Nano heaters

[Marrowbone]

Brandon- very, very awesome work man. I've been gawking at your "tanks" :lol: for quite a while now. Just wondering how the search is going for a tiny heater.

I've been keeping my eyes open for all the little things I'd need to start one of these things for at work, and I found a bunch of things all at the same LFS tonight. I bought a dual betta hex 8) , an azoo light (nice little thing) and a tiny heater. However I did not notice at the time that it does not have a thermostat.

This is what I got for $11:

MarkeTech "Junior Heater" (TM), 4" long, and specifically labeled:

"NOTE: DO NOT use your Junior Heater in any aquarium smaller than 2 gallons or larger than 5 gallons." (total volume of dual hex = 1/2 gal )

It also mentions that lowering the water level will make a built in safety switch permanently shut down the heater, and that if the water reaches 28C or 82F that the heater should be unplugged.

I am assuming that this heater is meant to heat continually and only be limited by dissipation into the water and then to the air. The instructions are so vague, I can't tell if it has some internal preset thermostat or not.

Brandon, you mentioned having an alarm on one of your tanks that would go off it it reached a certain temperature. Maybe the way to use this thing would be to use a temp sensor and controller to turn it on and off. Considering that the most critical variable in these teeny tiny reefs is temperature, maybe its worth investing in a quality external controller. (with which I have no experience as of yet).

For now I'm just going to do some tests with the thing, I have the heater in the tank set up on my desk right now with a (too tall :lol: ) thermometer to see how hot this thing gets.

Ved

 

[MiltonP]

Has anyone taken a look at the heater modules that plug into those HOT filters? I'm not sure but the brand may be tetratech. Maybe the whole package could be used for heat and circulation. One less powercord!

 

[edying]

I think this is the same heater they sell at Walmart. Here's an old post from RC

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthrea ... art+heater

-Ed

 

[brandon4291]

Milton, fantastic idea. I have seen pics of those modules in the mags, but not in person. That very well may be a three-four inch heater although its a little bigger around. To be honest with you, I didnt see the LED's at Lowes, haven't made it yet. I still am very interested because I need to make use of this tiny powerhead I found, its wasting space in a drawer.
It either needs to be put in another special reefbowl, or used with that LED array we are talking about and put in a 12 ounce reef cube. Ill check em out soon, plan on doing more new experiments with tax returns!

Thanks tons Marrowbone,

the little heaters from Wal mart are a possiblity I think. I wanted to try installing one inside a grommet, so it could be slid up and down to regulate its contact with the water. Someone had mentioned it would overheat and melt, but until its tried no one knows. I havent ever owned a controller, but that is a great way to turn on/off this small heater or even the heating pad that other fellow mentioned. Marrow, how big/long are the sensors attached to those controllers? If they are a wire or a probe, it may be small enough to stick in the Fuge somehow.
The femtoreefs are very very small and take up the least space, but a reefbowl is easier hands down especially in an office. Much less salt creep, can go for three days in between maintenance, easily heated with a 6 inch glass heater, and a little more stocking room. same footprint as a coffee cup! But, if the femtoreef could be sealed better (using grommets instead of a groove would do it) and temp-controlled a little better it would be much smaller altogether.

Brandon

 

[TheRookie]

Yeah the heaters you refer too are tetra tech. However they still have a seperate power cord from the power filter. I know because I use one on a fresh water tank. The heater itslef is larger than you might think but is still a decent size. It replaces the flow control on the power filter.

 

[brandon4291]

Thanks Rookie, Ill go see one at my LFS today to get an idea. Its neat that small heater can run a full-size tank like the one you have (freshwater)-they would be efficient in a gallon-nano thats for sure.

Marrowbone, are those empty betta hexes 1/2 gallon? Never measured the empty container. At water change I was draining mine into two styrofoam cups (medium size) but Im sure displacement of the powerhead, sand, LR, corals and macroalgae reduces that inital measure somewhat. Just a note, I think a betta hex reef would run ten times smoother with alot less salt creep if you do the grommeted lid (see the Mini75 thread, page 5)

See how not to do the cable entry on page two of the 26oz reef thread. Ive imported a few pictures that will reveal the secret of circulation in the tiny reef, and from that picture you can see the cables ran in from a groove under the lid--cut into the main tank. This was lousy for two reasons:

1. minimized the water level of the tank (always had to be 1/2 inch low)

2. a huge leak for salt creep and for evaporation.

if you do a betta hex reef heres what I would do differently:

-plan for a heating/cooling hassle in the extreme seasons
-go to radioshack and buy their small pack of rubber grommets, about 2.50 (these are reef safe, ive used them in many applications underwater)
-drill two small holes in your plastic lid and grommet them, cut the cable to your powerhead, run it through, then wire it back together and tape it up.
--run a small bead of glue around the edges of the tank (with the lid off) and then lay down one round of teflon tape so they lid can seal a little better. After it dries, use a razor to remove the hanging edges of tape. This leaves one little white strip all the way around the top lip of the tank.

If you do this it will seal much better, have little to no salt creep (depending on how much you have to fan it which depends on average room temp) and make dosing a cinch. Leave enough power cord inside for room if you lift the lid.

In your plastic divider, grommet that as well and shove the output of the powerhead into it, this is what holds it. WAALA (my best french)! its done and now you just have to stock it. Xenia will not pulse in there unless you have actinics, which means an upgrade in lighting to the "galaxy" light along with your palm light. I am currently growing montipora under just palm lights so I know they will grow coral, but not very colorful. its a 7700 K bulb but thats enough for basic photosynthesis.


HTH

brandon429

 

[brandon4291]

by the way, I have no scientific basis for stating xenia will not pulse without actinics. it never pulsed until the day I put on that galaxy light with a combo bulb, and in ten seconds it went to pulsing and never quit. It had ran for a month prior to that, once with the LED array I built and after that on just a palm light.

BTW, great 13w combo bulbs, the ones that fit into the Azoo galaxy lights, are at

www.petmeister.com

 

[usafresq1]

http://www.fishvet.com/store/itemdetail ... 2001164936

just an idea for you all looking to heat your nanos
would have to be sized down but its interesting none the less

 

[Anonymous]

I just use the smallest size Tronic heater (I think it's a 50w) in my 2.5 gal. It's about 5 or 6" long. Yeah it takes up a bit of space, but I've got it partially hidden behind rockwork and partially sticking into refugium area, so it's not too bad.

Need to find me one of those tiny little powerheads, though. That's what's sucking up too much of the space in mine.