# What watt heater is best for a 55 gallon chiclid tank?



## JPMM7

What watt heater is best for a 55 gallon chiclid tank?


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## PfunMo

As all tanks are different, there is no one true answer. I find it much safer to go on the low end and then if on some cold winter day you find the heater not quite keeping up, you will have plenty of time to go get another to add to it. A 55 full of water changes temp pretty slow and it is far better to let the temperature gradually go a little low than to come home and find an oversized heater has raised the temp into the ninetys and killed the fish. Heaters stick on far more often then they fail to heat. The recommended heater size seems way high to many people. One hundred watts is plenty for my tank choice on 55 and 75.


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## pdandy88

100w should be ok. I'd personally go with at least a 250.


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## the blur

2 of 100 watts should be perfect on the opposite sides of the tank.


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## prov356

You never need two heaters. That only doubles the risk of cooking your fish. With the circulation that filtration supplies, you won't have dead zones or areas where the temp is higher on one side of a tank than another. You'd have to have almost zero circulation. and then the water would stratify horizontally, not side to side or vertically.

As PhunMo said, you have to consider room temperature. That's an important piece of missing info when the question is asked and only tank size is given, as is often the case. Assuming your home is kept at 70-72, then I'd start with 100w. More power is not a good thing when it comes to heaters. Size it assuming that it will one day stick on. I just had one do that to me this week. Temp got up to about 88 and fish were fine. Don't oversize and don't use two. If it fails and doesn't come on, the fish will be fine. For some reason there exists in this hobby the idea that if your heater doesn't come on tragic things will happen, so it's to be avoided at all costs. That's not true. Tragic things happen when we put too much wattage in the tank.


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## the blur

In this hobby, where the life of a fish is important, I recommend the idea of redundancy in life support areas. 2 heaters & 2 filters, but smaller than if you gone with one.

If a 100w heater sticks on, you will not fry your fish in a 55 gallon. Therefore you are not doubling your chances of a disaster.

aircraft have triple redundant systems.


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## prov356

> In this hobby, where the life of a fish is important, I recommend the idea of redundancy in life support areas. 2 heaters & 2 filters, but smaller than if you gone with one.


That's where people make their mistake. Thinking that a failed heater is like a failed engine on an aircraft or something. It's not. That's exactly what I was talking about. And again, it depends on room temp. Another common mistake people make is not considering that. A 100w heater could kill fish in a warm room as in summertime temps very easily.


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## the blur

My takes are in the basement. typically, all my heaters are unplugged during the summer time. Late Sept I'll plug one heater in, and then by thanksgiving I'll plug the 2nd heater in.
and I'm set for the winter.

I have never lost a fish using this system.


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## newforestrob

*pdandy88*
100w should be ok. I'd personally go with at least a 250

Really? I would rethink this ,like has already been said,if/when this heater sticks on,your fish will be poached

I would start with 100 watts(one heater)


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## PfunMo

One needs to understand how the heater works to see why we recommend smaller heaters. Inside the tube there is a set of flat bimetal springs. As the temperature cools/heats this bimetal bows toward or away from the other blade until the contacts meet or open. This turns the heater on/off. The electrical contact points are the weak spot in the system much of the time. Each time they open or close, there is a small electrical arc produced. This is like a mini arc welder and often the contacts get corroded and weld together. This weld is often strong enough to keep the contacts together even though the bimetal is hot and trying to pull them open. Most of us have had heaters stick on but when we mess with the controls they seem to work again. That is because the control is often a screw run down between the blades and we can put lots more force on them so we break the weld. Often the bimetal is distorted and never works right again. They also often stick shut again the next time you use them.

A heater that comes on and works for a long time will last much longer than a heater that is too large so that it comes on, works a short time and then turns off. It is not the amount of time the heater heats but the number of cycles the contacts can stand. There are times when the heater coil burns in two but those are few compared to the contact burning and sticking.

Pick up a garage sale heater and pull it apart to see for yourself.


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## prov356

> A heater that comes on and works for a long time will last much longer than a heater that is too large so that it comes on, works a short time and then turns off. It is not the amount of time the heater heats but the number of cycles the contacts can stand. There are times when the heater coil burns in two but those are few compared to the contact burning and sticking.


