# 150W heater on a 10 gallon?



## fresh.salty (Jul 2, 2010)

I'm using a 200w heater on a 10g. But the tank is in an unheated warehouse.


----------



## dmattbfan5 (Sep 11, 2011)

I think (but im no expert), that if you have a good quality heater (vs a cheap one), going overkill is ok. It will just heat the water up once, and then kick on periodically for just a few seconds to maintain the temperature. It should be fine. The biggest problem I've had is when I overwork a heater. Like putting a 40W on a 55 gallon or something. Then it kicks on constantly, stays hot, becomes a fire hazard, ticks off your home owners insurance company when the claims comes through for a fish tank "related" fire, etc...


----------



## fresh.salty (Jul 2, 2010)

The only issue I see in an over sized heater is the short time it takes the fish to cook if it should get stuck on.


----------



## FIT BMX (Jun 5, 2010)

The company said that if something happens, it will kick off.
Thanks for the help!!!


----------



## NWA-Planted (Aug 27, 2011)

FIT BMX said:


> The company said that if something happens, it will kick off.
> Thanks for the help!!!


they all should, doesnt always happen though! Though I dont imagine you should run into a problem


----------



## airangel (Jan 12, 2010)

Usually they recommend 3 to 5 watts per gallon. I never trust them to shut off since I've had too many go on a cooking spree.


----------



## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

I had several top-brand adjustable heaters in my 12G and 4g and none of them seemed to be able to keep temps below 82F. I got too worried about cooked fish. So, I went the other route: check out 'Tetra Submersible Aquarium Heaters': they are pre-set, come in 2 versions 50W for 2-10G tanks and 100W for 10-30G and are relatively small. I got one of each about 3 months ago and both keep the tanks at constant 78F. They are sold at Petco but if you do a search you can get 2 for about $24 shipped.


----------



## FIT BMX (Jun 5, 2010)

Do they mess up, and cook fish very often? This tank is a gift, and I would hate to cook there fish!


----------



## airangel (Jan 12, 2010)

check the reviews on those pre sets, petco/petsmart/amazon before you get one though


----------



## SNAKEMANVET (Jan 6, 2011)

You could buy a controller the would turn the heater off at a certain temp.They are about $40.00 to $99.00.


----------



## Svynx (Nov 8, 2010)

When I was running my salt tank I had two undersized heaters that "equaled" the correct size. That way if one decided to either not come on at all, or stayed on, there really wasn't a problem. Problem with this is that you would need the room to have two heaters in the same tank.


----------



## snafu (Oct 9, 2004)

If you have it, use it. It should be fine. I usually buy 100-150w heaters for my smaller tanks (e.g.5.5g). You can do what-if scenarios all day, and end up buying a lot of stuff you don't need, which tends to happen a lot around here.


----------



## FIT BMX (Jun 5, 2010)

Thanks for the help!!!


----------



## Bullbaiter (Oct 27, 2021)

NWA-Planted said:


> they all should, doesnt always happen though! Though I dont imagine you should run into a problem


This is true. Had a good quality heater 300W for my 40G and it got stuck on I suppose it went all out of wack and overheated my tank killing off 8 and all my tiger barbs. My moonlight gouramis, silver dollar and angelfish managed to survive by luck as I got home late night after work to find my fish in that condition.


----------

