Submersible heater ?

[dljhunt]

I only do a few skulls per year and I bought an aquarium heater at Walmart to put in a 16 gal. tub but it only gets to about 70 degrees. It is a 55 gal heater. Do any of you us this type heater and have you had any problems? The one I have is new. 

[Sea Wolf]

Walmart wasn't the place to go. Pet store will have better grade and stronger stuff. Look for at least a 300 watt submersible heater. Also look at the thermostat dial on the top and get the one that gets closest to 90. You can often turn these up above 90.

As a fish owner, that heater is garbage. Tank temperature for most fish is 72 at the lowest. 75 to 80 is better. If that heater doesn't even go over 70, take it back.

If you are looking to degrease, you will do a lot better if you use a bucket heater and thermostat and get the water to 115 degrees.

[ravenswings1]

Sea Wolf, How do you wire the bucket heater to a thermosat? I don't think they come with built in thermostats, correct? They should though.

[dljhunt]

The one I bought doesnt have a temp. on the dial, only + and _.

[Mudcat72]

Sea Wolf, How do you wire the bucket heater to a thermosat? I don't think they come with built in thermostats, correct? They should though.

The thermostat will tell you how to wire it. What I did was go to Lowes and buy a 10 dollar water heater element and a 10 dollar low end water heater thermostat. I then took cut the cord off of an item that no longer worked. It was basically a lamp cord...just two wires. Take one side of the cord and wire it to the thermostat. My thermostat only has 2 screws. Then, wire it to the element. You can also put a rocker or roller switch on it to turn it on and off instead of plugging and unplugging.

[Sea Wolf]

You can do that but there is a great post on here on how to wire a bucket heater to a thermostat. Do a search for "Caveman bucket heater". Read the whole post and look at the pictures.  There is a ton of information on here. Use the Search window (better the Advanced Search) and start reading.

[Blue Tick]

I have found some cheap aquarium heaters made by Elite that will get 100 or so. I've used them on smaller jobs when I didn't want to run my bigger setup or have room. I'll find a link for them and post.

[Blue Tick]

Here's a link to them:

http://www.petmountain.com/product/aquarium-heaters/11442-105453/elite-radiant-compact-heater.html

They do an ok job. You can also find some smaller models on their site as well. I've been using the 200w versions when in a pinch and they seem to be ok.

[dljhunt]

Thanks for everyones help.

[RICK P]

D&B farm supplies has bucket heaters around $40