# heating a 90 gallon tank



## lawofthefish (Dec 26, 2008)

I recently purchased 2 Stealth 150 Watt heaters for my 90 gallon tank and I'm having second thoughts on my purchase which still remains unopened.

The instructions say each 150 watt heater is good for 45 gallons. I recently read to figure between 3 to 5 watts per gallon which if you figured 5 watts per gallon makes my purchase undersized for the 90 gallon tank but sufficient if you figure 3 watts per gallon

Would I have been better off purchasing 1 250 watt or larger heater and using a smaller heater as a back-up or will this set up help distribute heat evenly through out the tank ?


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I also read suggestins of 3~5 W per G in regards to heaters...

But in my experinece this is complete overkill in typical conditions. I consider typical conditions when the temp of the house is 10 to 12 degrees cooler than the tank's targeted temperature.

When I had my 90 gallon set up in the house, I used one Stealth 250 W heater for several years with no issues... I've also had a 125 gal set up in the house for several years using only one Stealth 250 W heater...

I also hear many people suggesting to use two heaters for a number of reasons. I disagree with this suggested based on the fact it is very difficult to get both heaters set at the exact same temperature. The dials on them are not nearly as accurate as we would hope and I also find them not always consistent with each other (meaning 79* might give you 80 on one heater and 79* might give you 78* on another heater, even of the same brand).

So if you have one heater that is really set at 78*... and another that is set at 80*... you might as well only have one heater. This is what is really happening in many/most people's tanks who are using two heaters. The fact that this goes unnoticed is proof that they have twice as many Watts of heat on their tank as needed.

I suggest you try one 150W heater on your tank and closely monitor tank temp for consistency. If it bounces around too much I would upgrade to one 250 W heater.


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## brycerb (Dec 23, 2007)

I only have one 300w on my 180 gallon. works just fine. I had two 150w but only one would ever come on. The other one just hung out, waiting for the other one to die.


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## 748johnd (Jun 30, 2007)

I've got a Stealth 250 watt in my 90 and it is fine. Never had a problem yet and it's been there a couple of years.


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## cjbtech (Dec 5, 2008)

I have 1 Theo Heater, 400w in my 90g. I set it away from my Aquaclear filter & it heats my tank very well & evenly. The fish are throughout the tank. My experience with more then one heater is always one works one won't. I have always had better luck with being closer to 5w because the heater never seems to work as hard as one under 4w per gal, & you get longer life. Just my 2cen.


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## lawofthefish (Dec 26, 2008)

Thanks to all for your input.

I'll be making a trip back my LFS to return at least 1 heater as I may use the other in a holding tank for water that I'll use for water changes. That way i'll no the exact temp of the new water and I'll be able to condition prior to doing the change.


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## TrashmanNYC (Dec 10, 2007)

im using a 200w hydor inline heater on my 75g......so far so good..........


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## afoctober2 (Apr 7, 2007)

I use a 250w heater for my tank I've seen some people on here suggest to under heat a little bit because if it were to malfunction and continue heating it would take longer.

2 Sounds like a good idea also distributes heat evenly but only thing is having 2 heaters in a tank


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## tel (Nov 20, 2007)

Alot of people on all aquarium sits I go on say 2 heaters are better than 1, they put 1 at each end better heat distribution and if 1 dies you still have the other,so if they need 300w they have 2 x 150w and some have 2 300w and set 1 a couple of degrese lower than the other so it only comes on if the other one dies "safegard" I have 1 300w external controled heater in my sump. If you go for this type of heater make sure it is marine grade stainless or better tittanium which i have. and they mostly use the 1watt per litre rule,I have had no proplems so far.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

2 heaters is very common and many people are very happy with this approach...

But it is extremely unlikely that you will be able to set the to the exact same temperature... so assuming you have good water movement, the heater that is slightly lower will never turn on until the temp drops...

One proper sized heater with good water movement, in my experience, gives me a more stable temperature...

I also highly agree putting a bigger heater than necessary on an aquarium is increasing the risks of cooking the fish. Based on personal experience, I've had more heaters get stuck "on" than I have had heaters stop heating...

Naturally the best option to protect yourself from this though is to buy a high quality heater...


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

:-? 
Sorry if this veers too far off the OPs question, but...


> Naturally the best option to protect yourself from this though is to buy a high quality heater...


I'm curious...how do we determine "high quality"? Seriously, I'd like to know.

price - the most expensive very often only reflects brand name or consumer demand

brand name - a reliable indicator? If consumer demand is high, then yes?

reviews - if 2 people out of 10 have a terrible experience, that's 20% negative, I like better odds than that...

materials it's made of - titanium sounds strong, but I just want one that will be reliable and last several years...

My goal is to find one that isn't obnoxious _visibly_ in the tank, unfortunantely not a Stealth, because I like to see the pilot light.

I wouldn't mind spending big bucks on a high quality heater, if I knew it would last more than 1 year...

Sorry for sounding so irritable, :? I've been tossing around the idea of getting a new one, for a while.
:zz:


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

There are pros and cons to every product... to everything for that matter...

weigh the odds and make the best decision you can...

I read manufacturers sales pitches, asked around locally (fish club & friends 'in the business'), check reviews and asked/read details on the topic here...

...that was years ago and I settled on Stealth. I would really like to have the indicator light but the added trust in the heater was more important to me than having that indicator light... so I went with Stealth. Having used them for several years, I'm quite happy with my decision.

I don't know what else to tell ya Alice...

It would be wonderful if we lived in a world where companies made the best product possible and sold it at a reasonable price, but that world phased out 40 years ago. I;d love to blame it on the government or big business, but in all reality consumers showed they were more willing to buy the cheaper product than the better product. By the time we realized what was happening the glocal corporations had already stepped on all the 'little guys' who had the moral drive to do it right...

Did I just turn a heater question into politics?

lol


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

> I;d love to blame it on the government or big business, but in all reality consumers showed they were more willing to buy the cheaper product than the better product. By the time we realized what was happening the glocal corporations had already stepped on all the 'little guys' who had the moral drive to do it right...
> 
> Did I just turn a heater question into politics?


Yeah, you kinda did...Lord, let's not blame big busness! 
:fish: 
Eventhough I don't completely buy into that line of thinking, I won't go into that any further...

However, I will take your advise to do more research, study the different types and brands 
then make the best choice that I can for my situation.
Thanks, Toby_H.


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## TrashmanNYC (Dec 10, 2007)

why is everybody do concerned with a pilot light, just keep an eye on the temp........


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

TrashmanNYC said:


> why is everybody do concerned with a pilot light, just keep an eye on the temp........


If the tank is usually around 80... and you look over and it's 82 with the light on... you know there is a problem and are likely to catch it before anything goes wrong...

The same situation without a light and your not sure if there is a problem until it's higher...

If the light is on all the time, you might want to get a bigger heater or add another. Heaters that constantly run (I'm assuming) are more likely to have issues.

I'm sure there are more reasons to like them... I forget though since I use Stealth which does not have them...

Alice, sorry for expressing un-fish-related views onto the board... thanks for nipping it in the bud as opposed to going with it.


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## alicem (Jul 26, 2007)

No worries, Toby_H :thumb:



> why is everybody so concerned with a pilot light, just keep an eye on the temp


I just like to see it cycling on and off, letting me know it's working (or not). 
If it gets stuck on (that worries me the most) I'll notice it then, of course unless the pilot light burns out. :roll:


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