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Comment by Zach on April 8, 2016 at 1:41pm

How did this heater work in the end?  Need something like this for next winter.

What are pro's and con's ??????

Comment by Bradly on July 28, 2012 at 1:26pm

Rob... thanks much.

I did re-order a stainless steel element...it's on it's way here so I can rebuild this heater.

I did a test run with the copper element and noticed the bubbles and the need to angle the heater in a pan of water I did a test run in.  so I'm gonna mount this element (with a protective screen of somekind) at like a 45 degree angle down into the water of the fish tank. 

I'm so appreciative for all the comments everyone warned me with before I killed fish !!  :-)

I've got system all running now, with siphons working and overflows intsalled on everything as a safety measure and am just bringing down the PH slowly as I test run it to monitor temperature controll of the water. 

I also dumped in 15 gallons of dirty aquarium water from in my house to kind of give the bacteria a jumpstart.  Will try adding ammonia soon....

Thanks again for the input Rob

 

Comment by Rob Nash on July 28, 2012 at 8:24am

Bradly, i have built many a heater from scratch, and the will work. ...nice job by the way.  I must caution you about the heater element, its nickel plated copper, which is toxic to fish. you can order a stainless steal on line, i have links on my how-to...  http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/forum/topics/diy-heater-sub...

i will add... tiny bubbles are created when it runs, so the element must angle up a bit to allow these to escape or the element will burn up... even in the water. 

Cheers, Rob