I have been reading, here on the forum, about having a backup heater in case the primary heater goes belly up. Is it wise to have both heaters running at the same time? I keep the temp in the house at 65 during the winter. Last year I used only a heating pad which worked great, but decided I should get a real heater. My current heater is a Eheim Jager 50 watt. I would prefer having one that is completely submersible, so I would like to get a different brand for the backup - any recommendations?

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AVATAR: Wallace's Flying Frog: a moss frog found from the Malay Peninsula into western Indonesia.
Their webbed feet are their "wings"!

Fluval makes a good heater. It's a bit of an expensive brand, but in my experience it's well worth it.

As for having both running at once... That really depends on how big your tank is. If it's over a certain capacity (I think the minimum is 50 gallons), then it's beneficial to have one heater at each end to keep the water temperature uniformly even. Otherwise, just have the backup heater stored somewhere in case the main heater goes out.

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Creatures great and small, I love 'em all! But mainly the fish.

Two heaters in a 10g is a little much. If the heater fails and you can't get to a store to buy one, you could always do some easy water changes with a little warm water to bring the temp. 10g is just too little of water to not affect in other ways very fast.

I kinda figured 2 heaters was too many for my little 10 gallons of water. I do think I will have a spare on hand in case of failure on the primary. I would be devastated if something happened to Fred and Willy (frogs), Mooch (otto cat), and "the gang" (tetras)!
Thanks for the input!

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AVATAR: Wallace's Flying Frog: a moss frog found from the Malay Peninsula into western Indonesia.
Their webbed feet are their "wings"!

Your Eheim Jager 50Watt ISN'T fully submersible?!?!?!! I have the same heater and used it on my 10g tank and it was a fully submersible heater! It had a line that showed where the LEAST amount of water should be at, but it was supposed to be totally under water. I've got the same heater but in 100Watts on my 20g and it's fully submerged....

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

Holly,
I have checked and rechecked the instructions for my heater and there is definitely a water line mark at the top of the heater under the controls, that indicates the max water level. The picture on the instruction sheet shows the heater with the top of it above the water line, protruding out of the water about 1 inch. Maybe you have a different model or I am not reading the instructions correctly. I will check the unit and see if it has the water line after the fishies wake up this morning! Will let you know!

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AVATAR: Wallace's Flying Frog: a moss frog found from the Malay Peninsula into western Indonesia.
Their webbed feet are their "wings"!

Some heaters aren't. Out of all the heaters that I have a few are fully submersible, but I only do it on one of them.

Well, Holly, I was totally WRONG about the heater! It is submersible ~ completely! What a goof I am as I never really looked at the water line, so I made the mistake of assuming max water line when it is min water line. Thanks for alerting me to the error of my ways! I will say (in defense of my lameness), the instructions are rather vague.

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AVATAR: Wallace's Flying Frog: a moss frog found from the Malay Peninsula into western Indonesia.
Their webbed feet are their "wings"!

Some do have min and max lines. Fluval does that on some of their models.

Lol, I just went and looked at mine 'cause you had me all worried. It def' says "MIN water line." Glad you saw that too - would HATE to have a cracked heater in the tank!

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981