Heater selection. Chiller question.

S

srkr1432

I have a drilled 150 D.A.S. system with a 40 gallon fuge <onlu about 30 gallons are being used.

How do i heat this tank? This is my first winter with this baby. Should I put one heater in the fuge and one in the main display or both in either? Or do they sell one heater big enough to do the job.

Also I have a chiller and don't want to disasemble the hoses. Can i just unplug the chiller and let the water still pass through until next year when I need it again?

Thanks for the help.

Also links on the heater would be Very helpful.

Thanks,
Shane
 
usually you keep the chiller online even through winter. I would run two seperate 150 watt heaters just in case one goes out you will always have a heater online. most reefers keep the heaters in the sump
 
I subscribe to the one large heater principle and keep a backup on hand. The larger ones use more energy when they are on, but are on less frequently because they heat faster. Just make sure you select a high quality one... some of the glass ones are garbage and have a high failure rate and when they fail its usually getting stuck on, rather than off.

If you don't have a controller, I would strongly suggest you get at least a rancor single stage temp controller and use that as the power on/off for the heater. The rancor is very reliable and accurate. I actually have a two loop heater method, I run the rancor and my heater in the first loop, independently and then power the rancor itself via my AC3. This gives me two temp sensors and if heat gets too high the entire thing turns off.

A temp sensor with an alarm that you can set to give you an audible for low temp is a good idea as well......
 
@srkr1432 wrote:
Do you have a link for a heater and the rancor controller. I'm clueless on how a controller works. Shane said:
Here ya go... its basically a temp sensor tied into an electronic monitor with a power plug. You plug the heater into it, and the unit into the wall. You set the temp on the readout that you want to maintain and then dial the heater itself up well over that point. When the temp drops, it triggers power to the heater and it heats until the temp is reached then it shuts off. Same basic function the heater has built in, but much more reliable and accurate.

http://www.reefgeek.com/equipment/Controllers_&_Monitors/Aqua_Logic_Temperature_Controllers/Single_Stage_Temperature_Controller_for_1!5-1!2_Hp_Unit_%28115V%29_by_Aqua_Logic
Click to expand...
 
If you don't take the chiller down, it needs to stay online so the pump keeps the water from getting stagnant in the lines even though the chilling cycle dosen't kick on.

For heaters, I think the calculation is 5 watts per gallon. 180 gallons x 5 watts= 900 heater watts. If you want to split that into two or more heaters, just divide the watts up into the units. I'd be more comfortable using two 500 watt units on a single controller.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top