This applies to double heaters also. It'll cycle more often than it should and fail more quickly when the contacts eventually stick together.

If you must go with two heaters (although I don't recommend it) be very, very, very certain that each alone is not able to take the tank temp up above 90 degrees. Too often I see the advocates of double heaters not explain this critical bit of information.

The only time I'd go with double heaters is if your tank is in a room that's below 70 degrees, therfore risking the water dropping down below 70 if the heater failed to come on.


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## prov356

> The only time I'd go with double heaters is if your tank is in a room that's below 70 degrees, therfore risking the water dropping down below 70 if the heater failed to come on.


And then I'd put them on a single controller, so you would have them coming on and off normally and in sync.


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## PfunMo

A fish can stand 70 degrees for a long time. He may get ich, etc. but he will probably live. A fish will die quickly at 95. If your heater is undersized and can't keep the tank up to prefered temperature, it may take a week of slowly going down before it reachs critical. The tank temperature will rarely go below the room temperature so you have time to spot the problem and correct it before harm is done. If the heater is too large and fails, it can kill in a single day, perhaps between the time you leave for work and get back. The first sign of a problem may be the foul smell when you walk in the door. Been there and there is no way to save the fish!!!!


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## chinds78

This thread has got me thinking that the 200W heater I JUST ordered for my 45g tank so to much. DANG! Hope the retailer has a good return policy.


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## prov356

chinds78 said:


> This thread has got me thinking that the 200W heater I JUST ordered for my 45g tank so to much. DANG! Hope the retailer has a good return policy.


That's the problem with getting this right. It can be difficult getting the right size. Best to do trial and error before fish are in the tank to get some idea. If fish are in the tank, I'd start low and see if it can keep the temp up to where you want it. You should be about at a 100-150, and no more. I'd try a 100 first. A lot rides on seasonal room temps.


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## chinds78

Thank Tim.

I have a small ac that keeps my apt at around 80 in the summer so I should be ok there. However, I dont' run a lot of heat in the winter which keeps the apt at around 68. Do you think I'd need a 200W heater to keep the tank warm during the winter? I could shut it off in the summer.


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## prov356

You can and should unplug it in the summer. It's hard to say, but I'm still guessing something in the 100-150 range for the winter. We all tend to look at the cost of heaters when we should be looking at the cost of replacing fish. Not to mention how attached we get to them.


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## chinds78

Looks like I'll be sending the 200w heater back.


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## 13razorbackfan

PfunMo said:


> One needs to understand how the heater works to see why we recommend smaller heaters. Inside the tube there is a set of flat bimetal springs. As the temperature cools/heats this bimetal bows toward or away from the other blade until the contacts meet or open. This turns the heater on/off. The electrical contact points are the weak spot in the system much of the time. Each time they open or close, there is a small electrical arc produced. This is like a mini arc welder and often the contacts get corroded and weld together. This weld is often strong enough to keep the contacts together even though the bimetal is hot and trying to pull them open. Most of us have had heaters stick on but when we mess with the controls they seem to work again. That is because the control is often a screw run down between the blades and we can put lots more force on them so we break the weld. Often the bimetal is distorted and never works right again. They also often stick shut again the next time you use them.
> 
> A heater that comes on and works for a long time will last much longer than a heater that is too large so that it comes on, works a short time and then turns off. It is not the amount of time the heater heats but the number of cycles the contacts can stand. There are times when the heater coil burns in two but those are few compared to the contact burning and sticking.
> 
> Pick up a garage sale heater and pull it apart to see for yourself.


You seem to be fairly knowledgeable about heaters so I will ask in regards to the contacts corroding will the heater I bought have this issue? The owner of my LFS said that the heater I purchased(aqueon pro) has an electronic thermostat built in to eliminate the corroding of contacts issue which causes most heaters to stick on. Is this true? The main reason I bought this heater was to try and eliminate many of the issues I have had in the past and this seemed to be the best bet. Your thoughts?

