Help with temperature stability in cold house question.

[PSUolive]

Here is my question and then I will explain what I have going and would like to do.

Q: Would the 200w heater that I got from BRS on black Friday be enough to keep our new 40g breeder tank at acceptable levels with ambient room temps that range between 58-64 degrees.

Some additional information:
We are currently renting the 3rd floor on an old Victorian house built mid 1800’s and renovated late 1800’s (addition of living room added 1890’s I believe)
We are upgrading from a smaller 29 gallon reef tank to a slightly larger sumpless 40 breeder tank for Softies and LPS.

Because of the old house , walls and windows we lose a lot of heat and the room temperature is much lower than most of you who live in the north are use to.
Its baseboard heat and we only heat my fishroom (was spare bedroom and is currently where the 29g reef tank is) and the livingroom since we have freshwater tanks in the rooms as well.

Running the baseboard heat in just those 2 rooms + the cost of running air pumps and heaters in the other aquariums costs us around $210 as of last months bill and that is only keeping the 2 rooms between 58-64 degrees. The coldest parts of winter is yet to come for Central PA.
Before anyone mentions it. Yes I have all of the windows sealed up with caulking, wind stop foam and then shrink wrapped with the winter window stuff. So as far as i am concerned. I have done everything I am able to do to keep every bit of heat in the house and prevet cold air from coming in as well. But since we rent, my options are limited to everything I have already done.

The specific heater and controller I purchased was the 200W Titanium Heater and inkbird Temperature Controller from BRS.

200W Titanium Aquarium Heater System - WiFi

The Bulk Reef Supply Titanium Aquarium Heater System is a complete temperature control system that includes a virtually unbreakable titanium heating element paired with an Inkbird ITC-306a Wi-Fi Aquarium Temperaturere Controller which sets new standards in safety and reliability. The heater...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

the rest of the setup is going to be:
40g Breeder
Aquamaxx HOB 1.5 Skimmer
2 AI Prime16HD
Tidal 55 HOB Filter

Maybe someone else out there is in or has been in a similar situation? I am open to suggestions and idea's.

Thanks!

Allen

 

[FreshSaltH2o]

Imo that should suffice, I use 300w for my 200g ambient temps are the same sometimes lower

 

[scubaReef002]

ReefGuard temperature monitor is on $40 and will alert you if temp dips or rises. Might be worth the piece of mind?

ReefGuard Systems

ReefGuard Systems - SIMPLE. RELIABLE. AFFORDABLE.

reefguard.co

 

[fish farmer]

I would think so. I run my 29 gallon with sump on 150 watts, low temps at night/ not at home will be 62-64. If it is not enough, get a 50 watt one as a back up and have the extra plug in. Two heaters are nice in case one fails.

 

[Rmckoy]

Living in Canada and prefer to keep our apartment on the cooler side I have 1 heater and not even sure what wattage it is . If it’s not broken , don’t Fix it …. Right beside my 230 is a large sliding patio door but I somehow manage to maintain temp in the tank perhaps the t5’s provide enough heat through the day .
it does drop a few degrees cooler at night but …. I imagine the ocean also cools a few degrees at night .
I’ve never put much thought into whether the tank should be warmer

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

.

 

[PSUolive]

Thanks for all the input.
I may get a alarm that will alerts me if it drops drastically. Someday I’ll get a fancy setup with apex and all the bells and whistles but hard to justify the cost for a 40g breeder.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Thanks for all the input.
I may get a alarm that will alerts me if it drops drastically. Someday I’ll get a fancy setup with apex and all the bells and whistles but hard to justify the cost for a 40g breeder.

Inkbird makes a wifi temp controller that will send alerts to your phone...

 

[RaymondNoodles]

I run two heaters on each of my tanks. It’s good redundancy and the second one can turn on if/when the temp drops too much for the primary to handle. My 20g AIO has 2 75w heaters and the 57g with 20g sump has 2 200w heaters. The room dips to 65 which usually triggers the second heaters to turn on. I use an InkBird with Wi-Fi (and phone alerts) on the 20g and hydros on the other tank. Both tanks are able to stay at 77 degrees with no issues. Your temps in the high 50’s are quite a bit colder though. I’ve never kept reef tanks in a room that cold but I’d imagine the 200w heater could keep the 40g tank in the mid 70’s. It’s always a good idea to have a second heater on hand incase of failure so I figured that’s good enough reason for me to have 2 in each tank. The Eheim and Hygger heaters have been good bang for the buck in my experience.