I’m trying to create a planted tank for my three kids for Christmas and I picked up this order today, and this is a 20 gallon long tank and I bought this fluval 100w heater. I live in northern Texas but we let the house get down to like 64 at night in the winter so I figured we need this. I was going to get a custom clear lid off of Etsy for this which has a small slot for a heater cord but this thing looks like it’s supposed to stick up out of the water? Im trying my best 😭
Posted by globaglopagus
9 Comments
you can angle it diagonally 🙂 i had to do that with my 10 gal – it looks a little weird but it works! you can build up hardscape in front of it to kind of cover it
Mine that came with my tank was also big. Had to go in on an angle.
Place it on an angle.
You can even mount it horizontally.
I place mine completely horizontal at substrate level to hide it with hardscape and plants. As long as your heater doesn’t state it needs to be placed vertically you will be fine. I’m pretty sure the Fluval M100 can be placed horizontally.
100W heater is 5W per gallon for a 20gal. Thats on the high side but that’s perfectly fine. You would rather have a heater that can easily heat the entire tank than a lower wattage heater that struggles or can’t heat the entire tank. I keep my heaters horizontal and just above the gravel so I don’t have to worry about forgetting to turn it off during water changes. I learned the hard way
Many have said lay it on an angle but you can also lay it horizontal, lower mid section, and run the wire up neatly with a suction cup with a mini zip tie. They sell them.
It doesn’t have to be placed vertically. It can be horizontal or diagonal.
Horizontal or diagonal placement is actually better for more even heat distribution anyway.