ahs heaters

[edgar1981]

has anyone had experience with these? i'm trying to decide how to heat my atb viv (4x2x2 tall), and while these aren't cheap, i figure by the time i've bought a ceramic, guard and stat, it'll be adding up anyway. are these worth the dollar? and would it suit a viv that size?

[kelboy]

A 500 watt would easily heat a viv of that size. The problem you may have, is it drying the air out a little too much/too quickly.

[edgar1981]

cool. i'm planning on making a custom waterfall and having live plants in there too, so hopefully humidity won't be a problem. i'll spend plenty of time getting it sorted before i get the snake anyway!
with regards to the heaters, is it best to mount them on the ceiling of the viv, or on the back/sides?

[bev336]

AHS heaters have to be mounted on the sides of the viv, you cannot mount them on the ceiling.

[forteh]

They can be mounted on the ceiling. Im getting an ATB next month and have got a 150w ahs mini lined up for heating (well its spare), the only problem is they will dry out the viv pretty effectively. You may need to mist a bit more regularly although a little playing with the ventilation and you should be able to sort it
Because they dont need it particularly hot, if you have a reasonably warm ambient the heater wont be working very hard so it wont dry out as much.

[bev336]

Originally Posted by forteh

They can be mounted on the ceiling. Im getting an ATB next month and have got a 150w ahs mini lined up for heating (well its spare), the only problem is they will dry out the viv pretty effectively. You may need to mist a bit more regularly although a little playing with the ventilation and you should be able to sort it
Because they dont need it particularly hot, if you have a reasonably warm ambient the heater wont be working very hard so it wont dry out as much.

You will get away with it using a ahs mini (which are no longer made),but not a full size, check out the instructions.

[forteh]

That say they can be mounted on the sides or ceiling of the tank
It does state that the most efficient position is the side facing down the length of the tank though.