Heaters

[jobney]

This time of year even in SW Florida we are having nighttime cold spells in the mid 40s(F). It's 61F currently at 12:40p with a high today of only 70 (cool for us). I had one 300w aquarium heater for a few days and then saw this cold snap coming and got a 2nd one. I added the 2nd one last night after it was already cold. The warmest the water got was 62f. Well see how it is tonight with both running all day.

I put them horizontally in the sump since it's being pumped right into the fish tank I figured it would be just as effective as being in the tank. If I had tropical fish I think I would need 5 of them. What does everyone else do? Too bad the cheap pond deicers and stock tank heaters can't be set at higher temperatures. The look to be for ice prevention only.

Details:

System status - cycling.

Total US Gallons - about 265 (1003L) minus displacement of MBBR media and brushes.
Fish tank- 150
3x 20 gallon totes- 60
55 gallon barrel swirl filter

Goldfish
No hydroponic component yet.

[Pseudoreality]

1000 L of water takes a lot of energy to heat. I did a quick calculation and you need about 1100 watts to heat 1000L by 1C an hour assuming no heat loss. I don't know what you pay for power, but I would look into alternative ways to heat your water (solar, gas, etc).

[kellenw]

A good rule of thumb is to use 4 watts of heat per gallon for every 10F deg you want to raise the temperature.

If you want to raise the temp 10 degrees:
265 gallon tank x 4 watts = 1060 Watts

Of course, you need to account for the water volume in the rest of the system as well as heat loss in growbeds (which is significant). Growbeds are essentially heat exchangers in this context. Since you don't have any online yet, that's not a concern for you, but I thought I should mention it if anyone else seeks to use this info.

Insulate and cover your fish tank, your sump and anything else that you can that has direct air contact (and ground contact too for those in colder climates).

You could rig up a stock tank heater or two to a thermostat for a high powered heater on the cheap.

[jobney]

The stock tank heater would be great if I could find one that was "always on" and not in permanent de-ice only mode. De-ice heaters turn on at 35F and off at 45F.

Update: Tractor Supply has an always on 1000w bucket heater. Now to find a water thermostat.

A good rule of thumb is to use 4 watts of heat per gallon for every 10F deg you want to raise the temperature.

If you want to raise the temp 10 degrees:
265 gallon tank x 4 watts = 1060 Watts

Of course, you need to account for the water volume in the rest of the system as well as heat loss in growbeds (which is significant). Growbeds are essentially heat exchangers in this context. Since you don't have any online yet, that's not a concern for you, but I thought I should mention it if anyone else seeks to use this info.

Insulate and cover your fish tank, your sump and anything else that you can that has direct air contact (and ground contact too for those in colder climates).

You could rig up a stock tank heater or two to a thermostat for a high powered heater on the cheap.

[jobney]

Wanted any info on a device that resembles the following.

An AC wall outlet (or power strip) switch with a submersible thermostat / aquastat.

I have considered this power strip.http://www.tricklestar.com/us/produc...owerstrip.html
It can turn off and on power to one outlet based on the power draw of another. So my one 300w heater with a built in thermostat could act as a switch for the 1000w always on heater. It's made for TVs so I'll have to call the manufacturer to see if it would work.

[Pseudoreality]

For a short term solution you could use a timer. You won't get more than 1C an hour with 1000W. So you could approximate with trial and error.

[jobney]

Because my system is on the Northeast side of my house it will stay cooler in the summer but right now the water is still 62F at 1pm while it's 75F outside. I get some AM sun but the rest of the day is shade on the tanks. The radiant heat from the sun here in FL is strong even when the air is cool like today. Maybe I'll throw together a black tube solar heater and toss it up on the flat part of my roof.

[Kaduda]

Could you use a hot water tank thermostat to control the power?

[kellenw]

The stock tank heater would be great if I could find one that was "always on" and not in permanent de-ice only mode. De-ice heaters turn on at 35F and off at 45F.

Update: Tractor Supply has an always on 1000w bucket heater. Now to find a water thermostat.

I use that exact bucket heater, actually two of them, in one of my systems. They work great.

[kellenw]

Wanted any info on a device that resembles the following.

An AC wall outlet (or power strip) switch with a submersible thermostat / aquastat.

I have considered this power strip.http://www.tricklestar.com/us/produc...owerstrip.html
It can turn off and on power to one outlet based on the power draw of another. So my one 300w heater with a built in thermostat could act as a switch for the 1000w always on heater. It's made for TVs so I'll have to call the manufacturer to see if it would work.

Just keep in mind that those aquarium heaters will fail in time. Usually it's a long time, but the thermostats in them are extremely basic and do wear out. Sometimes it's 6 months, sometimes it's 5 years, but usually somewhere in between. hehe... It's one thing for a single 300 watt heater out of 4 or 5 to fail in an ON state, it's quite another for it to fail in an ON state and cause the 1000 watt heater to remain on too. On a warm winter day in your area, that could result in a fish boil. hehe