Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 22
  1. #1
    Members bsfman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Cape Coral, FL
    Posts
    355

    A quick and dirty fish tank heater for cold nights

    I LOVE it when a plan comes together! I was really worried about keeping the tilapia alive in my aquaponics system during the current cold snap here in southwest Florida, so I threw together another contraption. It's a propane powered, recirculating fish tank heater! My fish are comfy and happy. I'm nipping on a double knock of 94 proof Elijah Craig 12 year old bourbon, and sitting inside monitoring the fish tank temp with a wireless pool thermometer! Life is good and the fish are happy!

    I've actually used this concept before, but I used a coil of copper tubing rather than the PEX tubing. I am happy to report, the PEX seems to be working fine. The water in the heater is steady at 106F, the system water is holding steady at 70F, and the ambient temp has dropped to 58F on it's way to 41F tonight. Something similar to this might come in handy for those of you who keep tilapia with only occasional cold conditions. I can run the heater 24 hours on 1/2 tank of propane with the flame set as low as I have it now.

    [youtube:1j9bvka9]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQByt74jVQQ[/youtube:1j9bvka9]

  2. #2
    Members
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Location
    Whigham, Georgia
    Posts
    120

    Re: A quick and dirty fish tank heater for cold nights

    you have any problems this morning ?

  3. #3
    Members bsfman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Cape Coral, FL
    Posts
    355

    Re: A quick and dirty fish tank heater for cold nights

    Quote Originally Posted by swamp creek farms
    you have any problems this morning ?
    None at all. The ambient temp got down to 37F but the little DIY heater kept the water warm enough. The water temp did drop down to 63F at about 7:00am, but that was still 26 degrees above ambient. i could have run the propane higher and kept it warmer, but I was trying to see how long a tank would last. That tank started out almost full (not quite) and it ran 27 hours. Costs was about 67 cents per hour to run it. Definitely not practical cost-wise for long term use, but it kept my fish alive for 2 cold nights. Low is only supposed to be 52 tonight, so the tilapia are on their own. (The tank water will stay 5 or 6 degrees warmer than ambient most of the time and the fish have lived through many 50 degree nights without issues before)

  4. #4
    Members Lordshandyman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Naples, FL USA
    Posts
    70

    Re: A quick and dirty fish tank heater for cold nights

    Howdy all...

    I also live in South Florida and need the occasional heat as well. I took a different approach. I had bought a 1000 watt aquarium heater and controller used for around $75. Worked great for about two months (would hold my 800 gallons at what ever temp it was when it was turned on) then the heater burned out. Way to costly to replace. Make a long story short, it burned out the day before our last really cold snap. What to do, couldn't even order a new one quick enough.

    I ran to the big box store and bought a 1500 watt water heater element for around 10 bucks and a bottle of liquid tape and hurried home. Happened to have an old microwave cord that I haphazardly cut off someones old microwave I replaced last week. I wired that to the element and gave it about 5 coats of liquid tape. First off, I didn't have time to drill a little hole and soldier the ground wire to the base, so I used black tape first to hold it to the frame, then used the liquid tape over it. That was my first mistake... later. Second mistake was not letting the liquid tape cure long enough... had a cold snap coming that night, had to hurry.

    All that being said and done, the heater worked great! It held the temp of my 800 gallon system all night long, and even the next day, the water temp climbed to 70 degrees. Yeah, the day was saved. Used this for another 3 days. All was well, cold gone. Went to heat the tank up again yesterday, and snap, threw the GFI on the outlet that it was plugged into.... OH, ALWAYS USE GFI'S WHEN DEALING WITH ELECTRICAL AND WATER! What had happen was the black tape had shrunk with the heat of the element, and pulled away from the base a little. This allowed a crack in the liquid tape and water got in. Oh Snap!

    So, I redid my wiring and this time I drilled a small hole in the base to soldier the ground to it. Second, I used an epoxy instead of liquid tape. Third, I ordered a 1000 watt RV water heater element to use instead (@ $11 online), so that I can use my old Temp controller as it was only rated for 1000 watts.

    All in all, I calculated that it cost me around 15 cents per hour or $3.60 per 24 hours to heat my tank. Granted, after I use my controller, it will be even less as it will kick on and off as needed and not run constantly and will only be a 1000 watt again.

    I just dangle the heater in my fishtank as it has no protective cover. Wouldn't want it to melt a hole in my IBC. It's not the prettiest heater out there, but the price is right.... Perhaps next time I will add some black color to the epoxy to make it look more finished.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Heater 1.jpg 
Views:	291 
Size:	77.1 KB 
ID:	3818   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Heater 2.jpg 
Views:	291 
Size:	77.5 KB 
ID:	3819   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Heater 3.jpg 
Views:	278 
Size:	93.5 KB 
ID:	3820   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Heater 4.jpg 
Views:	297 
Size:	100.2 KB 
ID:	3821  
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Trust God, after all, only He knows what He is doing.

    Random Thoughts: There is some truth in every newspaper and magazine, you just need to know where to look....
    For instance: The name, price, date, and page numbers are usually always true!

  5. #5
    Members bsfman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Cape Coral, FL
    Posts
    355

    Re: A quick and dirty fish tank heater for cold nights

    Ingenious! But even at 4 times the cost, I'll stick with propane! (Electricity scares me and water and electricity REALLY scares me!

