Heater For A 17L Tank.

[TimNorwich]

Hello there, I recently made purchase of a 17L aquabox from P@H, at £30 you can't complain. I'm still deciding weather I should have it freshwater or just have a number of WCMM. If I was to make it freshwater I'd need a heater, the trouble is none of my LFS sell 25W heaters.

Would I be able to use a 50Watt heater for this tank or is that too much?

If I stayed coldwater what would my options of fish be?

Thankyou,

Tim.

 

[walkers101]

ebay? 25w heater real cheap on ebay or im sure your lfs can order one in

 

[jpeterson]

Well the lowest you can get is 25w which is recommended for 5gallon/25 litres. You would have to set the temp on the heater a little lower. Maybe get a thermometer put it in set the heater at about 66f and what temp it gives you. You want it to be around 70-77f. You should shop around ebay and amazon. Remember the cheap one could cause you problems. Don't look for cheapness look for quality.

 

[Curiosity101]

15W should be fine but anything up to 25W would also be fine. I think you'll find a 50W heater is physically too big. How much are you willing to spend on a heater?

http/www.seapets.co.uk/products/aquarium-supplies/fish-tank-equipment/aquarium-heaters/thermostatic-heaters/marina-submersible-aquarium-heater-17w.html - £14.79

Or google "Newatt heater", it's a mini heater and the 10W may do your tank but there is a 25W version which would be pretty good.

Alternatively have a look on ebay for heaters 25W or below that are finishing soon

Well the lowest you can get is 25w which is recommended for 5gallon/25 litres.

The lowest you can get is 7.5W - Google Hydor mini heater. It also comes in a 15W which the OP may be interested in as a possibility. Problem is I don't think any of the hydor minis are set to an actual temp... they just raise the water above the ambient temp by 'a couple of degrees'

 

[jpeterson]

15W should be fine but anything up to 25W would also be fine. I think you'll find a 50W heater is physically too big. How much are you willing to spend on a heater?

http/www.seapets.co.uk/products/aquarium-supplies/fish-tank-equipment/aquarium-heaters/thermostatic-heaters/marina-submersible-aquarium-heater-17w.html - £14.79

Or google "Newatt heater", it's a mini heater and the 10W may do your tank but there is a 25W version which would be pretty good.

Alternatively have a look on ebay for heaters 25W or below that are finishing soon

Well the lowest you can get is 25w which is recommended for 5gallon/25 litres.

The lowest you can get is 7.5W - Google Hydor mini heater. It also comes in a 15W which the OP may be interested in as a possibility. Problem is I don't think any of the hydor minis are set to an actual temp... they just raise the water above the ambient temp by 'a couple of degrees'

Ummmm, that's actually quiet useful for my fry tank which is like 10L. Purchasing one now haha.

 

[BethK]

You can get a 17w heater, I had one and it was trustworthy. Although, you couldn't adjust the temp, it had an auto thing inside it but that cost me £16 GBP.

You can buy 25w heaters on ebay for under £12 GBP, I know as I had 2 from there.

15W should be fine but anything up to 25W would also be fine. I think you'll find a 50W heater is physically too big. How much are you willing to spend on a heater?

http/www.seapets.co.uk/products/aquarium-supplies/fish-tank-equipment/aquarium-heaters/thermostatic-heaters/marina-submersible-aquarium-heater-17w.html - £14.79

Or google "Newatt heater", it's a mini heater and the 10W may do your tank but there is a 25W version which would be pretty good.

That's the heater I had for my 17ltr, very good and compact, doesn't take up much room at all!

 

[TimNorwich]

Right did a bit more research found a 25W at a shop nearby for £10 odd.

The standard filter that comes with the tank is too powerful (other people have said this too about this tank). I do have a fluval 1 filter, would this suffice instead?

 

[jpeterson]

Yeah the good thing with fluval is you can adjust the flow on it.

 

[Curiosity101]

Timmyboy - Have you considered stuffing it with more foam first? If it's densely packed then the filter cannot suck the water through as quickly... plus once it gets all nice and gunked up over time it'll settle down. That's why we recommend people don't just go by what the manufacturers say the turnover is... cause their turnover is based on the motor+propellor working with absolutely no resistance (or at most perfectly clean new sponges).

Just an idea. A for the fluval 1 I can't find it's spec...but if it's anything like the fluval 1+ then I'd say it'd probably be too powerful aswell.

Yeah the good thing with fluval is you can adjust the flow on it.

^^ Not on a fluval 1 or 1+ you can't.

 

[ian]

the fluval filter will also take over a 17l tank, it would probabaly leave you 3 litres to play with!

 

[TimNorwich]

the fluval filter will also take over a 17l tank, it would probabaly leave you 3 litres to play with!

Huh?

I can't really stuff the filter as the three sections come in their own little boxes each with different media in.

 

[ian]

what Curiosity is say is, stuff one of the compartments with filter wool/floss and it will slow the flow. I was saying that a U1 is a bit big for a little tank like that, it wouldn't leave you much room.

 

[Curiosity101]

Yes you can... put extra foam in each...literally stuff it in till you can fit anymore. EG. if you have ceramic noodle in one, get some foam and squish it in with the noodles until the noodles can move around anymore etc.
Trust me, it'll work in slowing the filter down...at the end of the day the water has to move through the media to come out of the top so more densely packed media = slower flow.

 

[TimNorwich]

Its not a 'U' model, its an older version that can be found here http/www.ukpetsupplies.com/Details.aspx?ProdId=1518

It's actually smaller than the filter that came with the tank.

 

[Curiosity101]

Well the Fluval 1+ doesn't have a flow regulator either so you'd have to stuff that with sponge/floss if you wanted to use. Or if you were willing to buy one (it's a ood plan to keep a spare handy anyways so the one that came with it could be your spare).
Then definitely consider a hang on filter...be good for opening up your limited space