts.

Your other choice is the Lifegard heater module. It's basically a casing that you can put the heater of your choice in. Benefit is that if the heater fail, you replace the heater and not the whole unit like the hydor.

Another choice is to make your own heater module using PVC. This is a DIY project and some go this route because of the ability to customize. If you want to go this route, I can help you with getting the right adapter

Van

[Lenin]

Lifegard heater module, awesome just what I needed, will order one today

[AngryBird]

I used eheim 2180 with built in heater... Have used the filters for more than 5 years... didnt have to worry about heating ever..

[Gohans_Onna]

Well it sucks that I don't have built in heaters, so I guess Hydor it is :) Do I have to get any special connections or due I just attach it to the output tubes?

[laborelch]

No special connections needed. Cut hose, attach, turn on filter, turn on heater :-)

[Gohans_Onna]

Yay, thanks guys :)

[Gohans_Onna]

Well, actually I do have another question. How should I go about this...a 300W isn't enough for a 125G right? So should I get two? And in that case, do I hook one up separately to each canister filter? And should I have two temp controllers? Any advice on what kind of temp controller?

[Lenin]

I use Jager's and 300w is more than enough

[DonMD]

I have two Hydor heaters for my 125, don't remember exactly what wattage, I think 250. The tank is in my dining room, so temperature variations usually don't exceed 25 degrees F (60 in the room in winter, maybe cooler, and 84 in the tank). I would recommend getting the 5/8 hose connection, not the 1/2 connection, you can get them either way. Depending on your filters, you may need to use a hose clamp or two, no big deal. One heater for each filter, that way if one system conks out, you still have the other. Some redundancy. My system works great. No need for any controller - the Hydor controls itself, and keeps the temp within 0.2 degrees, as far as I can tell. -Don

[Jhhnn]

If you want to protect against heaters sticking on, cooking your fish, plug 'em into a temperature controller. Set the heater above the desired temp, use the controller to regulate tank temp. If the controller sticks on, then the heater's internal thermostat should prevent cooking. multiple heaters for the same tank can be regulated by a single controller. Just be sure that the total heater wattage doesn't exceed the controller's rating....

I do that with all my tanks using jager heaters & finnex hc-0800 controllers from Kensfish. it's cheap insurance.

[atitagain]

Well, actually I do have another question. How should I go about this...a 300W isn't enough for a 125G right? So should I get two? And in that case, do I hook one up separately to each canister filter? And should I have two temp controllers? Any advice on what kind of temp controller?

I just picked one of these up and added a second outlet. Ordered it on Friday and had it on Monday. The only thing I don't like about it, no back light and I'm blind. Other then that it workss great and is easy to set up.

http://www.jehmco.com/html/temperature_controller.html

ETCI-1R

[Gohans_Onna]

Another couple of questions:

1. When I looked up the Hydor inline 300W, I get one that has blue color with black, and one that has red with black. Which one is the correct one/newest version?

2. I see that it's a 5/8" connection, but the hoses on my fluvals are bigger than 5/8". How would I go about making this system work? I don't think a simple clamp would work.