aaron186 Posted October 23, 2015 Posted October 23, 2015 I have a new 10 gallon that initially had a hydor 100w heater in it. After realizing I needed a second heater for water changes I purchased a second heater. At the suggestions of some of the forum members I grabbed an Eheim 50w and put that in my tank and swapped the hydor to my bucket. Prior to the change my temp was a consistent 80 degrees (despite it being set to 75). Since placing the EJ and calibrating per the instructions my temp has bounced from as low as 76.7 up to 81 in the past 2 days. Seems to be cooler in the early morning - the outside temp here in Cleveland is dropping a bit, and my ambient room temp might be to blame a bit - thermostat set for 72. Tank is not by window or heating duct in a 1 bed apt in the living room. Is the 50 watts just not enough for my tank (its rated up to 16 gal)? Is my heater defective? Should I just switch back to the hydor despite it being considered an inferior product? My tank specs: 10 gal brimmed tank Standard glass lid 18in current orbit marine LED (runs cool) 10lbs live sand/ 12 LR Hydor Koralia 225 power head AC 30 HOB
Nano sapiens Posted October 23, 2015 Posted October 23, 2015 Interesting. I switched a few months back to the same EJ 50w and noticed temp swings from 77 - 81. I tried adjusting it a few times, and while I noticed a slight imporvement, still not as advertised. I let it be for a few weeks and noticed that the swings gradually lessened and today the heater holds temps within 1-2 degrees. First time I've seen a break-in period required for a heater...
Benny314 Posted October 23, 2015 Posted October 23, 2015 What you must remember is the thermostat that controls the heater is built into the body of the heater. So as the heater warms the water, the thermostat immediately detects the temperature rise and shuts off, depending on what your water movement is like this can leave a noticeable discrepancy tank temperature or allow the temperature to swing. The best solution is a temperature controller. You can buy an STC-1000 which will control a heating and cooling circuit on ebay for like £15 if you don't mind waiting for it to arrive from china. The controller has a temperature probe which is best run in the display tank if you have a sump with your heaters in or as far away from the heater as possible. The controller then lets you set the desired temperature by 0.2 degree increments. So you can set 80 degrees and at 78.8 the heater comes on and 80.2 the cooling would activate if set up. All you have to do is wire the heater to the controller like you would if you were adding a switch. I have my STC-1000 setup as a back up if my reef controller fails and I have a plug socket wired to it so I just have to plug the heater in, chuck the probe in the tank and turn on the power.
dandelion Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 In your experience is it reliable and accurate? My tank is cycling so I don't mind the waiting at all. I saw it on eBay for less than $15 tempted to give it a shot. Also is it bulky? I'm planning on using it on my Pico and I want to keep things as aesthetically pleasing as possible. What you must remember is the thermostat that controls the heater is built into the body of the heater. So as the heater warms the water, the thermostat immediately detects the temperature rise and shuts off, depending on what your water movement is like this can leave a noticeable discrepancy tank temperature or allow the temperature to swing. The best solution is a temperature controller. You can buy an STC-1000 which will control a heating and cooling circuit on ebay for like £15 if you don't mind waiting for it to arrive from china. The controller has a temperature probe which is best run in the display tank if you have a sump with your heaters in or as far away from the heater as possible. The controller then lets you set the desired temperature by 0.2 degree increments. So you can set 80 degrees and at 78.8 the heater comes on and 80.2 the cooling would activate if set up. All you have to do is wire the heater to the controller like you would if you were adding a switch. I have my STC-1000 setup as a back up if my reef controller fails and I have a plug socket wired to it so I just have to plug the heater in, chuck the probe in the tank and turn on the power.
Orangutran Posted November 5, 2015 Posted November 5, 2015 The best solution is a temperature controller. You can buy an STC-1000 which will control a heating and cooling circuit on ebay for like £15 if you don't mind waiting for it to arrive from china. The controller has a temperature probe which is best run in the display tank if you have a sump with your heaters in or as far away from the heater as possible. The controller then lets you set the desired temperature by 0.2 degree increments. So you can set 80 degrees and at 78.8 the heater comes on and 80.2 the cooling would activate if set up. All you have to do is wire the heater to the controller like you would if you were adding a switch. I have my STC-1000 setup as a back up if my reef controller fails and I have a plug socket wired to it so I just have to plug the heater in, chuck the probe in the tank and turn on the power. This looks interesting… so you gotta hard wire your heater into this device? Is it hard to do? Means I gotta chop off the plug on the heater?
