Using aquarium heaters

[007Sean]

What is so funny, they will eat it.

I know they will, that's why I was laughing
I should have followed up with a comment, sorry no offense intended.

 

[aart]

Best guess is the styrofoam would float on top of the water while holding the heater, as the water dropped, so would the heater.

I don't know what they were talking about. Best to have the heater lying horizontal on the bottom of bucket.

 

[Ursan]

Hi all, long time lurker, first-time poster.

Question about water thaw devices. I'm a proponent of using the right part for the right job. But I'm still seeing a lot of people advising others on the use of aquarium heaters.

I've been in the aquarium trade for many and I can say that using a device meant to rais room temperature water 10-15° is very different than raising sub-freezing water to a liquid state are very different items.

Aquarium heaters are fragile and have a very high failure rate, even in a stable aquarium environment. The unfortunate thing is that they often fail in the on position which I can tell you from personal experience, can cause electrical shorts. This is why pro and semi-pro fish keepers use a backup thermostat control that cuts power to the heater should the temperature get too high. This is something the casual fish keeper isn't aware of and I'd suspect even fewer chicken keepers.

If the heater fails in the off position, the water can freeze and crush the capsule. This can also cause an electrical short and potentially electrocute your chickens or even cause a fire.

A quick talk with my insurance company revealed that if the fire department were called and the discovered that the fire was caused by a misused item, then they may not honor the homeowner's coverage to repair the damage.

Also, one shouldn't keep water too warm for too long as it can breed waterborne bacteria.

Lastly, (if it hasn't been mentioned before) You'd have to use a rather powerful heater to keep water from freezing. That being said, there are far more efficient and less expensive devices that are purpose made for that.

 

[Ursan]

Question, I'm seeing a lot of people in favor of using a slow cooker as a means to keep water from freezing. I'm fairly certain this isn't safe either, but I don't yet know for certain. Anyone care to advise?

 

[aart]

than raising sub-freezing water to a liquid state.

'Sub-freezing water'...that would be ice no, I wouldn't try that.

 

[RubenRO]

When I would have a water recipient with an Aquarium heater in it, but that aquarium heater is connected to a device that monitors the water temperature and only turns on the heater when it drops below +5 C(41F) and shuts it down when it is +7 C (44,6F). Would that work?

That would mean the heater just turns on for small periods of times to heat the water by a few degrees.

I'm planning on using this set-up, but I just wanted to pick you guys brains about it.

 

[Folly's place]

I'm not an expert, but have had aquariums for a long time, and have personal experience with failed tank heaters, in homes at room temperature. In the packaging it will state that the heater is meant to be used at room temperature, nothing colder.
Be safe, keep your birds and coop safe, and use something meant for the use intended instead!
Mary

 

[RubenRO]

What is the best tool to keep your water from freezing? Preferably not just a few liters.

 

[centrarchid]

I use lots of aquariums (my user name centrarchid is a clue to that) as well and have attempted to do so outside many times. The typical aquarium heater is not reliable enough and is designed to operate at temperature well above what is needed to keep water from freezing. The problem I have had with the water heaters used for stock tanks is they are too big for my chicken applications.

 

[Folly's place]

Here we use the heated bases for galvanized waterers. I also have a heated base for the five gallon plastic waterer, but haven't set it up yet.
There are 'bucket heater' that would work in some types of waterers too. Look at the farm store!
Mary