Need heater recommendation

[krisinu]

I'm considering setting up a standard 20 gallon tank at my company's office. Thing is they don't keep the heat on much overnight so it's not uncommon for it to be pretty darn cold in that office in the mornings. I would guess into the 40s? Warms up once we open up though.

What kind of heater wattage or specific heater should I be thinking of using for this situation? I figure I could try bubble wrapping 3 sides of the tank as well to add some insulation possibly.

Thanks

 

[homebunnyj]

I think for a 20 you'd want about 75-100 watts or so. (I know you get 50w for a 10g, 100w for a 29g, cuz I have those sizes.)

I personally like the Visitherm Stealth ones, but I haven't had to buy a whole bunch of different ones, and I'm sure you'll get lots of more specific reasons why one brand is better than another.

Hmm, bubble wrap.... Never thought of that before. However, I do have black foamcore board around three sides of my goldfish tank, for the purpose of keeping out the light from the two windows it sits in front of (algae, you know), and also to keep the sun from heating it too much in the afternoons. Seems to work... no algae, and the temp remains pretty stable near room temp. The black background works well with the colors of the goldies. Maybe that would be a viable solution for helping to stabilize the temp of your tank, athough I'm not sure it would be much of a problem with the right wattage heater, which you may need more of a heater with such a low room temp at night, I honestly have no idea about that... although it would probably cost less to keep it warm with the foamcore.

 

[tom91970]

I agree..Visatherm Stealth. It's all I will buy.

 

[MatthewLaw]

I have a visitherm stealth and have been very pleased. I have a Top fin in my 15g brackish and no issues with that one ALTHOUGH, I had to return a 300w Top Fin b/c it stopped working after a week!!

The lady at the LFS recommended a Hydor heater and so far so good (only had it in for about 18 hrs!).

In general I would recommend a 100w or 150w heater. looking at the hydor heater box, it states 100w for 14-26g or a 150w for 23-40g. maybe since it gets pretty cold in the office, you should go with the 'stronger' heater?

 

[alter40]

Another vote for the stealth heater.

 

[FroggyFox]

I use the Hydor heaters...but as long as you get one that is submersible, and you click the temperature to a specific temperature reading...they are all very similar. I think someone on the board has had huge casualties with just about every kind of heater, so there are bad ones in any brand...kind of just luck of the draw. Some of them are really cheap and you have to turn and unmarked dial and like experiment with the temperature to get it right, and that is just never a good idea You should invest in a thermometer though, a freefloating kind or a little digtal one, just to check once in awhile to make sure your heater is functioning.

Most offices, even when the heat is ont, are not going to keep the temperature around 78...so I would agree that a heater would be a good idea in your case.

For a 20 I would not be scared to get a 50 watt. 2 watts per gallon is usually fine unless you know that the tank is going to be somewhere that it is consistently well below the temp you want to keep it at. That will wear a heater out quickly so we usually suggest having a bigger heater or even two heaters (say a 50 and a 25)