Hi Miskairal,

You need 3w per gallon, divided by two. If your tank is 180g, you need
540w of heating power. I always recommend dividing that number over two
or even three heaters, so if one sticks on it can't cook your tank.

Two 250w heaters will do the job adequately, especially in your climate.

Marc


miskairal wrote:
After spending many months learning about keeping a reef tank I've come
to the conclusion that no two people do it the same and no set up is the
"right" way necessarily. I really wish someone would just say, you do
this, this and this as us women aren't too good at making decisions.

Anyway, I'm stuck now on the heating. I really want to start trying to
keep costs down so thought I might get the heaters on ebay after buying
almost everything else new.

My tank should hold about 683 litres or 180 US gallons so what heating
do you all recommend? I've heard 2W per gallon, 3 W per gallon and 5 W
per gallon so anywhere from 360W to 940W apparently. I'm in Oz and it
doesn't get too cold where the tank is, maybe down to 10°C (50°F) in
winter at the most, mind you it's meant to be mid winter now and the
temp is about 20°C there. Should I use 3 heaters even? I will not be
having a sump at this stage.

The biggest heaters I've seen on ebay are 300W. Are there any brands to
stear/steer clear of? Resun seems to be the most common.

Thankyou

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