Fluval E series heater: Can I lie it down?

[Morainy]

Hi, All

Today I set up a 6 gallon Eheim Aquastyle tank. It's going to be home for a betta, so I decided against the filter. Instead, I'm going to run it like a betta bowl, doing water changes.

I have a 50 watt Fluval E series heater for it. I would like to lie the heater down so that it runs the width of the aquarium at the back of the tank. The reason that I'd like to lie it down is that heat rises, and I think this might be a more effective way to heat the tank. Right now, it's standing upright near the corner and because there's little water circulation (no filter), it keeps giving the Low Flow warning. Plus, the water in that corner is noticeably warmer than in the rest of the tank. (I never had that problem with the other heater that I used in my unfiltered 6 gallon Eclipse.)

The picture in the instruction has an "X" over the illustration that shows the heater lying down. And yet, when I bought it (a couple of months ago) I remember a staff person recommending it because it could lie down.

Do you have any experience with this? Either way, the top is going to be below the water line because otherwise the red switch lifts the lid.

Here's the heater: FLUVAL - Where design meets innovation

[ninez]

no filter = no flow
the indicator will just show LF (low flow) most of the time.
I sure wish I can turn off the LF warning.

I had it sideways before with no problem tho.
Just harder to read the LCD display.

[gklaw]

If there is LF, that mean the heater is heating the water just within the black cage not the entire tank.

I would just take off the lower guard.

[Morainy]

Thank you, gklaw and ninez. Maybe I should switch this heater for the less expensive one that's in my Ebi.

[Morainy]

I contacted the Fluval rep, and she said that I should lean the heater over, so that it is in the 1 and 7 o'clock position. This is interesting, because the instructions clearly indicate that the heater must be vertical. Anyway, I'm trying that now.

[Morainy]

Well, it turns out that it does work very well in the tilted position, as the rep said. The instructions show that the heater should be upright with its top out of the water, and has an x over drawings showing the heater submerged or lying down, but actually it works better submerged and on a slant.

[crazy72]

Maureen, what do you mean by "works better"?

I have just installed mine, that came with my new tank, and I'm not impressed with the speed at which it has been able to heat up the tank from about 22 degrees initially to about 25 degrees as I wanted it. I'm hoping that you meant that it heats up your water quicker if it's tilted...