Heater

[5uperman]

What is the best way to heat a reef tank.
Tank is 33g. I will have 2x175 MH's

How much will the lights alone heat the tank?

There is a sump, should I heat the water from there and will an old $30 heater do the trick with the amount of flow that there will be in the tank?

[perpetual98]

Any old heater will do. I would imagine that you're going to have more problems keeping your tank cool though with 2x175W halide.

[lReef lKeeper]

i agree Eric, 2x175w MH is probably to much (in a heat factor). i would worry more about getting a chiller.

[dakar]

What are your tank temps running now? I'd keep a close eye on them as spring and then summer rolls in.

For some reason or another this morning I put a probe from one of our digital thermometer's in the DIY pendant housing a 250w halide, the temp in there held a steady 104F all day.

[davejnz]

As long as you have fans in your canopy,heat shouldn't be a problem.I ran a 250 on my old 30,currently running a 250 on my 40breeder(shallow,16"),1-4" fan in the canopy keeps temps stable at 80 year round.Here in FL,it gets pretty warm too although my house stays at 74 year round.
BTW,you want your fans blowing in,across the length of the tank/surface of the water.Not at the MH bulbs themselves