Heater watts?

Question

I was calculating the price of the ellectricity my fish tank uses and according to my heatre it's is 200 watts ( i thouyght that that was a bit much ) the tank i have holds 200L

I think i am missreading it . is there any other symbol for watt other that W ??/

Answer 1

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the heater for a 200 litre tank should be 300watts.

You are actually using more electricity than you should as the low a wattage means the heater is over working to maintain the set temperature.

I'm not joking, check out the tank size information on new heater packaging at your local pet store.

Answer 2

200watts during winter is not a great deal. As long as it's thermostatic (and they are invariably), it's OK as it will switch off when the water is warm. Set it at a temp that is comfortable for your fish. You must have, or they would be belly up by now.

200W is fine this time of the year. In fact, you may not even need it during warm days. It all depends on what kind of fish you keep. Tropical warm water fish or fish such as the goldfish that can stand water temp down to 5-10deg. Anyway the govt has been advising us to set our thermostats a couple of degrees lower and wear an extra jumper. I guess that wouldn't do for your fish.

Answer 3

200watts might seem like alot. But understand that your heater is not constantly on. It goes on to heat the water, then shuts off again when desired temps are reached. If you want to decrease your electricity usage and the amount the heater comes on. Make sure you have a suitable lid for the tank, this will help hold in alot of the heat, therefore decreasing the time the heater is actually on. No there is no other symbol for watt except W.

Edit: actually a 200 watt heater is suitable for tanks 60-90 gallons, so you are great with the one you have. If however you had a 90 gallon, then I would suggest upgrading to at least 1 300 watt or 2 200 watt heaters. I use 300 watt heaters on my 90 gallon tanks.