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I have a 55 gallon tank and last night noticed my Malawi's were sluggish. Luckily this was a scheduled water change night. The heater (Marineland Visitherm 300watt) had failed. The light was on, but the water was 60 degrees (pretty sure it failed the day before). I shot down to Petco and picked up a 200 watt Aqueon heater. The manufacturer is sending me another Visitherm. Does anyone have a recommend of their own for a heater. I am also curious as to settings of the heater to compensate for a cold room. Any thought, tips or comments are welcomed. Thanks, Derek

if the room is usually 60
300 watt would be okay

if your room was 70 degrees F
I would have suggested a 200 watt

young Malawi cichlids I set at 78 degrees F
mature Malawi cichlids I set at 72 degrees F
(the natural temp in Lake Malawi is 77 - 79.)

Our favorite heater brands are:
Penn Plax cascade
Sera (includes a heater guard)
and Hagan Fluval M series (only thing with Fluval M is it won't go above 82 for discus)
...also Hagen E series (good but expensive)

we have had less than 1% failures with all 4 above types

never use a heater without a thermometer

we offer free thermometers with all heater sales

Thank you for the info. I think I'm going to get a second thermometer other than the stick on type I currently have. Seems to approximate.

My 300 watt Fluval E while set to 77 degrees is only heating my 55 gallon tank to 70.5. The room is typically between when not home and 62 when occupied. Dual heaters?

" My 300 watt Fluval E while set to 77 degrees is only heating my 55 gallon tank to 70.5. The room is typically between when not home and 62 when occupied. Dual heaters? "

your statement doesn t say what the room temp is ...
300 watts should be plenty (more than enough) in a 55 gallon
if you are going from say 67 room temp to 77 tank temp

if your room temp is only 57
then perhaps you need more than 300 watts for a 55 gallon to get to 77 degrees

I like to under-watt heater sizes
(in case of an accidental on failure, you have extra time to rescue the problem)
but yes
in extremely cold rooms
it can take alot of power to get it where you want

by the way
I could be wrong
but
you may be wasting more energy by keeping your house cold

for example
if when you are not home you set your thermostat at 45
then you get home and want the air to be 65
... that s alot of oil to burn to add 20 degrees

you d have to check with an expert
----------
also problem
may not be heat production
but heat retention
... for example in our office we found a 1/16th inch x 30 inch gap in a window
we sealed it with caulk and now the room is totally comfortable

House is of new construction and the tank is against an interior wall. I keep a "cool" house when I am at home (62). Keeping the heat at no more than 8-10 degrees below the target temp (56 degrees) for a period of 6+ hours saves money. A larger air temperature difference wouldn't be cost efficient to heat the house back up. I'm sorry, I somehow failed putting 56 degrees as the low temperature during the day and overnight (house is zoned with 2 separate hydra-air systems).So if I have a Fluval E 300 should I add another heater?I didn't have an issue in the warmer months as the house has central air. This is my first winter with a tank. Thanks for your advice.

I'm guessing
yes
you probably do just need a second heater