fish selections.... 10 gal, going to 55 gal soon.

[Caleb]

No, can't say that I have. It might be stuck in the on posistion. If a heater fails it usually fails in the on posistion. Keep a sharp eye on your temp, we don't want boiled fish!

 

[Frosty]

That's pretty crazy! I would be replacing that thing ASAP! If it hasn't gone out, when it does TS going to fry your tank!

 

[Caleb]

What brand do you recommend?

 

[Frosty]

I've been told the Eheim heaters are really good, but I've never used one, mine are all generics from Petsmart. I've never had one fail on me, yet...

 

[Caleb]

I was looking at the fluval brand at petco, $40-50 for the basic 300 watt heater and I think around $60 for the more advanced shatterproof 300 watt filters. They say I only need 250 watts, but doesn't the go next size up apply here?

 

[Frosty]

I was looking at the fluval brand at petco, $40-50 for the basic 300 watt heater and I think around $60 for the more advanced shatterproof 300 watt filters. They say I only need 250 watts, but doesn't the go next size up apply here?

I would check prices online, you should be able to get one a lot cheaper than $50! The ideal setup for heaters is to get 2 undersized ones, you need a 300 watt, get 2 150 watt heaters, that way if one goes on the fritz, it's not powerful enough to overheat the tank. If you spread them out in your tank you'll get more even heat distribution too.

 

[Caleb]

Trying to come up with some rocky decor...imho, it sucks...

...see?

 

[MikeDVB]

NEED MOAR ROCKS!

 

[Caleb]

Where to get big rocks?

 

[Caleb]

I almost got the moonlighting done...I need to find a constant source of 12v 0.08amps and a small switch to turn it on and off. I may have a small switch that might work, we'll see...

 

[shootersix]

What brand do you recommend?

i always had good luck with visi therm heaters, they were a little more expensive, but always worked great,dont forget!!!!, put the heater in the tank for 15 mins before you plug it in!

Where to get big rocks?

try a local monument place, the big chunks that come off the headstones make great rocks, the first petstore i worked at would get a 50# box for about 10.00 and sell the rocks for 5.00 each!, they will have different sizes and colors

 

[HeadlessRoland]

I've been told the Eheim heaters are really good, but I've never used one, mine are all generics from Petsmart. I've never had one fail on me, yet...

I was looking at the fluval brand at petco, $40-50 for the basic 300 watt heater and I think around $60 for the more advanced shatterproof 300 watt filters. They say I only need 250 watts, but doesn't the go next size up apply here?

I would check prices online, you should be able to get one a lot cheaper than $50! The ideal setup for heaters is to get 2 undersized ones, you need a 300 watt, get 2 150 watt heaters, that way if one goes on the fritz, it's not powerful enough to overheat the tank. If you spread them out in your tank you'll get more even heat distribution too.

Never ever go cheap on heaters. Nickel-and-diming on something as vitally important as a quality heater will only come back to bite you later. Save up for longer if you must, but do not sacrifice performance for a few bucks. If and when things go haywire, you'll be kicking yourself for letting it fry your livestock. I strongly endorse Frosty's half-and-half method.

 

[Caleb]

i always had good luck with visi therm heaters, they were a little more expensive, but always worked great,dont forget!!!!, put the heater in the tank for 15 mins before you plug it in!



try a local monument place, the big chunks that come off the headstones make great rocks, the first petstore i worked at would get a 50# box for about 10.00 and sell the rocks for 5.00 each!, they will have different sizes and colors

Didn't marineland heaters get recalled a while back? I'll look into finding rocks at monument places, we have a few of them around.

Never ever go cheap on heaters. Nickel-and-diming on something as vitally important as a quality heater will only come back to bite you later. Save up for longer if you must, but do not sacrifice performance for a few bucks. If and when things go haywire, you'll be kicking yourself for letting it fry your livestock. I strongly endorse Frosty's half-and-half method.

Nice to see you back here...I was looking into marineland heaters, saw they recalled the stealth heaters for blowing up or cooking the tank, then looked at aquaon(sp?), then eheim...I get the vibe that all heaters are junk.

 

[Caleb]

Here's the moonlight...looks pretty good with the room still dark, and still allow us to see the fishes.

 

[Frosty]

The moonlight looks great caleb! I'll pass on a link I saved on aquascaping, it's pretty informative. How to Hardscape your Aquarium

 

[Caleb]

The moonlight looks great caleb! I'll pass on a link I saved on aquascaping, it's pretty informative. How to Hardscape your Aquarium

Good info...I'll be looking into it.


Short of going through creeks and finding bigger rocks, I'm thinking about building a structure made of foam board, quikcrete, and some sealent. Thoughts?

 

[Frosty]

Good info...I'll be looking into it.


Short of going through creeks and finding bigger rocks, I'm thinking about building a structure made of foam board, quikcrete, and some sealent. Thoughts?

read up on making your own rocks, concrete can do funky stuff to your water if you use the wrong kind or don't do other stuff with it before you drop it in the tank.

 

[Caleb]

read up on making your own rocks, concrete can do funky stuff to your water if you use the wrong kind or don't do other stuff with it before you drop it in the tank.

I've been doing some reading...it would have to be sealed before going in for sure. Normally you'd silicone it to the tank before adding water and fish, as you see, I'm a little past that point.

 

[Frosty]

I've been doing some reading...it would have to be sealed before going in for sure. Normally you'd silicone it to the tank before adding water and fish, as you see, I'm a little past that point.

I've read about it for reef tanks, I thought it had to be soaked in water for awhile to keep the ph stable or something like that?

 

[Caleb]

I've read about it for reef tanks, I thought it had to be soaked in water for awhile to keep the ph stable or something like that?

If it's unsealed...sealed keeps it from leaching out. Also, somebody on another forum sent me a link that claims that limestone/rust/heavy metals do not leach out in alkaline waters(7+ pH). Here's the link he left me...

Suitability of Rocks in the Aquarium - A Practical Guide