# Hydor Mini Heater (for nano) - Crap??



## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

These heaters will only raise your 5.5 3-4 degrees from ambient room temp.
What is your room temp like?


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## welchrock (Jun 12, 2008)

mott said:


> These heaters will only raise your 5.5 3-4 degrees from ambient room temp.
> What is your room temp like?


Thanks for your reply. My room temp is anywhere from 59 to 68 during the winter. 

I wish the 'Aquarium Guys' website (or anywhere else) mentioned this 3-4 degrees business. 3-4 degrees isn't even worth bothering with, in my mind. I also can't think of anyone under 70 years old who would keep their indoor temperature at 74 degrees.

I am not opposed to simply snipping the power cord and leaving this deadbeat heater under my substrate. If I were to go this route, what would people recommend as an appropriate heater for a 5.5 gallon nano?


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

I have the Hydor 50 watt for my small tanks... they work well, the marineland visi-therm are nice heaters too BUT if you own a canister for this ADA setup you should try the hydor inline heater, less equipment in that nice rimless tank.


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## lilsuper2335 (Nov 13, 2008)

me i think its a wasted of energy so i wouldnt use that piece of crap at all


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

My friend gave me one of those after he couldn't get it to work on his 5.5g ADA also..

I figured it might work better heating my 2.5g.. I'll let you know when I put it in.. but my apartment has be keeping both my tanks at 78-79 constant.

I also opt for a hydor inline for your ada if you have a canister! That's what I have on my 60P!


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

You say your ambient is 59-68*F. Assuming the average, 64*F, you need to raise it 14*F to get to 78*F.

At 5.5 gallons, you'd need around a 75 watt heater to do the job. A 50 watt may work well, too. There's a fair number of heater sizing guides if you just Google for the information, most guides give you a heater size ranging from 40-70 watts. Yours is only 7.5 watts.

Honestly, I think it was a failure on the OP's part to research his/her equipment selection. No offense! I've done my fair share of buying equipment not suitable for my tank so I know it sucks. Just consider this a cheap lesson learned.


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## zzyzx85 (Feb 13, 2008)

If it's put under the substrate and you're trying to heat the water, it has to send heat through the substrate before it gets to the water. It's asking a lot from a small heater, especially given the ambient air temperature.


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Have you tried just having it attached to the wall of the tank? 

If you were to get another heater, get a oversized so it alot less work to keep the tank heated!


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## Asgard (Feb 8, 2008)

The heater raises my 20L tank with 4C degrees from ambient room temp.


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## NeonShrimp (Mar 9, 2006)

Asgard said:


> The heater raises my 20L tank with 4C degrees from ambient room temp.


What is your ambient room temp.?


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## Asgard (Feb 8, 2008)

20-21C daytime, 15-17C at night


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## welchrock (Jun 12, 2008)

Sadly the reason I went with this Hydor heater because it was recommended by this forum! Oh well, lesson learned. 

Nevertheless, the place I bought the heater from (and other online retailers I looked at) makes no mention of it being only capable of raising temp 3-4 degrees. It also states that it is designed to operate under gravel. Definite BS if you ask me. 

And not to go on an endless rant but who would bother raising their temp 3-4 degrees? I agree with the poster who said it's a waste of energy. I could raise the water temp 3-4 degrees just by moving my tank to another room...aye. 

EpicFish: How do you figure I need 75W to heat 5.5 gallons? Using Visi-Therm Stealths as an example, 75W would be the recommended wattage for a 25 gallon tank.

Here's verbatim from the AquariumGuys website:
_
The perfect heater for smaller tanks! This compact 7.5 watt heater will keep your 2 – 5 gallon aquarium or fish bowl at the perfect temperature for freshwater and saltwater fish! Flat design allows you to place the heater under the gravel or along the side of any acrylic or glass aquarium. Safe and reliable heating!

Specifications:
It is extra small: easy to hide in mini-tanks and bowls; extra safe-no glass to break; completely submersible, ideal for use in glass and acrylic aquariums; no damage if left running dry. For aquariums between 2 to 5 gallons; uses 7.5 watts; power cord is 6' long.
_


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Use this:
http://www.kernsanalysis.com/HeaterCalculator.cgi

Fill in the numbers, click submit:









Seems like I overestimated with 75 watts...but you'd want at least a 50 watt heater for sure.


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## welchrock (Jun 12, 2008)

Good to know and a link I'll hang on to. My apologies for doubting you - 40ish watts just seems so high for such a tiny tank!

