Do you ever get tired of your heater suction cups?

[dngspot]

I did and came up with a solution. I cut a 10 inch wide piece of 1/4 inch acrylic to about 2.5 feet. I then took out my propane torch and made some bends, they fit the rim of the tank and the lower area that holds the bottom of the heater. I cut another 10 inch wide piece to 2.5 inches; this piece holds the top of the heater out of the water. A little Weldon 14, drill and tap, a couple of nylon screws and the suction cups from one of the heaters and I was done. I did not take any time to make it look pretty, heck it is going in the sump.
I was tired of the suction cups coming loose and the heaters rattling around the inside of my sump. Or needing to make an adjustment and the knob was to wet from the heater being under water. It looked terrible and could not be good for the heaters, rattling around.
The project took about 2 hours, watching the Weldon dry seemed to take the longest.

[OneDummHikk]

I like that and may have to try making some for myself.

[jenglish]

that looks neat. When the heater fires up do you ever smell hot acrylic?. I've been meaning to install a heater inside my skimmer anr this looks like an effective apparatus

[dngspot]

Thanks for the complements.

It does not smell like buning plastic.

[icebear]

cool! i just take the lazy way... i get the totally submersible and sink it behind the rocks where the HOB filter runs. i throw the suction cups away right from the box. (or for a few seconds of entertainment, i stick them to hubby)

but i like how that one holds a few of them and keeps the temp dial available without you having to reel the heater in by its power cord.

[Loverotties]

I never have problems with mine.But I'd be afraid of the heater melt the plastic enough to go into the water and kill stuff.

[dngspot]

I can grab my heaters while they are under water, they are warm but not hot enough to melt acrylic. They are incased in abs and it is holding up.

[icebear]

yeah, i don't think melting is a worry- i'd assume the plastic casing on the heater itself is moderating the heat already

bare glass types might be different

[OneDummHikk]

Just think though. If a heater got hot enough to melt acrylic (~350 degrees), would you REALLY want it in a fish tank?

[usmc2b2004]

Wow that's a smart Idea you should patent that.

[dngspot]

It is open source now, cannot patent that.

[Jnicho]

Very cool...I like clean and organized...so long as the heaters are submerged they won't ever get hot enough to melt anything...leave them out of water for a while and you'll have a problem...I prefer the non-glass myself as in the course of 25 years I've had one or two that came out of the water and got really hot...as soon as the water hits them again they shatter!

[mikearoni]

that is very nice design. I hated the suction cups I just removed it and placed it in the sump.

[dngspot]

Yea, I did the same thing but the sump looked like someone through a bunch of sticks in it and they just rattled around.

[Sndwave80]

Nice idea!