General Care Discussion :: What is a good wattage for a heater?

[Turtlefriend]

Im thinking of getting a 60-90 gallon tank. Whats a good wattage for a tank around that size and are there any brands i you recommend or stay away from?

[DaddySkittles]

stealth heaters are great. Everyone loves them. Don't really know about your heater watt question.

[Starchick]

Check out the water quality section of redearslider.com, there's great information and a formula to answer your question. I agree with daddyskittles as well, I got a stealth heater a week ago and my temps have been rock solid. I have it in the largest recommended amount of water for its wattage and during the day it stays a perfect 78, only dropping to 77 at night. My last heater was All-Glass aquarium, and I wouldn't recommend it. It worked fine for about 6 months, although not as accurate as the stealth, but it's completely shot now. The thermostat stopped working, so no matter what I set it for it heats the water to 85.

[scripta_elegans]

Glass heater+turtles=possible horrific disaster involving electricity and glass.
Stealth heater +turtles=no possible glass in tank. This is my reason for the stealth, and of course, it does keep the water at a more constant temp.

[steve]

3-5 watts per gallon is fine. My choices in this order would be: Stealth, Ebo Jager and Tronic.

[pumpkinsherbet]

there should be a key on the back of the box that will tell you

this wattage ~ this many gallons
this wattage ~ this many gallons

and so on.

[industrial_girl_2000]

I have a 90 gallon tank (60 gallons of water in it) and I have a 250W stealth heater ("black plastic tube" that is fully submersible). It works GREAT & was worth every penny since I no longer have to worry about my big adult RES banging the heater off the side of the aquarium glass.

The water stays around 77 degrees but I can turn it up if I need to.