# Nano Aquariums & Heating - What's Best?



## Superman (13 Oct 2009)

So winter is on it's way, and I'll have to look at heating my 14 litre nano once again.
During the early months, I used an in-tank heater but I want to keep as much out of the tank as possible.
I could get the smallest (200w!) Hydor in-line heater but am worried that the 200w might be a bit too much wattage for the size of this tank?
I'm also thinking of maybe a heating mat, either under the tank or wrapped around the filter, but that way the tank will always be x degrees C above the room temperature.
In addition, when I move to the new house, we can't have the heating on too much for the walls to dry out properly.

Any tips, comments, experience would be very welcome!


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## Stu Worrall (13 Oct 2009)

probably not much help but i use latent heat for mine. the nano is on a cupboard above the sky box which pumps out heat all day


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## whitey (15 Oct 2009)

Hi. It require some diy skills but no rocket science. 
30cm PVC pipe with two end caps at least on of the end should be with thread to look inside sometimes   .
http://www.koicarp.net/pvc_plumbing/pvc.html
inlet/outlet fittings
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1-Male-Thread...s_UK?hash=item53dd2d23ae&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14
cable gland, to secure cable
http://www.maplin.co.uk/searchtemplate.asp?criteria=WATERPROOF CABLE GLANDS
or
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38&_nkw=cable+gland
some stainless steel wire to make sort of "stars" put on heater to keep gap between PVC pipe and heater (I hope you know what I mean   )
25W heater with thermostat (the ideal heater will be with circular shaped cable for better seal) 
Some silicone or teflon tape or pcv glue.
The trickiest part of the job is seal properly heater cable, rest should be pretty easy.
I made for my tank sort of inline heater (all in one) from water filter housing, but that will be overkill for 14L tank  .





The main issue might be price, but as I've calculated that will be about Â£10-12 for housing itself, so it's probably worth to try.


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## Superman (15 Oct 2009)

Wowiee, that looks fun to try. I think I'll give that a go and report back.


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## whitey (15 Oct 2009)

Again me, see that link:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/16002-diy-external-heater-housing-4.html
I think I saw somewhere on the Internet similar redy-to-go solution you can buy. Probably was american site. At the moment I'm "googling" but without luck. I'll post a link if I'll find something.
So as you see actually thermostat knob can be outside the housing, and then you have plenty possible solutions. I quickly looked on cable glances in my workshop, and some of them are more less size of the heater so instead of cabe you can put whole heater trough glance (put some silicone before), adjusting temperature will be much easier, and I think whole job might be easier (you can use sort of container with lid). see my picture  :


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## Superman (15 Oct 2009)

I would have to drill the pvc end caps then for the hose to fit in.

Design 2 looks easier although #1 might be a better option for my setup.


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## sr20det (15 Oct 2009)

Has anyone read the book 'Ecology of a planted aquarium'

I did many moons ago, and it suggested that a heat mat is ideal for planted aquaria, heat rising causing water currrent flow through the subtrate aiding plant nutrition and growth as well as heat to roots?

Same time maintiaining tank temps?

Sounds like a kill two birds in one stone sort of thing to me?

Is that still the case theses days?


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## whitey (15 Oct 2009)

I think that was not heat mat but heat cable. Heat mat not causing water circulation in substrate, just heating whole substrate thats all. With the cable is slightly different situation because you've got currents going up (hot water between grains of substrate) above cable, and going down (cold) between the cables. I might be wrong, someone more experienced should check it.
In terms of heating water, both of methods are the same, but what about temperature control? Is there any thermostat with heating cable/mat?


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## aaronnorth (15 Oct 2009)

You can get hydor or aqua el (not sure which) that sell slimline heaters.
Heat mats work well though.


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## hunter001 (15 Oct 2009)

whitey said:
			
		

> Hi. It require some diy skills but no rocket science.
> 30cm PVC pipe with two end caps at least on of the end should be with thread to look inside sometimes   .
> http://www.koicarp.net/pvc_plumbing/pvc.html
> inlet/outlet fittings
> ...



Im tempted to try this on my 300litre but combine it to make it a CO2 reactor as well. I looked before at getting a hydor external heater and then an aqua medic co2 reactor but having both inline on one filter is definatly going to kill the flow. My only other choice is to add another filter which i dont really fancy doing so this is the solution to the problem really


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## Superman (15 Oct 2009)

hunter001 said:
			
		

> Im tempted to try this on my 300litre but combine it to make it a CO2 reactor as well. I looked before at getting a hydor external heater and then an aqua medic co2 reactor but having both inline on one filter is definatly going to kill the flow. My only other choice is to add another filter which i dont really fancy doing so this is the solution to the problem really


I had both on my 180 litre with a 1,500lph rated filter and it didn't seem to make much difference.

Just going through all of this in my head to see if I fancy giving DIY a go.


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## whitey (15 Oct 2009)

Hi guys
look at that:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WATER-FILTER-...ZUK_HGKitchen_SmallApp_RL?hash=item35a291b2a0
20inch height so you can fit 200W or eve 2x200W heaters if needed. Have you seen my previous post? 
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=8158
No drilling apart heater cable hole, deaertion valve, just perfect solution in my opinion.


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## Superman (17 Oct 2009)

I'm trying something like this...

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/3 ... r-56k.html

I need to find the pipe fittings tho, I'm having trouble for that. Any ideas anyone?


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## Ed Seeley (17 Oct 2009)

The trickiest bit will be finding the water-tight union used at the top.  It might be easier to find one to grip the cord and be waterproof like the waterproof cable connectors and have the heater totally inside the pipe.  The other fittings I'd use PVC for and you can get a huge range of those from Henderson's Plastic online.


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## Superman (17 Oct 2009)

Someone's suggested that the 200w ETH will be fine? I know it will be but are the risks of it not working and boiling the tank?


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## Ed Seeley (17 Oct 2009)

Superman said:
			
		

> Someone's suggested that the 200w ETH will be fine? I know it will be but are the risks of it not working and boiling the tank?



Having an over-large heater will mean the heater will heat the tank up more quickly but, as long as the thermostat doesn't get stuck it won't boil the tank.  It will mean it cycles on and off more though.  If you're worried then you could fit another thermostat on the cable set a couple of degrees higher than the ETH - I don't think you'll need to though.  Just check there's no minimum water flow through the ETH though.


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