2Nd Heater In Discus Tank

[hillmar77]

Now that I'm going full out Discus.... was wandering if any members run there tanks with 2 heaters. Reason for is if the heater ever went in the middle of the night, the back up will keep the temp up for them. Only reason I ask is because when I was at a LFS earlier this week, They lost 9 out of 10 of there Discus in there show tank when the heater blew up in the middle of the night.

 

[Verminator89]

Its always beneficial to have two heaters running on any tank. So long as you don't have them set too high its fine. Its a big misconception that two heaters = double to power cost. Wrong. Two heaters heat the water to the same temp (assuming they are set the same) but will be on for half the time. If one heater fails, the other will just be on for longer to maintain the temp.

So yes, i'd have two heaters. I find the Tetratec ones are good, they have the nozel on so you can set it to the exact temp you want your tank to run at, handy if you have two heaters

 

[simonas]

I;ve always run two heaters on the tank I have the discus in but then its 150g and its in the garage. They are two 300w heaters

at the moment there are 4 heaters in there due to the recent cold snap and even they couldn;t keep it at the required temp!!

 

[hamfist]

I run two heaters in both my big tanks. However, that also doubles the chance that one heater will stick in the ON position and cook your fish. This seems to be just as common as failing in the OFF position. THerefore, I also run digital thermometers with an audible alarm if the temp gets too low or too high. These are only just over a tenner, so are good value IMO.

 

[markandhisfish]

i always run 2 heaters too. it deffinately good practice