Using two heaters, istead of one.

[crustytheclown]

I like using to smaller heaters for a tank than a bigger heater, that way if one dies the other one will kick in and save you some headaches. The thing i have been noticing is that one of the heaters always seems to be on and the other one is not. Is this normal? I mean it makes sense as one is a back up in a sense but shouldnt they both be working simultaneously?

 

[that0neguy1126]

Which heaters? Most of them are not very accurate and you have to be careful when setting the temp on them. If possible, use a temp probe and a controller to turn them both on.

They should both turn on at the same time though. I would try messing with the temp setting on the one that isnt to see if you can get it to kick on at the same time as the other.

 

[Haulin Oates]

Using two heaters, istead of one.

I do the same... I could never get them in sync. Now I have mine on my reefkeeper

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

I use 2 as well and have them set a bit different from my reef keeper. I also, as a back up, have them dialed in on the heater so I have a double back up in the case the reef keeper fails.

 

[Ghosty]

Love my Ranco with two heaters! Set it properly and the tank stays within one degree, and you have the safety of an extra heater. Don't set either heater much higher than normal though (don't crank them up). Trust the Ranco (or your controller), but ya never know.

 

[jda123]

I like duals, but for different reasons. Had RK temp probe go out on me and turn a 1000W titanium on in my FO. It hit 92 before I noticed and thankfully nothing was worse for the wear since they were just fish. Now, I have two heaters with internal thermostats and external (Ranco and the one in my Current Chiller) that are both barely big enough to keep up so that if they malfunction it will take them days and days to heat a tank enough to destroy it. I have seen reefs bounce back after hitting 65 degrees, but very few come back from 95 degrees. If I was going to swing 10-15 degrees, I would rather them be cold than hot.

 

[saltySamurai]

I do 3 x 250w heaters on a Ranco for redundancy - if I lose 1, I'll mostly keep up, and hopefully I'll notice / be alerted before temp really dips. I keep their internal setting slightly above the Ranco setting, therefore if the Ranco fails ON I won't cook the tank.

 

[Ghosty]

If I ever need a Chiller I'll probably run dual (smaller) heaters on one side of the Ranco, then the chiller on the other.

 

[pherbert]

Love my Ranco with two heaters! Set it properly and the tank stays within one degree, and you have the safety of an extra heater. Don't set either heater much higher than normal though (don't crank them up). Trust the Ranco (or your controller), but ya never know.

I'll second the Ranco and two heaters solution. Been working flawlessly for 5 years now. And if you get the two stage Ranco you can use it to control fans for surface cooling in the summer too. My tank is in the basement where it stays somewhat cooler in the summer, so that's always been sufficient for me.
Having said that, I just got an Apex I haven't set up yet, so we'll see how that works.

 

[cdrewferd]

How do you use dual heaters on an Apex or similar controller? Wouldn't the 2 heater pull enough amps that you couldn't put much else on the EB8?

 

[that0neguy1126]

No. You can see my graphs here. Thats 3 x 400w heaters. I just have them plugged into a normal power strip, and that power strip is plugged into one outlet in the EB8. All 3 heaters pull about 5-6 amps.

 

[cdrewferd]

HMM, interesting.

 

[that0neguy1126]

Guess I should include what else I have on my EB8.

AQ1000 Calc Reactor (Small circulation pump)
2x HLG 185 (meanwell drivers, Each pulls about 1 amp)
2x HLG 185
Aqua Lifter (small ATO pump)
Skimmer (2x scice pumps)
60w Fuge Light
2x Koralia 425's
2x Mag 3's.
CO2 valve
Tek light 36" 4 bulb light

With all of that, I peak out at about 12 amps.
15 Amps at 120volts is quite a bit of power.

Any more additions to the tank and I will be adding another EB8 for power though.

I ran 2x 20amp circuits from my main breaker down to my tank and can always add more. I run on average 9 Amps over a 24hr period. That is 25.92 kwh per day. I pay $0.11 per kwh. So thats $2.85 per dayto run my tank (not including my main pumps which directly plug into the 20 amp outlets) with that added in its about $3 an day to run my tank.