# Inline heater on intake line?



## howard (Oct 8, 2012)

Has anyone used a hydro eth heater on the intake side of a canister filter? I thought i read that someone said it would be good for the biological filtration by providing more heat. I have 300w hydro heater and a eheim 2217, so my only option would be to put it on the intake side. Just wanted to hear some feed back before i hooked it up.


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## mistahoo (Apr 25, 2012)

howard said:


> I thought i read that someone said it would be good for the biological filtration by providing more heat.


It is good, but the thing here is... it doesn't matter if you put it on the intake or return. Either way you install it, the whole tank is going to eventually get heated which then leads to your canister being heated.


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## howard (Oct 8, 2012)

So doesn't matter witch way the water flows threw the heater?


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

Usually, it goes on the outflow - less crud to mess it up.


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## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

I have mine on the outflow so the water is clean going through it - works beautifully.


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## fishwater (May 31, 2012)

I have mine on the outflow as well. Another reason you should really consider it on the outflow would be if you have it on the intake there is the nipple from the heater that could possibly (very small possiblity) get debris build up from plant matter and eventually clog or at the very least reduce your intake flow, thus reducing the effectivness of your filter and prehaps the heater as well.


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Any reason you have to put it on the intake? It will work fine but as others have said its better to have the filtered water run through it, less chance of getting dirty.


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## howard (Oct 8, 2012)

The problem I'm having is that I'm using a ehiem 2217 and the 300w eth wont fit on the outflow only on the inflow.


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## deeda (Jun 28, 2005)

You need to install the heater with the arrow facing in the direction of the water flow.

I understand why you want to install the ETH 300 on the intake of the 2217 because the intake hose is larger than the output hose.

While it is preferred to install the heater on the output side of the canister because the water is cleaner, some have installed it on the intake because of hose size. You can try this method but you may have to perform more frequent cleaning of the heater using a tube brush to remove any debris that may build up inside.

Or you can get 2 reducer/increaser adapters & short lengths of hose for the output side of the filter to increase the hose diameter for installing the heater.


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## howard (Oct 8, 2012)

deeda said:


> You need to install the heater with the arrow facing in the direction of the water flow.


 Why does it matter witch way the water is flowing threw it? i would think its pretty basic inside that thing and wouldn't matter.

As for the adapters i could do that but would i have to worry about air pockets forming?


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## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

I got an adapter to make it work with my inline CO2 diffuser/heater. Both are on the output and work amazingly well.

Let me know and I can give you a link to the right one.


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## howard (Oct 8, 2012)

sundragon thanks send me that link i would i like to see what your talking about. Can i get these adapters at lows?


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## fishwater (May 31, 2012)

Excuse my ignorance but I have the Hydor 300w with the eheim 2215 and both inlet and outlet are 12/16mm, from my understanding the eheim 2217 has 16/22mm inlet and 12/16mm outlet so shouldn't you be able to go to the outlet tubing of your 2217? It took a little elbow grease but I got my tubing on to the heater just fine. Just curious is all.

Edit: Just checked the eheim conversion tables and I should't have been able to use the 300w hydor with the 2215 but somehow I did. :icon_eek:


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## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

fishwater said:


> Excuse my ignorance but I have the Hydor 300w with the eheim 2215 and both inlet and outlet are 12/16mm, from my understanding the eheim 2217 has 16/22mm inlet and 12/16mm outlet so shouldn't you be able to go to the outlet tubing of your 2217? It took a little elbow grease but I got my tubing on to the heater just fine. Just curious is all.
> 
> Edit: Just checked the eheim conversion tables and I should't have been able to use the 300w hydor with the 2215 but somehow I did. :icon_eek:



Hose diameters for Eheim 2217 are:
Tubing: 495 (5/8") tubing for intake. 
494 (1/2") tubing for outtake.

The Hydor 300W uses f16mm & 5/8" hose.

5/8" is a little larger than 1/2" and would be a tight fit but you can try.

Here's an adapter: http://www.amazon.com/DCI-Internati...0584&sr=8-20&keywords=5/8"+adapter+barbed+1/2

You may also find one here: http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/PlumbingParts.html

I eventually used a Fluval 406 which has 5/8" hoses so no adapter needed.


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## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

Here's another source - I was toying with using two lily pipes and a larger filter - these are y-barbs, they also sell adapters.

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=23341&catid=551


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## howard (Oct 8, 2012)

Sundragon thanks you for your research and post ill get the adapters from amazon. 
thanks chris


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## howard (Oct 8, 2012)

the shipping on those two adapters from amazon was 10 bucks ill have to keep looking


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## sundragon (Jan 10, 2011)

howard said:


> the shipping on those two adapters from amazon was 10 bucks ill have to keep looking


Did you check out the second link U.S. Plastic? Also you can probably find those at a hardware store. I live in the city without a car so ordering online and deliver to my place is easy.


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