On 2005-05-03, sophiefishstuff
wrote:
actually, I'd understood him to be referring to exactly the opposite -
that it was too many watts for *normal usage*... I understand the
problem with the heater getting stuck on...

My mistake. I missed the part where he said that he wasn't talking
about a malfunction.

I think Netmax though this wattage would be fine!

Indeed he did. I wasn't trying to indicate that he said otherwise.

In any case, I found http://gpas.org/pub/flash/2002/june02/bobk.htm
while I was Googling. It says, in part, that "[w]hen an oversized
heater is used, it will cycle on and off more often causing an early
failure."

In any case, I'd be more likely to round down to 150W from the 175W that
"five watts per gallon" gives you than round up to 200W. I do have a
100W heater on the 20G tank (came with the kit), a 50W heater on the 10G
(didn't feel comfortable with only 2.5Wpg), and 25W heaters on my and my
wife's 5G betta tanks (couldn't find adjustable heaters of less than
25W). I'm personally planning on shooting for the three-to-four watt
range with larger tanks we'll soon be getting, but I live in Phoenix, so
not having enough heating doesn't seem like it will be an issue. Also,
my first summer with fish is approaching, and this is affecting my
outlook. It probably doesn't get nearly as warm (and probably gets much
colder) where you live, wherever that is. ;-)

If you already have the 200-watt heater, I guess it would be silly to go
out and buy a new one, all things considered.

In any case, I had completely missed the statement that he wasn't
referring to failure, so just disregard me. :-)

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