I should note that I have no top of the tank. While the link you provided did not allow me to enter in a zero for a top thickness, I would imagine this would require me to add another 5-10 watts.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Did you try sticking that nano heater someplace where it gets more water flow rather than under the substrate? IDK that it will get you where you need to be with your room temps being so cold (I'm from south FL so IMO anything under 70F is freezing...), but I think it would probably work better than under the substrate.


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## welchrock (Jun 12, 2008)

I envy you Floridian! Yes here in Rochester NY we are pretty used to indoor temperatures in the 60's during the winter. Heat is too expensive and super-dry, blowing heat isn't all that pleasurable anyways. 

I have not tried moving the heater from under the substrate because honestly, it took a lot of work to move it under there to begin with. It was the first thing I installed, and I made sure to place it in the exact center of the tank and to secure it to the glass. Silly me, I thought the slim design and stated features on the Aquariumguys website made this a perfect hide-away heater. To move it above the substrate would not only be messy and disturb the root systems I have established, but it would look pretty terrible. 

I think at this point I'm fine with snipping the power cord and leaving the Hydor heater under the substrate. Question still remains, which heater I should go with? A mini canister filter with heater would be pretty nice, but I think I'd like to consider a stand-alone heater for now. I'm pretty happy with my Red-Sea Nano hang-on-back filter.


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## zzyzx85 (Feb 13, 2008)

if the pad of the heater is as thin as I think it is, drop the heater into the HOB after the filter, if it's possible?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Personally I'd never put a heater in an HOB. If anything ever happened and the flow stopped (which I've had happen for various reasons with HOBs) you're likely to end up needing to replace 2 pieces of equipment rather than just 1.


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

lauraleellbp said:


> Personally I'd never put a heater in an HOB. If anything ever happened and the flow stopped (which I've had happen for various reasons with HOBs) you're likely to end up needing to replace 2 pieces of equipment rather than just 1.


Why would you need to replace the heater too if you put it in the HOB and the HOB stops?


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## zzyzx85 (Feb 13, 2008)

If the flow stopped, the heater would heat the water in the HOB until it's set temp. The only danger I can see is if the thermostat malfunctions or the water in there is too warm for the bacteria.


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## welchrock (Jun 12, 2008)

zzyzx85 said:


> if the pad of the heater is as thin as I think it is, drop the heater into the HOB after the filter, if it's possible?


I was thinking of trying this if I decide to add another Hydor heater...although of course I'm pretty tentative to buy a second unit of something that doesn't work very well at all.


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## zzyzx85 (Feb 13, 2008)

welchrock said:


> I was thinking of trying this if I decide to add another Hydor heater...although of course I'm pretty tentative to buy a second unit of something that doesn't work very well at all.


I have two Hydor Theos (50W and a 150W) and they have worked flawlessly for me.


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## welchrock (Jun 12, 2008)

zzyzx85 said:


> I have two Hydor Theos (50W and a 150W) and they have worked flawlessly for me.


50W and only 7 inches long looks pretty solid; thanks.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

zzyzx85 said:


> If the flow stopped, the heater would heat the water in the HOB until it's set temp. The only danger I can see is if the thermostat malfunctions or the water in there is too warm for the bacteria.


The water would evaporate pretty quickly out of the HOB with no flow. Leaving the heater exposed.

I've had it happen before I noticed the HOB had stopped working... even w/out a heater in that compartment.


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

zzyzx85 said:


> if the pad of the heater is as thin as I think it is, drop the heater into the HOB after the filter, if it's possible?



It fits in the Red Sea nano without the cover.


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Well I finally threw it into my 2.5g bowfront. The tank was running 71degrees.. COLD water. 

I tested the heater but plugging it in and leaving it on my couch.. it does get warm.. not too hot to burn your hand.. you can easily palm it..

Put it against the back of of the tank. About an hour later, the tank was 76 degrees. Tank/water itself felt alot warmer too.

Now this heater isn't adjustable, it just stays at 76degrees. I honestly don't think this thing has enough juice to power anything bigger than a 2gallon.. 

But to the OP, the heater does infact work.. weakly.. but it works.

This morning, I left the window open and my living room was FREEZING. It held around 74 degrees. Note, my new Mini-S I just setup last night was wicked cold to touch.

So my experience...
Probably not the best heater for the price, but does infact does do a crappy job.

I have a 200w Inline Hydor on my 60P controlled with my Reef Keeper 2.. works amazingly well..


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