Just wondering... on setting up new heaters
 

Just got 2 new eheim 200 watt heaters

I have my tank set to 78-79... one heater, the light turns on at 79, so this seems accurate. The other the light turns on at 75. Can these brand of heaters be out of wack that much? The calibrate wheel is set to the middle for both.

No biggie, just wondering

I have never had a heater that has been bang on accurate, thinking about trying a digital heater.

But 4-5 degrees out?

FYI, I set them up by setting to lowest, turning up slowly until light turns on. This will increase temp slightly, but that is OK. If I wanted to setup at lower temp to thermometer, I set to highest point, then turn slowly until light turns off.

K, doing some googling and seeing this is quite common. People are saying the older models were better calibrated, but these are still suppose to be the best for not exploding. This true?

Maybe I should look for a controller... any affordable ones out there?

I have glass tops and metal halide lights on my tank and haven't needed a heater (or a chiller) since I set it up last may......temp stays between 79-82

I'd never trust the built in thermostats. I use a ranco controller but even those are more than $100.

Had a few brand new heater that would never shut off & a few that where out by more then 5*. Thinking of trying the Oddyesea Digital or the Fluval E series digital to see if there any better.

Where can I get one of these. Are they strictly for temp, with temp probe? $100 or so isn't bad.

I think you were reffering to these?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/RANCO-ETC-11...-/200708519091

your temperature fluctuate too much. Thats 3 degree and I am guessing between day and night. too much.

My temperature stay at 76 day and night. no fluctuation but I use a controller. 82 is quite high.

I have a dual stage so it can power a chiller or fans if it gets too hot.

The most common failure for heaters is in the on position. And with 2 heaters you have just doubled your chances.

I have one tank with a heater, and use my Apex to catch it staying on. The other tank doesn't need a heater, and my chiller keeps the temp under control.

Both tanks have a max of 1 degree F variance, which I think is pretty good.

I have 2 heaters hooked up through my Reefkeeper lite unit. The controller is set to turn on one of the heaters at 78.5 and will turn on the other if it drops to 78. The upper point on the controller is set to 81 in case of a stuck on heater. Keeps my temp solid at 79.

since the heaters are controlled by the controller, if you hit 81 it's because you have a controller stuck on or the room's super hot. shouldn't ever have to worry about a stuck on heater. they might fail that way but they are being used as simple on/off devices via your controller now. stuck on is ok.

The point I was trying to make is with a controller you have "more redundancy". You can set the thermostat on the heaters for a max setting and the controller for a max and min setting. If either were to fail closed hopefully the other would kick out.

"The average annual temperature of most coral reefs is around 82 to 84 degrees Fahrenheit (27 to 28 degrees Celsius)(see Table I and Figure 1), which seems to be the optimum for coral growth (Barnes et al. 1995, Clausen and Roth 1975, Weber and White 1976, Coles and Jokiel 1977 and 1978, Highsmith 1979). The commonly advised mini-reef temperatures of 74 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit (22 to 25 degrees Celsius) are stressing most of the animals unnecessarily and, in some cases, severely."

In addition to this natural reefs fluctuate in temperature throughout the day depending on current. Observations between 76-83 are very common, what are you basing your statement on?

Oh yes I follow you now. It would be a good idea to calibrate the heater's built-in max using the heat probe from the controller though as multiple heaters will likely not be the same and none will likely match the probe on the controller.

Interesting thread. I check my temps almost daily, I have 2 heaters in my 180, both hooked up to my Apex controller. Noticed yesterday, my temp sitting at 76.5. I have another thermostat and checked it as well, same reading. I had turned my heaters up a few days ago, obviously 1 is not working properly at all, but they were both on. I haven't received an alarm on either heater either from the Apex.

Hmmm, I had thought 25 was too low for a tank so I upped my apex to keep my tank between 26.1 and 26.5. It got really hot in my house a few days ago when it was sunny and the tank got up to 27.1 and I was freaking out. Now me-thinks I should have it set there.

No, 86 is quite high (but not fatal)...... For my tanks (20yrs experience) anything between 78 and 82 is perfect :biggrin:

Have you ever been to the tropics? The water near the beach can get up to 90 and when the tide shifts or a surge of colder water comes up from the depths, the temp can fluctuate 10 degrees.......instantly :lol:

I have 2 of the E300's and love them. I haven't had a problem yet and the one in my main tank is only 0.5 different from my thermometer (digital as well).

I pre-set/calibrate all my Eheim heaters in a bucket with a trusted thermometer and a powerhead
I set them to 81F just in case the controller leaves them on for some stupid reason, and I set my controller for 79F so the heaters will always come on

On personal experience with my own corals. When temperature get that high I see retracted polyps and RTN follow if I keep it that way.

Stressing most animals at 77 F? Some of my stressed corals grow 1" per month. I have quite a few deep water acroporas now, and they don't seem to like hot water at all.

Maybe it depends on the species.

It's funny because you mention one reference, then others will say other things. Temperature is one of the most controversial subject it seem. I keep reading conflicting opinions. I know 82F does not work with my own reef. I put a fan so that when the temp reach 78 it start automatically. I never had RTN since I keep my temperature on the lower side.

If anyone is using this high temperature and it work for them and they never get RTN, then they should surely keep at it. Does not work for me.

Here some interesting reading on the subject:


http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/r...hris-jury.html

http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/r...e-part-ii.html

http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/r...-part-iii.html

http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/r...e-part-iv.html

Although this info is very valuable to many reefers ...

The OP was only looking for advice on setting up new Eheim heaters

Let's stay on topic ... :smile:

Wish I'd thought of that earlier! Might have to rip my heaters out one at a time and do this. I don't think they're on the same page. Haha

I just ordered Digital Aquatics Reefkeeper lite: Check out the link, this thing does a lot different functions looks pretty good.
http://www.jlaquatics.com/info/400/D...+Monitors.html