# 200w heater safe in 54 liter tank?



## DanMac (1 Jun 2013)

Hi I would like to swap my internal for an external filter in the near future,I currently have a 100w heater but the lowest watt external heater's seem to be 200.

Would that be ok in my 54 liter?

Cheers.


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## ceg4048 (1 Jun 2013)

Yes, unless it fails in the ON position.

Cheers,


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## DanMac (1 Jun 2013)

Good, on a few descriptions they are described as 'more reliable' than internal filters ,hopefully thats true.

Otherwise its unexpected fish n chips for dinner


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## Dazzer87 (1 Jun 2013)

Hi, well you only need a 50w heater for that tank. The only problem I can see is if the thermostat breaks which does happen and the heater is stuck on full and cooks your fish. 

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## DanMac (1 Jun 2013)

I would prefer a lower watt but so far the lowest on an external I have seen is 200, surely there are others out there who have an overpowered external for there small tanks? unless there is such a thing as a 50-100 watt external that is..


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## Mr. Teapot (1 Jun 2013)

I'm in a simular position of preferring an external heater but I have only 40 litres, so the issue of coming home to a shoal of poached fish is an even greater potential problem. The only solution was to perhaps add some insurance with a separate thermostat in the loop set to 2-3 degrees higher. With all the hassle, I'll probably end up choosing fish who like it at between 19-24 C and forget the heater all together.


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## Dazzer87 (1 Jun 2013)

Quick google, fluval E series. They do a 100w external 

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## DanMac (1 Jun 2013)

as dazzer said i only need a 50w for my tank so going by that wouldnt my current 100w kill them all anyway if it failed? if thats the case I might aswell get the 200w external, my internal heater is a cheap chinese one so that is more likely to fail than a £40+ external surely?


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## Dazzer87 (1 Jun 2013)

Ignore my last post, on my phone so miss read, its electronic screen etc not external.  Oops 

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## DanMac (1 Jun 2013)

I just searched the fluval e series heaters and they are all internal

edit: ah ok no worrys


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## Andy Thurston (1 Jun 2013)

They would all kill them
50 watt would kill
100 watt would kill in half the time
200 watt would kill in a quarter of the time
If your heater has a bi metalic thermostat it will fail sooner or later i change my heaters every 2-3 years beacuse of this. Touch wood i havnt had one stuck yet but im sure i will one day


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## DanMac (1 Jun 2013)

Thats..sort of good news for me but terrifying lol, I might aswel get a 200w external then, cheers


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## Andy Thurston (1 Jun 2013)

I think you can get temp monitor / alarms for tanks too


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## clonitza (1 Jun 2013)

DanMac said:


> Good, on a few descriptions they are described as 'more reliable' than internal filters ,hopefully thats true.
> 
> Otherwise its unexpected fish n chips for dinner


 

That's what happened with my Hydor, 200w over 70l, one morning belly ups all over, luckily I was there and some survived. Learned my lesson and went by to my trusty internal heaters.

Mike


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## DanMac (1 Jun 2013)

The hydor 200w is what i have my mind set on


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## livewire (1 Jun 2013)

I run a 200W Hydor on my 60 liter tank, as already said it will be fine inless it sticks on. But the same can be said for any heater that sticks on. You just have less time to notice the problem with a heater with more power.


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## Mr. Teapot (1 Jun 2013)

clonitza said:


> That's what happened with my Hydor, 200w over 70l, one morning belly ups all over, luckily I was there and some survived. Learned my lesson and went by to my trusty internal heaters.
> 
> Mike



That's made up my mind- I'm definitely using a separate thermostat if I end up heating my water!


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## DanMac (1 Jun 2013)

mr teapot funny that, I just read livewires comment and have decided to go for it lol, cheers guys


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## sa80mark (1 Jun 2013)

Could you not run the heater with an atc 300 ? These are set by you to whatever temp you want and cut off the heater when its there would one of these safeguard against a stuck on heater ? If so it could be perfect for peace of mind


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