  6. #6
    Members Lordshandyman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Naples, FL USA
    Posts
    70

    Re: A quick and dirty fish tank heater for cold nights

    Quote Originally Posted by bsfman
    Ingenious! But even at 4 times the cost, I'll stick with propane! (Electricity scares me and water and electricity REALLY scares me!
    That's why you always use a GFI outlet for all your AP system electronics. Even the power strip that your pumps are plugged into should be plugged into a GFI somewhere! If not, please do it now. A pump can short out at any moment and fry your fish, or even you if your hand happens to be around the water. Or, some water gets splashed on the power strip and your flip flop at the same time. The GFI's save lives!

    When you told me about the propane heater last year, I considered it greatly and almost ordered a stainless steel wart chiller, but the cost was high and the cold nights were over so I waited. Then the thought of having gas and an open flame running all night scared me. Specially when the wind is blowing. Besides, my pump is electric and in the water 24/7, so why not my heater too? In the beginning, I thought electric heat would be too high, but it turns out to not be that bad at all. Oh, and if you have a electric water heater in your house, every time you take a shower, you have water and electricity dancing a dance.

    But, your idea is grand too.... Perhaps you could design your hot water pot with a heat shield to trap more heat and make it more efficient. Also, do you have a lid on the pot when it is heating, this would help hold the heat in greatly. Oh, and even add a towel on top of the lid to hold even more heat in. When I can veggies, the lid helps a ton... without the lid, have to have it on high all the time to boil, but add the lid and low keeps the boil going. As for a heat shield, a lot of heat flows up the side of the pot and then into the air. If you had a downward shield around the top of the pot, it would trap a lot more hot air and keep it in constant contact with the sides of the pot. Just a thought.

    On a side note, the wife and I have been thinking of coming up there and showing off our new baby to ya. Or better yet, perhaps you can come and check out my system and new family member at the same time. I just got my second growbed up and running.
    Trust God, after all, only He knows what He is doing.

    Random Thoughts: There is some truth in every newspaper and magazine, you just need to know where to look....
    For instance: The name, price, date, and page numbers are usually always true!

  7. #7
    Members Lordshandyman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Naples, FL USA
    Posts
    70

    Re: A quick and dirty fish tank heater for cold nights

    Oh, had another thought about using gas to heat.

    What about using a pressure cooker full of water on top of the propane heater. Then, use a high temp hose connected to the steam vent to direct the steam into the fishtank or sumptank. Would be a lot less chance of contamination and heat loss. The only downfall is, how long till you would need to fill the pressure cooker with water again?

    Or, if you have a old pressure cooker that can be modified, then drill two holes in it (probably the lid). Have your pump pump into the pot, and an outlet pipe flow to wherever it flowed before. As the pot gets warm, cool water from the tank flows in and then flows out the outlet warmer than it came in. Leave the steam vent with a 5/10/or 15 lb weight on it for safety even though it would never get this hot unless the pump died or you ran it so long you cooked your fish and veggies. Yummy, fish soup.
    Trust God, after all, only He knows what He is doing.

    Random Thoughts: There is some truth in every newspaper and magazine, you just need to know where to look....
    For instance: The name, price, date, and page numbers are usually always true!

  8. #8
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Saint Cloud FL USA
    Posts
    2,029

    Re: A quick and dirty fish tank heater for cold nights

    Lordshandyman, If I remember correctly, if your running 110 volts to the hot water element, your only using about half the watts, as the rating on it.
    If you didn't take that into account, then your using even less electric then you thought...


    Here's a video of what some folks are doing with hot water heating elements. Some are even using stainless steel elements...
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DMiYSoffBA
    "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - President Ronald Reagan

  9. #9
    Members bsfman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Cape Coral, FL
    Posts
    355

    Re: A quick and dirty fish tank heater for cold nights

    Running the heater again tonight. Ambient temp was 58F - water temp 63F when I lit the burner at 6pm. Ambient temp now 53 on it's way to 47F. Water temp up to 65F. 1/3rd tank of propane when burner was lit. Burner should run all night.

  10. #10
    Members Lordshandyman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Naples, FL USA
    Posts
    70

    Re: A quick and dirty fish tank heater for cold nights

    Quote Originally Posted by davidstcldfl
    Lordshandyman, If I remember correctly, if your running 110 volts to the hot water element, your only using about half the watts, as the rating on it.
    If you didn't take that into account, then your using even less electric then you thought...
    Actually, it was a 110 volt element. I wonder if a 220 element could be used with only 110 volts?
    Trust God, after all, only He knows what He is doing.

    Random Thoughts: There is some truth in every newspaper and magazine, you just need to know where to look....
    For instance: The name, price, date, and page numbers are usually always true!

Similar Threads

  1. Hot tub into a fish tank?
    By semi in forum Want To Know HOW TO..?
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 02-04-2014, 07:40 PM
  2. inverts in fish tank
    By petercaine in forum Crustaceans
    Replies: 14
    Last Post: 07-20-2013, 07:04 AM
  3. Finally got fish in the tank!!!
    By Waterboy in forum Commercial Systems
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 06-27-2013, 08:56 AM
  4. fish tropical tank poo for bacteria start up tank
    By DARRYL in forum Aquaponics Knowhow
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 03-28-2013, 08:11 PM
  5. Cold water fish
    By jackalope in forum Fishy Questions....
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 02-23-2009, 10:15 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •