kangadrew Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 Does anybody have a ~50 watt heater that they successfully keep inside of an AC20 with media? I am planning to run this on a relatively lightly-stocked freshwater tank, not a saltwater tank - but Aquaclears are so popular on the forums here, I figured I have a better shot here than anywhere else. I've been looking at: 6" Marina 50 watt submersible heater - $13 Archaea 50w super slim aquarium heater - $30 Catalina 50w titanium heater (5.5") - $30 Finnex HMX 50w heater (5.7") - $36 Finnex HMO 50w heater (5.6") - $33 Anything above $30 seems a little steep for a heater, that Archaea heater looks pretty interesting. If I could fit a simple $13 Marina heater in there though, I'd be happy. Drew Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 I have a heater from Aqua Forest Aquariums that, while very slender, was slightly too long for the AC20. I think it would be fine in the AC30 though. You could always try the Marina and return it if too long (though at that price point, I'd spend another $20-30 and get a temperature controller because there's a reason it's cheap...). 1 Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 I haven't seen a heater besides the small o rd for 5g that will fit in an ac20 plus media. The area is very small and average heater is 7" plus in length. Heaters are the one thing that go in aquariums. The marina has bad reviews. That's why the better quality heaters are more costly 1 Quote Link to comment
kangadrew Posted August 22, 2017 Author Share Posted August 22, 2017 5 hours ago, Clown79 said: I haven't seen a heater besides the small o rd for 5g that will fit in an ac20 plus media. The area is very small and average heater is 7" plus in length. Heaters are the one thing that go in aquariums. The marina has bad reviews. That's why the better quality heaters are more costly Yeah, I've seen some iffy reviews about the Marina heaters - it's average on Amazon (197 reviews) is 3.9/5, I wouldn't necessarily say that's bad though. I have an aquascape in mind, I can hide the filter intake well but the heater is going to be tough. What's the heater you mentioned? Not sure if it was a typo or just an acronym that I'm not familiar with. There are quite a few heaters 6" and under, I believe the AC20 is close to 6" or so, might be able to make something work. I found 5 of them above I could take some PVC and a small pump and just build an inline heater that can hang along the back of the tank - for another option. I may do this instead, so that I can fit more media inside of the Aquaclear. Open to ideas about a heater in the filter though! 5 hours ago, Lula_Mae said: I have a heater from Aqua Forest Aquariums that, while very slender, was slightly too long for the AC20. I think it would be fine in the AC30 though. You could always try the Marina and return it if too long (though at that price point, I'd spend another $20-30 and get a temperature controller because there's a reason it's cheap...). I may be able to go with an AC30, just trade the impellor for the 20-sized one. Is it by chance the Archaea heater? I will probably get a temp controller either way, to play it safe. Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 The only heaters I know of that you listed is finnex- reviews are hit and miss Marina- bottom line product with many negative reviews. I don't rely on just Amazon reviews. I go through multiple sources. The heater i was talking about was the little mini heaters for Pico tanks. Otherwise the only small heater I know of is the hydor. To use the hob effectively with a heater, most use the 70 or 110 Quote Link to comment
dling Posted September 14, 2017 Share Posted September 14, 2017 I would stay away from Finnex. I've owned two of them and neither one lasted very long for the price of their heaters. Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted September 16, 2017 Share Posted September 16, 2017 On 8/22/2017 at 7:21 AM, kangadrew said: Yeah, I've seen some iffy reviews about the Marina heaters - it's average on Amazon (197 reviews) is 3.9/5, I wouldn't necessarily say that's bad though. I have an aquascape in mind, I can hide the filter intake well but the heater is going to be tough. What's the heater you mentioned? Not sure if it was a typo or just an acronym that I'm not familiar with. There are quite a few heaters 6" and under, I believe the AC20 is close to 6" or so, might be able to make something work. I found 5 of them above I could take some PVC and a small pump and just build an inline heater that can hang along the back of the tank - for another option. I may do this instead, so that I can fit more media inside of the Aquaclear. Open to ideas about a heater in the filter though! I may be able to go with an AC30, just trade the impellor for the 20-sized one. Is it by chance the Archaea heater? I will probably get a temp controller either way, to play it safe. It is the Archaea heater, and you could go for whatever size Aquaclear that's larger than 20 and change out the pump or impeller (I'm running an AC70 with AC20 impeller on my 5.5). The AC20 just made this heater stick too far out of the water for my comfort, especially since I work long shifts and might not be home to notice if something shifted. I'm much more comfortable with it fully submerged in the 70 lol. Quote Link to comment
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