how bout flexwatt on a fish tank? :D

i know this isnt a fishf orum but you guys know flex watt and in all honestly I'm setting upa huge tank and am starting to think putting a probe in the water and laying some wide flex under the tank... I dunno. in floor heating for the fishies? :D


seems to me likeit may work as long as i keep it dry?

Personally I'd stick to more commercial water heaters.. Usually those are submerged in the water and get direct heat source->water contact, which should heat better than through glass.

then again, I can imagine flexwatt might work just as well..

Sounds like it COULD work...

yeah. im thinking it may even work really well. I mean I would need a thrmostat to keep it at 80 be in reality its proven tow ork through glass. would look cleaner. I may run a couple strips on my sump for my new 90g :D

It wont heat the water. Also, it might be a bad idea, high heat on the glass + cold water seems like to me it would break the glass.

it would most likely break the glass.. if you dont want it to look bad.. maybe get it drilled and build a sump to put everything in so you have no equip in the display

Quote:

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Originally Posted by takagari

i know this isnt a fishf orum but you guys know flex watt and in all honestly I'm setting upa huge tank and am starting to think putting a probe in the water and laying some wide flex under the tank... I dunno. in floor heating for the fishies? :D


seems to me likeit may work as long as i keep it dry?

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This sounds like a terrible idea and an electrical hazard.

I would seriously doubt that your tank is so "huge" that you could not use one of the commercially available titanium 1000w heaters.

i never said i scould or wasnt. Its something i'm looking at experimenting with. and if I put it on a GFI i'm sure its perfectly safe.

i dont see why it wouldnt heat the water? and if its kept at a lower temp it wouldnt beed enough head to crack the glass...

explain why you think this? maybe if the water was ice, and i applied it at full heat.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by takagari

i never said i scould or wasnt. Its something i'm looking at experimenting with. and if I put it on a GFI i'm sure its perfectly safe.

i dont see why it wouldnt heat the water? and if its kept at a lower temp it wouldnt beed enough head to crack the glass...

explain why you think this? maybe if the water was ice, and i applied it at full heat.

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The amount of heat it takes to heat water is very high, and having the flexwatt on a low setting would hardly heat the glass. Have you ever felt a water heater? They get HOT! Some ive heard, which I think have a glass case, get so hot that if the water level gets lower than it, the heater itself will explode.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by takagari

i never said i scould or wasnt. Its something i'm looking at experimenting with. and if I put it on a GFI i'm sure its perfectly safe.

i dont see why it wouldnt heat the water? and if its kept at a lower temp it wouldnt beed enough head to crack the glass...

explain why you think this? maybe if the water was ice, and i applied it at full heat.

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A GFI would certainly protect you against a specific type of electrical hazard. The serious danger would present itself when you tried to wire enough flexwatt (fed from standard duplex wall outlets) to heat a regularly sized aquarium.

The amount of energy it takes to heat water is tremendous. It is ridiculous to imagine the amount of heat tape it would take to heat a standard size aquarium, especially when it is recommended that the user keep the Flex-Watt at 95 degrees or less to reduce the risk of fire.

There is a reason that most household water heaters have a heating element that is rated between 4,000 and 5,000 watts. Buy a titanium heater that is made for aquariums. Its safer, cheaper, and people will take you more seriously.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Beardedragon

It wont heat the water. Also, it might be a bad idea, high heat on the glass + cold water seems like to me it would break the glass.

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I could see this happening.

at no point did i say i didnt have tank heaters, or another setup i have a 90g tank on a 30g sump, heated with dual 200 watt heaters,

I am simply looking into the idea, but after considering the watt/per foot of these things compared to the aquarium heaters, I'm starting to see that i would need a butt load to get enough heat, the bottom and the whol eback would need to be heat taped.

Heh :)

I was just thinking allowed :p

As someone who works very frequently with fish tanks, and specifically a big tank, it will be more convenient, easier and safer to be using commercial water heaters.

There could be issues with the sealing around the tank if you heat it from the outside.

Sorry if I have repeated anything that was already said on this thread

First of all, i live in an apartment so i can't try it. I know what the label on a zoo med UTH says and i understand the science behind the risk. But, i have wondered the same thing. I say, hook up at 10 gal, place the appropriate size piece of FlexWatt, and tell us all what happens.

Maybe i am just addicted to mythbusters. Who knows?

It would work and no it wouldn't crack, but it wouldn't be safe. The only time it would crack is if the water was extremely cold and the glass was extremely hot. It takes a temp change of more than 50 degrees in order to cause the glass to crack, and if it's tempered it takes MUCH more than 50 degrees. Think about it, the windoes in your car are tempered, it can be -50 outside and 80 in your car and the glass won't crack.
It's work, but it would heat the glass up, then the glass would heat the water up. It would work VERY slowly but it would work. Great for bottom dwellers, but that's about it. Then you have a safety issue. If water starts to leak you have an electrical fire, and noone wants that.

i wish i had to worry about heating my tanks but i have to worry about cooling them. remember that fish tanks run around 2-4 degrees warmer than your house temp.