Mobile Bay Reef Keepers

How many watts of heaters for a 225 gallon ? You would think you could buy just one friggin heater for a tank. I think I am looking at around 2 heaters for my new tank, that sucks for having to plug in 3 devices instead of one.

I read 4 watts per gallon for big tanks... for what it's worth. Wouldn't redundant heaters be a good thing in case one doesn't come on? I know you can get the pro-heat in 500 watts.. don't know about others, aqua-eco (whatever that company name is) the one with the big catalog, has in-line heaters that go way up there in watts.

found it:
http://www.aquaticeco.com/aquatic1v1/di ... 3543003D7C
They seem real proud of them based on the prices.

There's a 1,000W Pro-heat 2 available, that's the one with the LCD display. As a bonus, the heater element has a standard electrical plug at the end of it, just before it goes into the control box, so if the 1,000w element burns up/out, you can plug any combination of "dumb" heater/elements (up to 1,000w total) in for the control box to control. Pretty neat, and only about $130. That's what I'm gonna run. I have had a 350w pro heat 2 for a year now, and it's been wonderful to me.

Yes I do like redundancy.

What is the lowest temp do you not want a tank to get to. I've got my heater turned down so low that it never comes on. My tank ranges from 77 to 80 degress a day. I'm scared if I turn the heater on and not let the water cool at night that it will start rising my temp during the day. I'm sure i'll use the heater in the winter time but I just don't see a need for it in the summer. I guess my temp range is okay. What do yall think?

Snakeman points out a very good point. The "rule of thumb" for the heat input of the heater is only true if your not already pumping heat in from half a dozen pumps and your lights. I do not use a heater at all. I use a fan to maintain my temperature at 78F. I cool during the day and do nothing at all at night. My temperature is +/- 1F.

Does anyone else's tank work this way?

I do the same thing. I'm running 6 fans during the day. I'm using two tar ballast for my vhos and they put off a lot of heat.

Actually, the size of the heater you need depends on a combination of two things... volume of water, and the delta of the tank temp and the room temp... here's Won Brother's rating based on volume and delta temp:

http://www.wonbrothers.com/product/heater/ICHEATER.htm