PS...here is a short description of my heater I found on another website that seems to be exactly what the owner of my LFS was saying as well.

*The Aqueon Pro submersible heater is a fairly new product, and it looks to be one of the best heaters around. There have always been a few problems with the average aquarium heater. The first problem was that most are made of glass, and glass is breakable. Another problem was that the contacts in the thermostat would get old and corrode and would sometimes stick in the Ã¢â‚¬Å"onÃ¢â‚¬Â*


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## axia55

prov356 said:


> You can and should unplug it in the summer. It's hard to say, but I'm still guessing something in the 100-150 range for the winter. We all tend to look at the cost of heaters when we should be looking at the cost of replacing fish. Not to mention how attached we get to them.


This is very timely thread for me....I was just looking at replacing my two heaters in my 125g. Honestly not exactly sure what the wattage of each is  (I think it is a 150 and a 200w).

We keep out house at 68 degrees in the winter. As far as I can tell, the Aqueon Pro only go up to 250w. Will that be enough?


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## prov356

> We keep out house at 68 degrees in the winter. As far as I can tell, the Aqueon Pro only go up to 250w. Will that be enough?


It may be enough. I would start there. There are formulas for figuring these things out. I know of an online calculator that says a 250 will take the tank up to 83-84 degrees in a 68 degree room. A 300w to 86 degrees. A 400w to 92-92 degrees. I haven't taken the time to test the thing out and I should because if it's right on, it's a heck of a tool. My experience says if it's off, it's not off by much. But, you can see where the 3-5 watt per gallon given by manufacturers will quckly throw you into a dangerous zone.


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## brinkles

Awesome calculator!
The heater will raise the temp in a given tank by a certain # of degrees above ambient. I size them to get my tank almost to the temp I want at the coldest I ever expect the room to get.

Don't forget the lights, pumps, etc warm the tank too.


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## The King Crabb

Wow, that is one heck of a calculator!


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## axia55

prov356 said:


> We keep out house at 68 degrees in the winter. As far as I can tell, the Aqueon Pro only go up to 250w. Will that be enough?
> 
> 
> 
> It may be enough. I would start there. There are formulas for figuring these things out. I know of an online calculator that says a 250 will take the tank up to 83-84 degrees in a 68 degree room. A 300w to 86 degrees. A 400w to 92-92 degrees. I haven't taken the time to test the thing out and I should because if it's right on, it's a heck of a tool. My experience says if it's off, it's not off by much. But, you can see where the 3-5 watt per gallon given by manufacturers will quckly throw you into a dangerous zone.
Click to expand...

That calculator is awesome. It says I only need about 190w for my tank. I think I will get the AP250w and see how that does.


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## PfunMo

There are lots of variables that a calculator may miss. Remember that they are a "calculation" not a certain fact. How many and what type lights, what type covers and what filter and where the motor is located are all some things that change the heat formula. Small tanks change faster than large and on and on.

Whether the new Aqueon heater has a different system or not is not something I've looked into yet. But I'm a skeptic until I see it. There is some doubt to me how they might build it without contacts. In low voltage things like cellphones, one can use small integrated circuits to do switching. They work well but only operate in the single digits for voltage and at super low amperage. Something like three volts is what I've seen.

In a heater, you have 120volts to heat a coil of wire. Much like a toaster, you can see the coil in a glass heater. I don't know what amperage but much more than is running through your cellphone. Three volts can run through an intergrated circuit but 120 volts blows the lid off! In theory, one "could" design a chip to do it but that would be a pretty special chip and I just don't think it comes in a package you get for under fifty dollars. Many heaters have circuits added to REDUCE the arcing but most of us have found those are just kind of a hope and pray type deal.

I would love to find I was wrong but I think it is a matter of careful wording rather than a sudden breakthrough that only Aqueon has. If they can do it and at a price we will all pay, why are other heaters built the old way? Steve Jobs and Apple seemed to have the bulk of that sort of breakthrough. If you hear the heater "click" when it comes on, it has contacts. Your house thermostat is concidered an electronic thermostat but it has contacts and clicks. It also costs a bunch more.

I'm skeptical!!!


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