Benny314 Posted November 6, 2015 Posted November 6, 2015 In your experience is it reliable and accurate? My tank is cycling so I don't mind the waiting at all. I saw it on eBay for less than $15 tempted to give it a shot. Also is it bulky? I'm planning on using it on my Pico and I want to keep things as aesthetically pleasing as possible. Can't remember the exact dimensions, it's front face is like 8cm by 2.5/3cm and its about 10cm deep. I fitted it in the upright of a fluval edge to conceal it. Mines never missed a beat and it remembers temperature set points in the event of a power cut. This looks interesting… so you gotta hard wire your heater into this device? Is it hard to do? Means I gotta chop off the plug on the heater? You can either cut into the outer cover of the heater wires to expose the inner wires and cut the brown/live and wire it to the controller like you would if you were putting a switch inline. This way isn't ideal as it means your controller is close to the tank and limits your flexibility in placing it some where easy to get to. The better way of doing it is get 2 sockets, wire the live wires to the switch terminals of the heat and cool relays on the back of the controller. Then get a mains plug and wire it to the live and ground on the controller. Then put a jumper from the live feed on the controller to the heat and cool circuits and the 2 ground wires from your sockets wire into the ground feed to the controller. Now when the controller activates the heat and cool relays it powers what ever is plugged into that socket. See the utube link below, I'm crap and explaining this stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30TvX1Zz1-Y Hope this helps.
HarryPotter Posted November 6, 2015 Posted November 6, 2015 This looks interesting… so you gotta hard wire your heater into this device? Is it hard to do? Means I gotta chop off the plug on the heater? ReefSafeSolutions makes one ready to go with standard outlets
dandelion Posted November 6, 2015 Posted November 6, 2015 But to me the challenge is one of the things that got me into this hobby. ReefSafeSolutions makes one ready to go with standard outlets
Benny314 Posted November 6, 2015 Posted November 6, 2015 But to me the challenge is one of the things that got me into this hobby. Also why pay someone extra to do a simple wiring job on some supper cheap components? It's dead simple once you've got your head round tying all the grounds together and then jumping power to the backs of the relays. My new build using an arduino as a controller has plug sockets on my power board connected to the controller for the heaters so my power board is a single bank of sockets all labelled for what they're controlling. No reason you can't set a board up like that with an STC-1000 tied to it instead.
soeminpaing Posted November 12, 2015 Posted November 12, 2015 He sells really cheap. 40 bucks with free shipping. But I think he already sold out all his controllers. I also check price on amazon and it sums up to around 30 (16 for controller, 9 for box, 2 for each heat and cool plug with one plug for power cord,3 for the power cord). So i save myself the headache.
dandelion Posted November 13, 2015 Posted November 13, 2015 I saw on easy there're some other kinds that sells for less than $20. He sells really cheap. 40 bucks with free shipping. But I think he already sold out all his controllers. I also check price on amazon and it sums up to around 30 (16 for controller, 9 for box, 2 for each heat and cool plug with one plug for power cord,3 for the power cord). So i save myself the headache.
reefist Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 The Eheims are only a shadow of the former Ebo-Jagers. I don't find them any more accurate or reliable than any other heater these days. I miss my green Ebos
Mariaface Posted November 18, 2015 Posted November 18, 2015 I had 1-2F swings with my Jager, and added a Cobalt neotherm. Now the temperature holds steady at 80.7F, until I open my windows for the night and it drops to maybe 80.3F. Granted, I have both heaters going in there. I'll probably switch out the Jager for another Cobalt, though.
Nola Bear Posted December 21, 2015 Posted December 21, 2015 Need advice on temps. It's Florida and I didn't think that I would need a heater, but we got some low temps recently, and my tank temp was swinging too much, so I picked up a 50w marineland at LFS. I'm having some issues dialing in though. If I set it to 77, then the tank will go up to 80. What is an ideal temp? Is there one? I was thinking 78-80. I've read different corals like different temps. What is too much of a swing?
Mariaface Posted December 21, 2015 Posted December 21, 2015 Try to keep it within one degree of the set temperature. If being set to 77 keeps the tank at a steady 80, no problem. But if it brings the tank up to 80, waits until 78 to kick in, or isn't strong enough during the night, etc, you may need to get a better/stronger heater. Cobalt Neotherms are pretty awesome, and I used an Eheim Jager with minimal swings. Make sure the wattage is strong enough for your room temp to tank temp difference.
gus6464 Posted December 21, 2015 Posted December 21, 2015 Man you guys run your tanks hot. I run mine at 76 during the day and 74 at night.
Cycleguy0623 Posted December 29, 2015 Posted December 29, 2015 BRS tested a bunch of heaters at found the Eheim heaters to swing 3-4 degrees on average between kicking on an off. It seems that there heaters are not as consistent as there pumps.
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