water bed heater

[davepratt]

im starting construction on an indoor pond/aquarium in my basement for a host of tropical fish i have that are really large for the aquariums they are currently in. i feel bad for them because they seem so cramped up in these little 90 and 75 gallon aquariums they are in. the project aquarium im building should hold around 360 galllons according to the pond calculator on the internet. my question is has anyone with an indoor pond ever tried using a water bed mattress heater to heat their indoor pond?? i figure if i put it under the liner before i fill it up with water it should work in the same way it does on a water bed Thoughts??

 

[JohnHuff]

Interesting idea. The only thing I can think of is that the shape of a mattress is not the same as your tank, so it will have to be bent at the sides. I also wonder how long they last.

 

[davepratt]

no my heater from my old waterbed is only about a 1 1/2 wide 2 1/2 long its not the size of the whole mattress lol it will fit rite in there with no folding whatsoever

 

[davepratt]

and also my guess is they would last way longer than them cheap ass glass heaters at the pet store heck my first waterbed mattress heater lasted like 12 yrs this was my second one but i no longer sleep on a waterbed mattress but i still have the heater i bought to replace the first one

 

[addy1]

Neat idea! My waterbed heaters never died, sort of lost them in a move somewhere to somewhere at some time.

 

[DrCase]

It should work fine !!

 

[addy1]

What a neat idea! Your fish will be happy fish in that new tank.

 

[dieselplower]

Hi. I have never had a water bed. I was just wondering, can you pick a specific temperature on those, or is it just a low, medium, high, type of thing.

 

[addy1]

mine where adjustable, i.e. pick a temp.

 

[Catfishnut]

Dave,

That sounds like a swell idea!

I would just be mindful of where you place the thermocouple so that it provides you with a good temperature reading. The T/C (short hand for thermocouple) normally goes under the mattress, but that may not work well for a fish tank depending upon the liner thickness or type and the depth of the water in the tank. I believe that it may be better if it were hung over the side and actually "IN" the water to provide a more accurate reading. Better even yet would be to insert the T/C in one of the water recirculating lines or at an outlet point so that the water is well mixed and you won't be reading the temp from a "hot" or a "cold" zone in the tank.

Beyond that, I think it is probably one of the better ideas for heating your tank. They typically last for years and there isn't much to them component-wise so they would be mostly hidden from view. Not to mention that the heat would be more even since it is spread out over a large area (unlike a single point heater).

Catfishnut

 

[Mmathis]

In all the years we had a water bed, never had any problems with the heater, so why not!. Just be sure to keep a good check on the temp.

 

[pecan]

Now I want an indoor pond with a water bed heater LOL!

Great idea!

 

[koiguy1969]

I'd put a layer of carpet pad between the floor and heater. as insulation. a cold concrete floor may dissapate quite a bit of heat. i'd keep a 55 gal barrel full of dechlorinated water as well for waterchanges. filling immediately after waterchange. this will allow the days between changes for the water to warm to room temp.
i speak as a person with a 800 gal basement wintering pond.

 

[davepratt]

Well i bought that insulation u use on houses to line the floor and the walls with so that should do the trick!!

 

[koiguy1969]

sounds like ya got it handled!