Heating A 55 Gallon Aquarium?

Hi! Need some advice on heating my 55 gallon aquarium. Just two questions.
1) What temperature?
I will have orange-finned loach, skirt tetras, panda cories, neon dwarf rainbowfish, and rainbow cichlid.
2) What heater and wattage?
I've read a ton of scare stories on the 300w Hydor Theo heater. I have the 25w heater and it works fine, but then again the scare stories are always about the 300w one. Which brand and specific heater and wattage would you suggest?

 

Fluval E series and Cobalt neo therm, 300w

 

HI Bailey! Have you run that stocking list by the stocking experts yet? I'm not entirely sure those species are temperature compatible (loaches vs cories?) Ignore that if you've done your research, though. Depending on how high you want to raise your temperature above the ambient temperature of your house, you have options on how powerful a heater you need. I try to use as little a heater as I can safely get away with, because I have had a heater malfunction by sticking in the "on" position, raising the tank to dangerous levels. I heat my 60 gallon 6-7 degrees with a 150w heater. It's on maybe 20% of the time, if that. 200w will suffice for heating a 55 gallon up to 15 degrees F. 300w may be overkill, IMO, but still would work. It will give you the freedom to really heat that tank for ich, though. Just riskier in case of malfunction. Good luck!

 

I got my stocking from people here! c: I was doing some research and I think about 77 degrees is a temperature in all my fish's ranges. I'll check my tank's normal temperature first. Thanks for the advice!

 

I got my stocking from people here! c: I was doing some research and I think about 77 degrees is a temperature in all my fish's ranges. I'll check my tank's normal temperature first. Thanks for the advice!

77 sounds ok for that mixture of fish. I tried to do a quick search of seriously fish and fishbase.se, the most reliable sites I've found for temperature data, but I'm having trouble finding the right species. But I'm no expert on that or anything. Something to think about and research, anyway.

If your house is around 72-73 and stats that way, you could easily heat that with a 150w. 200-250w would give you more flexibility for the future. 300w and you would be able to heat it very hot indeed, and could use the heater later on the bigger tank that's very likely in your future. Cobalt and Eheim seem to be very good brands. Fluval, Hydor, and Aqueon Pro have pretty good reputations, too. You get what you pay for with aquarium heaters IMO. Have fun!

 

Thank you! I used seriously fish for my temperature data.
I think I will go with something between 150w and 250w. My tank is at 76 degrees Fahrenheit currently and I'm pretty sure that's relatively consistent.