Heater placement in S-400
- Thread starter JKT
- Start date
My personal choice for heaters is Eheim Jager. They have been around forever and are a good solid aquarium heater. However, there are planty of other brands that will work well.
I'm not too big a fan of inline heaters because it's a couple of more connections and depends on the filtration system running.
As for placement, you want something that will fit in your sump. This gets the heater out of sight, and keeps a dangerous place for livestock out of the display tank.
When sizing a heater more is not better. Use about 2 to 3 watts per gallon of water, unless your keeping the tank in an unheated area in winter. Between all the lighting, pumps and so on SW systems tend to have a lot of built in heat sources. You might find that you don't even need a heater. Some have even found that they need a chiller more than a heater.
I'm not too big a fan of inline heaters because it's a couple of more connections and depends on the filtration system running.
As for placement, you want something that will fit in your sump. This gets the heater out of sight, and keeps a dangerous place for livestock out of the display tank.
When sizing a heater more is not better. Use about 2 to 3 watts per gallon of water, unless your keeping the tank in an unheated area in winter. Between all the lighting, pumps and so on SW systems tend to have a lot of built in heat sources. You might find that you don't even need a heater. Some have even found that they need a chiller more than a heater.
Thanks very much DaveK, I appreciate the advice. I've done all of what you said over the years with my SW tanks. Seeing as Red Sea chose not to include a heater in the S series tanks, I'm left to my imagination as to what to buy and where to put it. I usually place heaters in the sump if I have that type of tank. However the S series is somewhat unusual in that it has this enormous overflow box that looks like the sump from an All in One tank like the max250. I'm thinking that I could place the heater there or stick in the sump under the tank.
DaveR11
Well-Known Member
I had been puzzling over the same question for my new 650. Another 650 owner Joey (who has a thread on here and is very helpful) suggested in the main return pump section on the right hand side of the sump underneath the carbon racks where there is lots of flow. I bought two 300w Eheims but they are too long to fit in there so going to get a 200w for there and then put one of the 300s in the circulation pump compartment on the back of the tank, being careful to avoid the wires.