Heater Placement in Tank

[Macready]

Howdy,

Related, but distinct from, the issue I'm discussing in this thread: 

I have purchased a new OASE HeatUP 100 heater and currently have it positioned vertically in the middle of the back wall of my tank.  I'm calibrating the heater but now I wonder, is this the optimal position? Should I instead place it behind my sponge filter on the back right wall? The sponge filter is running the Easy Flow attachment and I now run the ACOOP air pump at 3 for power. 

Thoughts? Where and how do you position your heaters? Bonus points if it is the OASE HeatUP 100 🙂

Tank Occupants: 
9 RummyNose Tetras
8 Ember Tetras
Many Many Cherry Shrimp

Plants, including floating water sprite and Sylvania. 

Tank is a 20G High.

Parameters: 25 Nitrate, 0 Nitrite, 0 Ammonia, GH 9, KH 4, TDS 290 - 310. 
I try to run about 75 degrees F throughout the tank. 

 

[Tanked]

I put all of the 'mechanicals' in one area when possible. This is partly for cosmetic reasons and partly to ensure that the heater is located where the most water will move past it.  I've read that a diagonal or even a horizontal alignment. is preferred.

[TMartins]

I have my heaters on the lower opposite corner of the sponge filters. 

[face]

I keep mine in the corner vertically just because it looks good to me but horizontal in the bottom is technically the best just keep it a little away from the silicone just in case 

[Lauren A]

I keep mine on the opposite end as my internal corner filter.  Both in the back side areas.  I keep a bubbler on the side of my heater too.

The reason I do this is for heat distribution in the tank.  It’s probably not necessary but my heats stays the same throughout the tank.  

[Galabar]

My understanding is that tilting the heater somewhat will allow the heat to not go directly up to the sensing element.  It doesn't have to be horizontal, but slightly titled would help.

[Macready]

Thanks for the replies!

I angled the heater slightly this morning, but left it in the center of the tank.  The tank thermometer shows that it is consistently up 1 degree F since I made this change.  I made no other changes.  I also spot checked other areas of the tank with the laser thermometer and things seem pretty consistent.  

The heater seems to be turning off and on quite a bit more than the previous heater. Seems to run for about 2 minutes and then off for 6 or 7 minutes.  I'm happier with the tank temperature though 🙂 

[Tony s]

Horizontal near the intake. That way it spreads the heat to moving water. Horizontally so that I don’t need to mess with it during water changes 

[Gannon]

You'll get the most consistent temperatures and most bang for your buck in energy by putting it where there is the most flow in the tank. I like putting it straight up and down, but it's better to put it horizontal or diagonally.

Also love the macready profile icon. Great movie.  

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/13/2024 at 9:45 AM, Gannon said:

You'll get the most consistent temperatures and most bang for your buck in energy by putting it where there is the most flow in the tank

This.

I ran into a pretty weird issue in my 29G.  I have a heater with a heater guard on it so it really does need flow to get through the grate.  That being said I thought the easy flow would make it easy!

 

 

On 2/11/2024 at 7:57 AM, Macready said:

The example being, in this setup I would expect that the heater on the left side of the tank results in the flow being directed at the heater and pushing the flow around the tank.  After testing what way the heater was angled, placement, and various other things I would recommend doing a few things.

1.  If you can, run one filter on both sides of the tank or add an airstone to the other side of the tank.  this is just something I tend to do, but it was one of the way I resolved the minimal flow issue.

2.  Heater on the back glass angled away from the flow seemed to work best.  When it was angled toward the flow it wasn't able to flow across the heater and remove the flow quickly enough.

[Macready]

Thanks for the continued replies 🙂

Update: I continue to tweak and monitor.  Today I adjusted the heater so it is horizontal and the heating element is much closer to the filter, assuming that the flow into the filter will help.  I will grab a picture later.  I had previously calibrated the filter to +2 degrees F and I set it back to zero with this maneuver. 

I will consider adding a second filter, the tank has been up for a year now and seems to be doing pretty well all things considered. Just need to dial the new heater in.  Do  we think that a single output ACOOP air pump will drive two sponge filters with easy flow attachments? I was hoping the one filter, with the easy flow and the air pump set to "4" out of 5 would be enough flow, maybe not! 

Edited February 18 by Macready

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/18/2024 at 10:22 AM, Macready said:

Do  we think that a single output ACOOP air pump will drive two sponge filters with easy flow attachments? I was hoping the one filter, with the easy flow and the air pump set to "4" out of 5 would be enough flow, maybe not! 

@AllFishNoBrakes what do you think? One filter per drop, right?

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Personally, I don’t think it would push enough for my liking. I’ve recently replaced (2) dual outlet ACO pumps that were each running 2 easy flow kits (2 outlets, each outlet went to 1 sponge). 
 

I used to run my tanks with basically no flow. Just a sponge. More recently I’ve gotten more interested in additional flow. 
 

Could the single outlet, split with a T, and then each line from there going to 1 easy flow kit (so 2 kits total) technically run bubbles up and out the kit? Probably. Just like anything else it’s going to depend on air tubing length, where the pump is placed, are you rubbing check valves, height of tanks, etc. I just personally think that it wouldn’t produce the flow that I’m looking for these days, and I’m not looking for anything crazy. 
 

If I was going to run 2 Easy Flow kits I would just use the dual outlet ACO air pump if I was set on an ACO pump to run them. 
 

Update: in another thread I saw a lovely idea of how to unclog the air collars for the Easy Flow kit. I just went through and did all my air collars and they’re like the day I took them out of the box! Turns out it probably wasn’t the pumps getting weaker, and just the collars beginning to clog. That being said, I’ve replaced and upgraded all the air pumps to Tetra Whisper 150’s, and I would still recommend the dual outlet for 2 kits. If you already have a single outlet pump there’s no harm in trying to split it, but if you have to purchase an air pump I’d recommend the dual outlet. 

Edited February 21 by AllFishNoBrakes