Water's Frozen!

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that would make sense (I've never had indoor fish so I have zero experience in heating anything!)
so what kind of heaters are used in this type of situation then? I want to keep using the watering system I'm currently using because the chickens and the kittens use it so well.
 
lutherpug said:
I'll start by saying I have no experience with a fish tank heater in this setting but I do have extensive experience with them being used for their intended purpose.

My concern would be that they are designed to be used indoors-ie, where they don't have to heat a fish tank more than 10-20 degrees from the ambient room temperature. For example, if you keep your fish tank at 78 degrees and your living room at 60, you're asking the tank heater to heat the water by 18 degrees.

On the fish tank heaters I'm running in my house most of them have a thermostat with normal temp values for an aquarium-I can tell it to keep the tank at 77 degrees and it will kick on when the temp dips down to 76, for example. Not sure how that would work outdoors.

I'm sure someone who is using a fish tank heater successfully will weigh in here but at face value I would have some concerns-especially with 50w.
Click to expand...
I believe @aart does. I remember him saying it works good too. He has a tutorial on his profile.
 
Welcome to all the new eggs that posted on this thread. You might like to put your general location in your profile. That will help your "neighbors" connect with you and also help folks to give geographically appropriate advice when you post!

LG from the very cold up north.
 
Until it got so cold that the water was freezing in just a couple hours, what I did was purchase two waterer's. As one froze up, I swapped it with the other that I kept in our garage.

If you're dealing with temps in the 20's, I recommend that.

Now we're dealing with single-digit and sub-zero weather, and the water will freeze faster than I'm able to make myself available to swap them out, so I've gone ahead and purchased a heated drinker base:

http://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/harris-farms-heated-drinker-base/0000000249929

Two things I don't like: it smells, probably burning off oils that were put on it to keep it from rusting while warehoused, and 2, it's really hot. Water is near warm enough to bath in.

This weekend I'll see about solving the latter by placing some thin plywood in between the waterer and it.

Also, right now my chickens aren't going outside the coop. Its their first winter, and we've had high winds and snow. I think they'll venture out again when the winds calm and the sun comes out, but for now they won't do it. So the waterer is inside they're coop, and I haven't decided how much I trust that base yet. The bottom is made out of a heavy cardboard: not water-proof. So if water is spilled and it gets wet, I think I risk an electrical short and possible fire. However the thing isn't made (again, cardboard bottom) to be outside.

I may fix a sheet of plywood to the base, sealing it with silicone caulk or something, to make it safer.

One thing I do like about it, that so far trumps other concerns: my chickens have water. While I work from home, I still don't have time to keep them with liquid water at these temps.
 
WesleyBeal said:
Now we're dealing with single-digit and sub-zero weather, and the water will freeze faster than I'm able to make myself available to swap them out, so I've gone ahead and purchased a heated drinker base:

http://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/harris-farms-heated-drinker-base/0000000249929

Two things I don't like: it smells, probably burning off oils that were put on it to keep it from rusting while warehoused, and 2, it's really hot. Water is near warm enough to bath in.

This weekend I'll see about solving the latter by placing some thin plywood in between the waterer and it.

Also, right now my chickens aren't going outside the coop. Its their first winter, and we've had high winds and snow. I think they'll venture out again when the winds calm and the sun comes out, but for now they won't do it. So the waterer is inside they're coop, and I haven't decided how much I trust that base yet. The bottom is made out of a heavy cardboard: not water-proof. So if water is spilled and it gets wet, I think I risk an electrical short and possible fire. However the thing isn't made (again, cardboard bottom) to be outside.

I may fix a sheet of plywood to the base, sealing it with silicone caulk or something, to make it safer.

One thing I do like about it, that so far trumps other concerns: my chickens have water. While I work from home, I still don't have time to keep them with liquid water at these temps.
Click to expand...

This is why I made my own water fount heater. I've seen those things in T/S. What you have, is a RedChineseEngineered piece of junk. It has a serious heating coil contained inside, covered with a cardboard bottom. It can short out easily if water gets spilled. With a cookietin heater, the heat source (lightbulb) is totally contained. So you don't have to worry about water sloshing on it, when you change out the founts. And, the cookietin is a fraction of the cost, and will be in operation looong after that thing has been thrown in the trash. You might get a week out it, or a few months, but it will crap out. The cookietin stops working, put a new bulb in it, and it's back in business.
 
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