Overheard something at the LFS that made me check my tank temperature

I was at the fish store in Tampa on Saturday and heard the owner talking to a guy about how many people push their heaters too close to the max rating. Said he sees melted controllers and cooked tanks all the time because folks think a 300 watt is fine for a 40 gallon. I came home and checked mine, I had a 200 watt in a 55 without a controller. I swapped it out before I lost my clownfish. Has anyone else had a heater fail like that?

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gibson.oliver7d ago

Hey, have you ever thought about using two smaller heaters instead of one big one? I run a pair of 150 watt heaters in my 75 gallon and it spreads the load so if one fails the other can pick up the slack. It saved my tank once when one stuck on and the other kept things stable.