Ingrid,

Did you 500w heater run full time last winter? I noticed that you said you
had 1600 gallons, about half of which was above ground. Yet your 500w heater
managed to keep the pond above 50F, except for two months.

I bought a 300w heater, as my pond is less than 500 gallons and completely
below ground. Although I only have 24" of water, the actual hole is about
32" deep. I plan to keep the bottom temps around 40 in the cooler months,
but may experiment with keeping the boys above 50F in October.

I'm just not sure that 300w will be enough. I wanted to test the heater, so
I stuck it in a bath tub (45g) at 60F with a powerhead for circulation.
After 7 hours, the temp was only 84F, while room temp was 70F+. Granted the
tub was not covered, but I was hoping for better. Although the room was
getting a little humid. How susceptible are these heaters to burn out if run
for extended periods?

If nothing else, I've got a cheap Jacuzzi.

I had my heater set lowest setting something like 65oF so it musta run most of
winter. as long as you cover the pond with plastic you will most likely keep the
temp up. I run aeration into my pond. the bucket filter is set to run the out water
ruffling the surface of the water so I am not putting warmer water up into the air.
yeah. losing lots of heat to the humidity.
story: one year I had to pull all my koi and GF in from the ponds right before
winter set in. I borrowed some of those 144 gal metal tanks, had 2 big 100 w
rubbermaid stock tanks. I needed to get the temp up to 84oF to treat the aeromonas
and it didnt seem to matter how many 100 or 200 watt heaters I put in couldnt get the
temp up. then I put plastic over the tank and drip filters and the temp was up the
next day. it really, really does matter to cover with plastic. I would think your
300 watt should be fine. Ingrid

"Bill Stock" wrote:
Did you 500w heater run full time last winter? I noticed that you said you
had 1600 gallons, about half of which was above ground. Yet your 500w heater
managed to keep the pond above 50F, except for two months.

I bought a 300w heater, as my pond is less than 500 gallons and completely
below ground. Although I only have 24" of water, the actual hole is about
32" deep. I plan to keep the bottom temps around 40 in the cooler months,
but may experiment with keeping the boys above 50F in October.

I'm just not sure that 300w will be enough. I wanted to test the heater, so
I stuck it in a bath tub (45g) at 60F with a powerhead for circulation.
After 7 hours, the temp was only 84F, while room temp was 70F+. Granted the
tub was not covered, but I was hoping for better. Although the room was
getting a little humid. How susceptible are these heaters to burn out if run
for extended periods?

If nothing else, I've got a cheap Jacuzzi.





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