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would a waterbed heater heat a 125 gal ibc tank for tilapia

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I don't know if it would be very efficient.

using a IBC tank and putting a low wattage 120watt  softside waterbed heater...using 1 " insulbead with a reflective back aound the outside of the metal frame....., would that not keep a tank warm enough for Tilapia?  I appreciate your reply...Have a Blessed day!

TCLynx said:

I don't know if it would be very efficient.

I don't know.  It will depend on your conditions (how much you need to heat the water.)  Remember that most waterbeds are used indoors where the air temperatures are usually kept at room temperature so the heater is really only there to add a few degrees to the water to keep the chill off and the bed is well insulated by bedding.  A fish tank is often out in air temperatures much lower than room temperature and even with insulation an aquaponic system is going to be having far more loss of heat than a water bed.  I don't know if a 120 watt heater would be enough for your situation because I don't know where the fish tank will be or what the heat losses will be or how many degrees you need to heat the water above the air temperature.  If doing flood and drain aquaponics, insulating the tank won't help very much if the gravel beds are out in cold air.  If your tilapia tank and system is in a location where the air temperature is kept at room temperature, then yes a water bed heater will probably keep the tank warm enough.  If you are expecting a water bed heater to keep an ibc tank warm enough for tilapia outside on a freeze night during a cool week while the system is running, well it will depend on the type of system but if it is towers, NFT or flood and drain, NO I don't think a waterbed heater will keep the water from getting too cold without additional extra measures in place.  Beware that most waterbed heaters are for indoor use so make sure you won't be having a lot of water splashing around and getting on it.

Hi Randy. How did the waterbed heaters turn out? I am thinking of using one myself. 

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