Helios heaters.

[charbel101]

I have a 200 gallons system. 150 display and 50 sump. Inifnia 190.5. My basement have no heating. Do i get dual 500w? Or 1 1000w by helios. I only see 1 1000w. https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/helio-ptc-smart-heaters-innovative-marine.html any idea?

 

[CasperOe]

Dual 1000's ! On separate controllers for redundancy..

One slightly lower than the other in case of malfunction.

 

[charbel101]

Dual 1000's ! On separate controllers for redundancy..

One slightly lower than the other in case of malfunction.

Dual 1000s? For a 2000w? Sounds extreme

 

[CasperOe]

Dual 1000s? For a 2000w? Sounds extreme

They're not supposed to be on at the same time.. Redundancy my friend..

If you're comfortable that a single 500w can heat up your tank, go with 2 x 500w but apply the same logic. Your backup will switch on if the primary heater does not work.

I have a 135 gallon system, and I run 2 x 650w titanium heaters on mine on separate Inkbird controllers..

 

[CasperOe]

I would never take the risk (..again!) of running with a single heater. Your heater is the piece of equipment most likely to fail- and at the same time one of the most vital to support life in the tank.

If your investment in life stock can justify any sort of redundancy and security, this is where you start!

 

[mcdrichj]

What is the coldest your basement gets?

 

[RocketEngineer]

IMHO hobbies level heater controllers should be replaced regularly. What’s why I’m one who considers my heaters expendables. Just a thought.

 

[Not woodyarmadillo]

Just chiming in to say that the Helio heaters are quite exceptional so far from my experience and others. I think you can rely on it. Sure a second heater may help on the off chance that this thing fails, but this isn’t the kind of heater/temp controller you throw out and rebuy every year. If you get the right Helio for your setup, it will maintain temperature VERY well. Mine doesn’t even budge off 78 expect on water change day. No 77.8 no 78.2. It’s always 78.

 

[zoomonster]

Helios PTC has a controller you can plug two heaters into. Does not get that cold here and I use a single 500w on my 200g w/38g sump. The Helios controller is backed up by Apex. Some are suggesting two separate redundant heaters which is going to get a little expensive with Helio's. One controller with two 500w tubes is my suggestion assuming it gets cold where you live. One tube fails and you have a second. IMO 2x1000w is major overkill on a 200g. Actually the 1000 is just the controller with 2x 500w tubes. They don't have a 1000w tube.

 

[Lebowski_]

Just chiming in to say that the Helio heaters are quite exceptional so far from my experience and others. I think you can rely on it. Sure a second heater may help on the off chance that this thing fails, but this isn’t the kind of heater/temp controller you throw out and rebuy every year. If you get the right Helio for your setup, it will maintain temperature VERY well. Mine doesn’t even budge off 78 expect on water change day. No 77.8 no 78.2. It’s always 78.

Agreed with The Other Tim on this one, I like my helio aswell.

One thing with helio is that, like most heaters, they are very generous with their tank ranges. You want to get the next size up.

I would go with something like this, then have another helio/other brand as a backup but set to a slightly higher temp. Doesn't need to be the same size, just something to pick up the slack in the cold basement and buy you some time. I would hook this other heater up to a wifi inkbird, so you are always aware of the temp and any issues.

I live in Canada so my basement gets very cold, so I would definitely need to go over the wattage specs and also have redundancy.

 

[Not woodyarmadillo]

Agreed with The Other Tim on this one, I like my helio aswell.

One thing with helio is that, like most heaters, they are very generous with their tank ranges. You want to get the next size up.

I would go with something like this, then have another helio/other brand as a backup but set to a slightly higher temp. Doesn't need to be the same size, just something to pick up the slack in the cold basement and buy you some time. I would hook this other heater up to a wifi inkbird, so you are always aware of the temp and any issues.

I live in Canada so my basement gets very cold, so I would definitely need to go over the wattage specs and also have redundancy.

Yeah, sort of rethinking my original response. I feel really good about my Helios. It’s my only heater in tank and I trust it to let me know if something is wrong and to work correctly, but I also have a 14 gallon tank. If I had a large super valuable tank, I would definitely invest in a backup personally. A separate unit too. If you have 2 heating probes off the same Helios and the brain dies… you’re out of luck.

 

[jda]

The only difference is the cost to purchase. The wattage needed to keep the temp will be same if you use 500w or 1000w... one will just run less.

I like to have more than one heater, too. I use Ranco which are industrial grade and reliable.