Fish Tank Heaters

[Tim1975]

Hi! Very new to all of this and currently brewing a Coopers Aus Lager kit in one of the Cooper beginners kits, I will move on to all grain etc etc in the future but we all need to start somewhere and I need to prove to myself I can do it first :lol:

I saw on the old www that some people use fish tank heaters to regulate temperature, I have one winging it's way to me now but I just saw a post where someone has put their FV in a box, filled that with water and heated that water. I was going to sanitise the fish tank heater and plonk it in the FV, is that not a good thing to do?

 

[DethApostle]

You can do that and have done historically however you do run the risk of infection as they are a pain in the ar$e to clean and sanitise. It's much simpler to sit the FV in a bit water bath and heat that water instead.
(or failing that get a cheap fridge on eBay and make a fermenting fridge out of it!)

DA

 

[IainM]

I agree. I though about the two options and settled for the fv-in-a-bucket option. Firstly for avoiding infections, secondly because fish tank heaters aren't usually food grade, and the brewing equivalents that are food grade are more expensive, and thirdly because the tip can get very hot and I wasn't sure what sort of effect that would have on the beer.

 

[Tim1975]

Thank you both, I will be off to the local hardware store to find another plastic container later!

 

[IainM]

Thank you both, I will be off to the local hardware store to find another plastic container later!

£4 flexi-bucket from B&Q did the job for me :thumb:

 

[jceg316]

I used to do this as well and opted in for putting the FV in a bucket of water and heating the water. When I Was cooling my beer I took the water runoff from my heat exchange and filled the bucket with it. This got the water to temperature.

 

[Spapro]

Thank you both, I will be off to the local hardware store to find another plastic container later!

Thats definitely the way to go Tim IMHO, plonking it straight into the fermenting brew really does risk an infection and gives you something else that has to be cleaned and sanitised proberly - not the easiest thing to clean properly either.

 

[BeardySi]

I used to do this as well and opted in for putting the FV in a bucket of water and heating the water. When I Was cooling my beer I took the water runoff from my heat exchange and filled the bucket with it. This got the water to temperature.

I tend to use the leftover sanitiser (I make my own with vinegar and bleach so it's cheap and plentiful) - stops the water going manky over a couple of weeks and if needed in an emergency I can just run a blowoff tube straight into it....

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[IainM]

I tend to use the leftover sanitiser (I make my own with vinegar and bleach so it's cheap and plentiful) - stops the water going manky over a couple of weeks and if needed in an emergency I can just run a blowoff tube straight into it....

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Snap. A couple of tsp of VWP prevents the build up of muck on the heater, bucket and outside of the fv.

 

[Tim1975]

�£4 flexi-bucket from B&Q did the job for me :thumb:

Awesome, I was wondering what size to get but if that works for you it will work for me :thumb:

 

[Frogbrew]

Get yourself a garden trug, b+q or similar sell them @£3-£4, perfect fit and work very well. Water only has to be halfway up the side of FV to keep a constant temp.

 

[JFB]

What size wattage do you guys use? The sweet spot in my kitchen is dropping below 18c

 

[IainM]

What size wattage do you guys use? The sweet spot in my kitchen is dropping below 18c

I use the Hidom Aquarium Heater 75w HT-2075

 

[nigelnorris]

I'm curious to know if the immersion heaters sold by the homebrew sites for 30 - 50 quid are just these same £10 fishwarmers you get off Amazon or eBay with a rubber bung stuck on. Someone upthread suggested that the latter are not usually food grade, so are the ones advertised for homebrew any different?

 

[Linalmeemow]

Be very careful that you keep aquarium heaters fully submerged, and remember to switch them off at the wall before you remove the bucket from the water to test gravity and ensure that they stay switched off if you put your hands in the water for any reason. I almost electrocuted myself when I tested the gravity without considering that the water level would drop, the unit overheated then shattered when I put the bucket back in and the cool water hit the glass exposing the element to the water and making it live!

 

[Leon103]

I could never get the temperature to be static when plonking it in a tub of water.

 

[terrym]

If you buy a trug thingy (like the one from Wilko @ ��£4 or so) just make sure that your FV will fit inside it with a reasonable space between the two for water to circulate, since some FVs are larger diameter than others. My Youngs FV fits inside my Wilko trug just as it should.
My 50w aquarium heater copes well with an unheated garage which is part built into my house.
And don't rely on the temperature setting on the heater thermostat. You will need to set up your heater stat before you use it for a brew (try 23 litres of water in the FV with water in the bath; set up for control at a target of 19-20*C using a thermometer to check the bath temp over a few hours).
I have also insulated the outside surface of the trug with some bubble wrap and chuck an old towel or two over everything when in use to keep things cosy.

 

[mattellis70]

You said you are brewing a lager. That traditionally ferments at 11-12 C. What is your ambient temperature? I'm in the USA and I'm still 18C in my basement. If anything I need a chiller mist of the year.


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[Tim1975]

You said you are brewing a lager. That traditionally ferments at 11-12 C. What is your ambient temperature? I'm in the USA and I'm still 18C in my basement. If anything I need a chiller mist of the year.


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This is the UK my friend, it can be either 10F through to 95F depending on just about anything that may care to affect our darn weather :lol: This Lager is fermented at 70 - 80 F (that's what the advice is anyway) so I am following that advice to see what happens.