Fluval E300 heater

[Kaie]

I ended up getting one of these @ Amazon.com for $44.00 + Free shipping since we have Amazon prime.

Ill update this thread on my experience.

Its been plugged in 3 hours and has raised the temp in my 55Gal from 64 to 72. Pretty impressive IMO.

I'm not having any of the "Low Flow" issues people have complained about. I put it between 2 AC 70s.

 

[Kaie]

So the heater has been set @ 80*F. Its been on and in the tank for 16hours. It cant get passed the 79.5 hump =/.

I figured having a heater rated for a tank pretty much twice the size of the one its in, it would have 0 issues with keeping any temp i threw at it.

.5 degree off isn't a huge issue obviously. But if it cant get to the 80 its set at how well will it handle ambient fluctuations?

To be fair, its fairly chilly in the house today but still. I was hoping itd have no issues.

Perhaps i should get a second one?

 

[hbluehunter]

Sounds like a pretty good heater.. I don't have any experience with them but i wouldn't sweat half a degree.. But that's just me..

 

[Kaie]

Im def. not concerned about the .5 it's self. I'm more worried about when/if the temp in the house was to drop, can the heater keep up with that demand.

Around the time i posted that reply i turned it up to 81.5 to see if a higher setting would help. It in fact did. The t-stat now reads 80. Which is both good and bad news.....The bad you ask? Well, the way Hagen makes it sound.... Is its "smart" enough to keep track of the actual temp vs the set temp in order to make minute adjustments. Therefore alleviating the need to adjust the temp up and down depending on your ambient temp.

Obviously this isn't a huge deal. But it was the assumption i was under.

 

[hbluehunter]

I would say that heater should be more that enough to heat your tank with no problems at all. I run a 300watt heater (not a fluval though) in my 300 gal and it does fine, keeps it right at 78-80 no matter what time of the year.

 

[protocl]

by having a heater rated more than the listed tank volume, the heat will just heat up the tank faster, in general. this can be a good thing, but also a bad thing.

i have 2 250 watt units in my 180G, controlled by a commercial heating controller; every thing in nominal.

i never rely on MFR's information, they make it sound like its the only unit you will ever need in a lifetime, lol.

 

[Kaie]

So after having it for a couple of days and once i got the .5 degree straightened out =P

I love it!

I dont get the whole low flow issue people are having. I put mine by the intake of one of my HOBs and its fine.

 

[Kaie]

Honestly... after having this for some time and keeping a watch on it.

It keeps the temp inside the 55gal with in .5 of a degree of the set temp of 80 degrees. It does this with a wide array of ambient temps.

HOWEVER.... i left the house for 2 days last week. I turned the house temp down. When i returned on the second day the temp inside the house was about 50. and the tank was about 75.

My conclusion is... no matter what your ambient house temp is. I wouldn't use this in anything bigger than 55gal.

Def don't use just one if your tank is in a fairly cold room.

All in all i really like it. I would probably spend the extra money for a second if i left town more often and wanted to keep my house temp down while i was gone.