Wanting to use Hydor 300W external heater on 450 litres

[Bad Inferno]

noticed the 300 watt inline Hydor heater is only good for 300 litres. ANy suggestions on how I could use these for 450 litres. ? I want to keep my tank to the minimum of equipment showing inside the tank. Thus external heater.

I was thinking of putting them in parallel. I do not really want to have two pipes going back into my Aquarium and I only have one canister, so split the canister return in two with a tee piece, each line then through a 300W Hydor and then back into one line going back to the Aquarium. I could also pass just one of the lines through my external UV thus cutting the amount of water going through my UV down as well.

What is the max size tank someone has used a 300W hydor on ?
You think I could put one on the inlet and another heater on the outlet of my canister ?

thanks rob

[Roy]

Hey Rob,

Im using a 300w on my 120ltr tank and its not keeping the temp stable with our current cold weather !
Its on permanently trying to heat the water, im going to add another heater in the tank for winter.
Not sure if it will keep the heat up unless your room is also heated.

Roy

[Bad Inferno]

Thanks...you have saved me the expense....and I am looking at 450 litres !

Is your tank inside, my room temp gets down to about 17 degrees over night.

[Roy]

Yeah tank is in the loungeroom, near a window though so prob loses a little heat that way.
Im kinda disappointed to be honest, thought it would do better than this.

Roy

[psamers]

I have one on a 200 litre tank, and although I had a couple that died and were replaced under warranty (thanks Ben) The new one is good as gold. Like you I wanted to keep the hardware out of the tank, so the heater and UV are in series with hte canister. I have an undergravel heater which probably helps to minimize the load on the Hydor, If you are talking a new tank you could think about this as a partial solution. I noticed in Summer the tank was getting a bit hot, so had to turn off the cable. Unlike the Hydor thee don't have a thermostat so when the ambient temp get's high they just push it over the top. In winter though I guess they supply a nice base load.

[Ben]

if you want to get the temp from 17 to 28.c a 300 watt hydor is not going to work. I had one on a 300L tank and it struggled.

An option might be adding 2 of them.

[taksan]

I wouldn't use a Hydor anything on anything .....
Hydor heaters especially of all types I've had and heard of bad experiences.

[dreamer]

mine work perfect keeping my 4x2x2 stable at 28c, whats wrong with hydor stuff?

[Bad Inferno]

I had a thought of putting an 80watt tunze substrate heater in..I assume substrate heating is the same as a normal in tank heater as far as heating watts go. At least that would give me 380 watts total

[BT Gunner]

try eheim jager, u can't beat these heaters, i heat my 500lt tank at a constant 32degress with two 300W Jagers and it does wonders!

[Bald_noggin]

I use two 40 Watt Red Sea substrate heaters in my 6x2x2 and a 250 Watt Eheim Jager as a back up.

During an average Canberra day, the temp of the tank will stay at 28 degrees without the Eheim coming on and on a warm day the temp will increase to more than 28, another reason why I built my tank controller.

When the nights are cold (which they are now!) the temp of the tank will drop but that is when the Eheim kicks in and helps to keep the temp from dropping below 27 until the day warms up again and it returns back to 28.

[ILLUSN]

Bald noggin, ive also got a 6x2x2 with 2x300w jagers and 2 red sea 40w, with all this going my tank struggles to maintain 28C on sydney winter nights. my tank is in a converted veranda (walled up with insulated colorbond panneling and a colorbond roof). is your tank in the house?

[Bald_noggin]

Hi ILLUSN,

It's in the house. Located in the Lounge Room and our house is pretty well insulated.

There is a slow combustion heater in the lounge room also. I'd dare say that if I didn't use the heater for a couple of days, the Eheim would be on more often for sure!

[Davo]

I have used a Hydor 300w external on my 4x2x2 tank in Sydney for years and it is fine. I don't know what all the fuss is about.

Dave.

[Bad Inferno]

I was thinking 2 x40 watt red sea substrate heating in 450 litre 5 ft tank and try my 300 watt intank heater...if that coped I could then change to an external 300w Hydor.

Can the substrate get too hot ?
Does the plant roots get wrapped around the heating element ?
Can I get away with 2" substrate, as eco complete for my tank is already expensive ?

[ILLUSN]

Bad inferno what plants are you growing? swords will want a deeper substrate, bout 4 inches. i dont think the substrate can get too hot, not with only 80w and a lot of water above it, i had a play with mine last night and it felt warmer (i also use 2x40w red sea cables) then the water colum. as for roots gwtting wrapped around it i dont think it would be a problem, the roots are going to get well and trully into the eco grains anyway but i'm sure you'll be able to get the cable free if you had to.