Frank asked the following question about heaters and plumbing.  Here is his question with my response below:

I am in the process of changing to an 80 gal tank from a 55 gal.  I have most of the equipment but I have not delt with a new heater.  What is your opinion of in-line heaters vs. submersibe?   Should I have an extra submersible regardless of which way I go?

Also, my pumps, chiller, U.V. sterilizer are set up for 3/4″ OD tubing, but the sump return and feed would have to be adjusted down.  Should I adjust the sump to 3/4″ OD, or size all the other connections up to 1″?

Hope this makes sense to you.

Thanks you, Frank for your question.  Congratulations on upgrading to an 80 gallon.  As for heaters, the submersible titanium heaters are the simplest option.  They are very cheap now, and reliable too.  Won Brothers makes them, and we have used them for years without one single failure.  I would recommend against glass heaters, as they can break easily.  In line heaters can be great, but they are inherrantly more complicated and thus quality is very important.  The inline heaters we use are pretty pricey, and are for larger systems (larger budgets).  But for an 80 gallon tank I do not have an inline heater I can recommend, and recommend a submersible titanium heater (Won Brothers).

The idea of choosing two heaters to “be on the safe side” is not uncommon, although not necessary.  One heater is sufficient.  The more important issue is whether your tank is a fish-only tank or a reef tank.  With most aquariums, the main challenge is overheating, whereby heaters rarely turn on.  However you still do need a heater, so that your temperature is stable.  A yoyoing temperature is recipe for problems (sick fish, disease, etc.).   If you do choose to go with two heaters, you can set one for a lower temperature than the other (by 2 degrees), so this way it will truly function as a backup in the event the other heater fails to turn on.

For your plumbing, it sounds like you are setup for a typical configuration, with a 3/4″ feed and a 1″ overflow (gravity return).

So for your 3/4″ feed, simply plumb your pump, chiller, U.V. with 3/4″ plumbing/tubing.  And if needed, just bush down at the appliance (if any of your filters/appliances have different size plumbing).  When I say “bush down” I mean use a reducing bushing.

As for your return (gravity overflow back to the sump), you will want a larger pipe diameter than your feed, preferably about twice the surface area.  So a 1″ return is fine.  Ideally you would want to be 1″ all the way from your tank back to the sump.

Perhaps I should do a video on this as plumbing can be a bit confusing for most people in the beginning.

Sincerely,

Warren Gibbons

www.saltwateraquariumsecrets.com

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