# Bury Heater in Sand?



## xjclassic (Aug 14, 2010)

I am in the process of redoing my tank and want to bank the sand high in on corner. I have a 300w Fluval heater in that corner. Will it hurt to bury the first inch or so in the sand?


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## Yankee (Jan 12, 2013)

I wouldn't do it. Heaters are made to be freestanding in the water, not burrowed into something.


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## lochaber (Jan 23, 2012)

Just a small portion of it might not be a big deal, but I'd avoid it.

Burying a heater in substrate/sand/whatever is essentially insulating it, so it won't heat the tank as well, and since the heater is effectively heating a smaller volume of water, it will cycle on/off more rapidly, and this might cause it to fail sooner.

If you can raise the heater up a bit, I'd do that, or if nothing else, dig out a little pocket near the heater, or even stick in a piece of pipe or a cap to something to create a 'well' for the heater to sit in, and keep it out of contact with the substrate.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

I'm guessing it would make the buried portion overheat as the sand would not let the heat escape as quickly as the other ares. Many heater directions specify not buried.


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## stealthypotatoes (Feb 2, 2013)

You could always buy those substrate heaters. They're pretty costly tho.


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## xjclassic (Aug 14, 2010)

It looks like I'm ordering an inline heater. I considered the tube in the sand idea but worried about it being a detritus magnet. My brain still obsesses about cleanliness in the tank from years of reef keeping. I guess I could always siphon it every once in a while. Plus it would save me $50.

Thank for talking me out of it guys.


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## Yankee (Jan 12, 2013)

xjclassic said:


> It looks like I'm ordering an inline heater. I considered the tube in the sand idea but worried about it being a detritus magnet. My brain still obsesses about cleanliness in the tank from years of reef keeping. I guess I could always siphon it every once in a while. Plus it would save me $50.
> 
> Thank for talking me out of it guys.


You'll be happy you did - inline heaters work wonders and reduce the eye soreness of stuff in the tank.


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## scape (Nov 27, 2010)

I guess I'm too late chiming in but what I would do is bury a shot glass in the substrate so your heater bottom would have a cavity to rest in. 

I did this for my co2 diffuser to get it low enough for the bubbles to enter the intake of the filter.


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## Kareen (Apr 6, 2013)

Heaters need water to flow around them so thay don't over heat and inline would do the trick


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## Mark Allred (May 3, 2013)

Playing Devil's Advocate here...Many years ago (play Star Wars song here),
I had a submersible heater that consisted of a controller that clamped on the tank rim,
with a cord attached to a rubber pad (heating element)which was buried under the gravel. 
I used it for years, great heater,solid temp control. I don't remember if it died on me, or I sold it. (35 years ago).
Off and on for years, I would bury my Ebo Jaegers under the gravel with no issues.
Why don't I do that now? If you had to adjust the temp it was a pain in the butt.

And people like you guys say it is not a good idea!


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## rdmustang1 (Oct 20, 2013)

Mark Allred said:


> Playing Devil's Advocate here...Many years ago (play Star Wars song here),
> I had a submersible heater that consisted of a controller that clamped on the tank rim,
> with a cord attached to a rubber pad (heating element)which was buried under the gravel.
> I used it for years, great heater,solid temp control. I don't remember if it died on me, or I sold it. (35 years ago).
> ...


While it may very well be possible but I probably wouldn't risk it. There have been reports of heaters that weren't buried which exploded and literally took one side of the aquarium with them. If I definitely had to do it then I would use a non-glass encased heater (plastic, titanium, etc). Personally I use titanium heaters and like them. They're probably not any better but they look cool


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## flukekiller (Jun 4, 2013)

i would guess that the reason why the heater above exploded was b/c they forgot to turn the heater off during a water change


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## rdmustang1 (Oct 20, 2013)

flukekiller said:


> i would guess that the reason why the heater above exploded was b/c they forgot to turn the heater off during a water change


The thread is on here somewhere. The guy said it just exploded like that while the tank was completely full.


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## gerbillo (Dec 5, 2013)

rdmustang1 said:


> The thread is on here somewhere. The guy said it just exploded like that while the tank was completely full.



Sounds like it may have been a Marineland Stealth Pro heater during their defective batch a few years ago. Didn't have anything to do with being buried.


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