So 150watts isn't enough?

[Salty_Northerner]

So I wake up this morning and noticed my two 75w Cobalt neo-therm pro heaters were flashing in the blue zone of 74°f

Tank is a waterbox 35.2 and only have a mesh screen top. It's 5°c outside and had the window in the living room open a bit just to help with pH at night. It's cool in the room and was surprised to see the water cooled down as much as it did.

So how big would you recommend for this AIO that fits in the center rear return chamber? I like the cobalt ones as they are generally .5f +/- variations. We do like to crack the window year round just for some fresh air but with winter coming it's obvious these 2 heaters are NOT up to the task.

 

[Stealthreefer]

I run 200 watts in my 30.
When I crack the windows it's barely enough.
I want a night time temp change because I have convinced myself it's more natural so I don't mess with it.

 

[Cell]

74 C = 165 F

 

[Salty_Northerner]

74 C = 165 F

Lol nice catch haha I'm so used to °c for outside temperature so that's stuck in my head. My apologies lol, 74°f and went back to edit it.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

So how big would you recommend

Determine the temperature of the room at its coldest, then buy a heater that will heat 35 gallons up to the temp you desire. Most heaters are "rated" for tank size assuming a 10 degree (F) difference.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

I run 200 watts in my 30.
When I crack the windows it's barely enough.
I want a night time temp change because I have convinced myself it's more natural so I don't mess with it.

Shoot, so what am I looking at, 300w heater to be safe? It gets down to -40°c in the winter and yes we always keep a window cracked even before we had the aquarium. Last January I set up a evo 13.5 and used a single 75w and it was fine for temperature but then again it had the lid on top so little evap was going on and had the ability to hold the temperature. Gawd I'm going to need some solid WATTAGE advice on this tank :/

 

[nereefpat]

150 watts should be plenty of power for a 35 gallon tank.

Instead of leaving a window cracked open all night, just open the windows wide and air it out with a fan quickly instead. The air will exchange quickly, but the water takes longer to change temps and the room will warm up again.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

Determine the temperature of the room at its coldest, then buy a heater that will heat 35 gallons up to the temp you desire. Most heaters are "rated" for tank size assuming a 10 degree (F) difference.

In all honesty we keep it cool at night. Summer time the AC is on and ambient temperature is 19°c but winter it'll drop to 12-14°c till we wake up and the smart thermostat kicks the heater on an hour before we wake up for the day.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Shoot, so what am I looking at, 300w heater to be safe? It gets down to -40°c in the winter and yes we always keep a window cracked even before we had the aquarium. Last January I set up a evo 13.5 and used a single 75w and it was fine for temperature but then again it had the lid on top so little evap was going on and had the ability to hold the temperature. Gawd I'm going to need some solid WATTAGE advice on this tank :/

Does this one have a lid? If not, consider using one, at least at night.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

In all honesty we keep it cool at night. Summer time the AC is on and ambient temperature is 19°c but winter it'll drop to 12-14°c till we wake up and the smart thermostat kicks the heater on an hour before we wake up for the day.

So 12c is about 54f. You need a heater (or combination of heaters) to raise/maintain the temp about 25 degrees f. So get a heater rated for 2.5 times your tank volume.

 

[BZOFIQ]

wattage requirement depends on both tank size and temp differential between desired tank temp and room temp.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

150 watts should be plenty of power for a 35 gallon tank.

Instead of leaving a window cracked open all night, just open the windows wide and air it out with a fan quickly instead. The air will exchange quickly, but the water takes longer to change temps and the room will warm up again.

I did have a 32x32 floor fan on last night on a stand about 8 feet from the tank to cause some evaporation as I did a WC yesterday and needed to bring the water level for the ATO down to it's set point so the SG would adjust. Hmm never thought the fan would bring the temp down so quick. I turned the fan off and sure enough the heaters are no longer flashing.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I did have a 32x32 floor fan on last night on a stand about 8 feet from the tank to cause some evaporation as I did a WC yesterday and needed to bring the water level for the ATO down to it's set point so the SG would adjust. Hmm never thought the fan would bring the temp down so quick. I turned the fan off and sure enough the heaters are no longer flashing.

Fans are surprisingly good at cooling a tank.

 

[nereefpat]

Evaporative cooling is powerful, for sure.

I think you're nuts and throwing money away for leaving a window cracked when it's -40 degrees outside.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

So 12c is about 54f. You need a heater (or combination of heaters) to raise/maintain the temp about 25 degrees f. So get a heater rated for 2.5 times your tank volume.

It's been years and I think I remember 3-5w per gallon or was it 3-5w lighting. This is over 20 years ago though.

I'm combined @150w so ya think a 200w would be good enough with a controller or go higher to be safe?

 

[Salty_Northerner]

Evaporative cooling is powerful, for sure.

I think you're nuts and throwing money away for leaving a window cracked when it's -40 degrees outside.

You Americans shiver at 70° lol.. but being serious now we don't waste money on hydro in the winter. We have control over all rooms in the home and we only keep the heat on in the rooms we frequent during the winter. The house is well insulated and we do have a fresh air exchanger we could use for humidity and air exchange but it dryes out throats out at night. It's to effective so we leave it off.

 

[BZOFIQ]

You Americans shiver at 70° lol.. but being serious now we don't waste money on hydro in the winter. We have control over all rooms in the home and we only keep the heat on in the rooms we frequent during the winter. The house is well insulated and we do have a fresh air exchanger we could use for humidity and air exchange but it dryes out throats out at night. It's to effective so we leave it off.

Europe is light years away with building technology when it comes to insulation.

With cheap energy prices Americans never worried about it....until now.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

Europe is light years away with building technology when it comes to insulation.

With cheap energy prices Americans never worried about it....until now.

I'm in Canada so yeah it gets waaaay colder then Europe does I'd think. My electric bill has only gone up $10 if that a month on average with this tank. I might hook up my wattage meter this winter and see how much the tank actually uses just for interest sake. My smart power bars has WiFi and measure's monthly bill after entering in my price per kwh but they want you to pay for it... go figure lol.. it shows how much a day but won't store it unless you pay.

 

[nereefpat]

The house is well insulated and we do have a fresh air exchanger we could use for humidity and air exchange but it dryes out throats out at night. It's to effective so we leave it off.

Run it during the day? Run a humidifier? Midwestern Americans run humidifiers in the winter.

It doesn't make sense to me to keep a reef tank in a room that doesn't have a reasonable temperature, especially if it's for pH purposes.

 

[Salty_Northerner]

Run it during the day? Run a humidifier? Midwestern Americans run humidifiers in the winter.

It doesn't make sense to me to keep a reef tank in a room that doesn't have a reasonable temperature, especially if it's for pH purposes.

No no, you're getting me wrong on that one. This keeping the window cracked has been a forever thing, even before I've had the tank set up. Learning about CO2 and how it affects pH was a new one to me when I got back into the hobby. 20 some years ago we would rarely ever test pH. Don't get me wrong, I don't keep the window open all the time during the winter. It is kind of silly to throw money out the window when it's 40 below LOL but yes I'll definitely take advantage of the fresh air heat exchanger this winter during the daytime.