2 heaters better than 1

[no1bubba]

1. Recently read that two small heaters were better than one large. If 1 large goes out - no heat at all. The chances of 2 small going at the same time eliminating all heat would be unusual. What say you?
2. Do you all use a titanium probe to ground your tank?

 

[jaustin]

Two smaller are better than one. I run one 100W heater and 1 150W heater for my 120. I don't use a grounding probe and don't know if many people do.

 

[hackman72]

2 heaters and no probe here.

 

[rasbora]

I try to use 2 small heaters instead of one large one. Worst case scenario, one of the heaters gets stuck in the 'on' position. A larger heater can cook the tank quicker than a smaller one. So more time for someone to notice something is wrong and possible save the tank.

 

[dakota9]

I only have a 30 cube...

1 quality heater

I do use a grounding probe

 

[freezerrat]

Rasbora;575635 wrote: Worst case scenario, one of the heaters gets stuck in the 'on' position. A larger heater can cook the tank quicker than a smaller one.

Yup, I know first hand. Years ago I bred a pair of kribensis (freshwater). Heater stuck on and killed the whole bunch of them. Sucked, they were about 30 days old.

 

[no1bubba]

Thanks for the replys. I am going to order the probe (my electrical cord systems can best be equated to Chevy Chase's Christmas movie.) Dropped a fan into the sump last week, and it is still working :yay:
Ordering 3 new heaters 2 for the 75 and one for the QT. Have a great day. Bubba

 

[no1bubba]

What to do when your GFO refracter is not perking?

 

[acroholic]

I don't use a grounding probe. I want to know if there is voltage in the tank (defective equipment). A grounding probe will mask that.

 

[superclown]

Not to hijack the thread but i have a unknown brand size heater in mytank it came with it but it doesn't even display a tempeture setting but im right in the middle of combining my frag tank with my 24g cube i thought of getting 2 new heaters for this purpose what size heaters for roughly 40-60g worth of water

 

[acroholic]

no1bubba;575663 wrote: What to do when your GFO refracter is not perking?

Increase the flow thru the reactor or change the GFO to new media.

 

[coolsurf]

Be careful and beware of anything electrical dropped into salt water. It's a recipe for a fire later on. I've thrown away all sorts of electrical things for that one reason unless they can be rinsed off afterwards with RODI. A grounding probe won't prevent a fire. Just my .02 worth.

 

[jef4y]

2 heaters. No grounding probe. Neptune Apex controller.

Multiple layers of protection here.

 

[brianjfinn]

JeF4y;575733 wrote: 2 heaters. No grounding probe. Neptune Apex controller.

Multiple layers of protection here.

Redundancy is key in this hobby.