Heater Stance

[randallhart]

Just wondering do you guys and gals prefer to have your heater horizontal or veritical or both and why?

 

[gilaesther]

Just wondering do you guys and gals prefer to have your heater horizontal or veritical or both and why?

My heater is vertical for a couple of reasons - it fits better right next to the filter intake, and I can easily reach the temperature knob.

 

[DevUK]

I have mine at an angle, but I'm thinking I might change it to vertical though, to get it out of sight more.

 

[Underwurlde]

At an angle of about 45° - I say this for good reason: 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

 

[kewskills]

vertical as i can hide it more easily, i have good circulation in my tank so doesn't really matter where i place it

 

[doresy]

upright to make it less conspicuious. If mounted alongside filter or inlet/outlet pipe you can choose to have the warmer water sucked into the filter or propelled into the tank. The thermostat thing or positioning mentioned by previous posters should not occure unless you have poor circulation (water movement) which will present it's own set of problems

 

[fishboy619]

some cant be fully submerged so i have them vertically next the the filter out put so the heat is carried along.
the ones that can be fully submerged, are placed horizontal near the base of the aquarium, a few inches from the substrate, as heat rises, it carries the warmth up to the surface, and the filter moves it along.

 

[randallhart]

I have my heater in a 55 gallon and it is meant to be fully submerged under water. Would it be best to place it at a 45 degree angle?

 

[fishboy619]

placed at a 45degree angel would be better yes.

 

[randallhart]

Thank you.

 

[kribensis12]

I dont care, i have alot of circulation so it dosent matter.