Heater

[Thyra]

I need a new heater. It will be for a 10 gallon tank, but I would like it to be able to handle a 20 - 30 gallon tank should the need arise. Will a heater with enough wattage to do that still work in a 10 gallon tank. What wattage should I be considering?

 

[skjl47]

Hello; The issue with heaters rated for larger tanks when placed in a smaller tank has been the occasional overheating of tank. I have tried this before and likley will try to avoid it. I suppose a heater of good quality could have a decent thermostat and the big swings of temperature that I observed would not happen.
One way I have used extra smaller wattage heaters is to double them up in a larger tank at some point.

 

[Thyra]

Thanks Sk, I am coming to that conclusion also. Also the 50w ones are shorter and will fit in better and I do have an extra one of those at this point in time, its just that its not adjustable and I want one I have some control over - hopefully.

 

[KcMopar]

I find that doubling in a small tank tends to over heat a bit to with the cheaper ones. I had to take the one out of my 10G SW tank and replace it for this reason, it was rated for 20G and was a cheap one.

 

[Lotus]

The general rule is 5 to 10 watts per gallon. A 50 watt would be fine for a 10g, and would probably be OK for a 20g, but might be stretching it for a 30g. It also depends on how cold your house gets in relation to how warm you want to keep the tank.

I really don't like the heaters you can't adjust. They seem to die faster and it's just worrying for me that I might overheat the tank.

 

[Thyra]

Thanks, Lotus, as you see, I have decided to stick with the 50w

 

[OrangeCones]

I've kept 250watt heaters in tanks as small as 10 gallons with no overheating issues (only because I had them on hand from larger tanks). A quality heater and placement near the output of the water flow has served me well for years.