hello, its finally getting cold down south (50 degrees last few night and soon it will be in the 30s at night)
in my fish room (the garage) i have all my tanks set up with a large heater in the sumps.
i want to upgrade to a heater in each tank while in the winter.....but i dont wanna over heat them, whats the best method of adding new heaters/making sure i dont over heat?


im scared of buying smalller size heater and just "throwing them in" cuz it might be to hot.

i have eight 55gallon tanks im trying to heat. every 2 tanks has a heater for a 100gallon in the sump.

thanks everyone.

get ready for some big electric bills LOL. 50 degrees??? you poor thing Thats a heat wave in Michigan winters. My advice to you would be to make sure your tanks are sealed well at the top, and I would try to pack your sump in styrofoam to help insulate. I would just put 2 of the heaters your currently using in the sump. Set the "backup" heater to the same or 1 degree less than the main heater. Then if one fails you have a backup. You should be fine then. If your garage is insulated, it might be more cost effective to heat the whole garage. I would also think about cutting some styro to size and float it on top of the water to help insulate also.

An uninsulated garage is not a good place for warm water fish.
You might want to consider insulating the room first and then heating your tanks.

thanks guys, great replys.
yea being from new orleans this is "cold" to us lol.
just wanted to make sure im doing everything right.
round head thats a cute dog ;-)

hey bro, IMO you dont have to worry about your heater, i lived here in Anchorage Alaska and its like 19 degrees today outside, and i only use 300watts tank heater, just turn on your garage heater a little bit higher that usual, and i think your water temp. is gonna fine.