Heater Help

[Dixie49er]

I am new to tropical fish and am upgrading from a very small tank to a slightly larger 50 litre tank.

When setting up the small tank we were advised that the heater should be upright. The new tank advises that the heater should be at a 45 degree angle.

Can any one confirm which is right please?

 

[SJ2K]

Heck if your tank is giving you advise id take it! Lol

More seriously, I dont think it really matters that much, personly Id just make sure its situated near the filter output and as discreate as possible

 

[Underwurlde]

Yo,

IMHO, heaters should be mounted at 45° angle: You see the thermostat is at the top of the heater. As the heater heats up the water it will rise and if mounted vertically the just heated water will go straight past the thermostat giving the thermostat a false indication (or more importantly an unstable indication) of the temperature of the surrounding water.

It is the heat of the water of the entire tank you are trying to target & stabilize, not just the immediate locale of the heater. Also for this very reason the heater should not be placed in a stagnant region of the tank, better still in a fast flowing region. Again the heater should be placed in the middle of the tank, not at the bottom, not at the top so that the temperature sensed by the thermostat is a true meridian.

Similar situation to having a thermostat in a house mounted above a radiator. Yes the heat you set is correct for immediate area, but in the rest of the house it is all over the place. Conversely if the thermostat is one end of the room and the radiator the other, and then the temperature you set on the thermostat will be a truer indication of the temperature of the room as a whole.

You don't want it horizontal / flat either - hopefully it's placed it in fast flowing water, so make the best of the volume of water flowing past it.

Andy

PS. Your tank talks to you??? Cooooooool 8)

 

[raptorrex]

i.m with underwurlde here. mine is at 45 to vertical and sitting in the stream from my external filter. be warned though, Hagen insist that their heaters are placed upright. the even take pains to point this out. so i would guess the same goes for juwel, as hagen make their heaters now.