A good brand of heater??

[Shane and John]

So i woke up this morning to find my tank down to 74.8 degrees...Looks like my heater died..What is a good brand of heater to replace it with..I need a 300 watt and today..I am looking for a brand and a pet store?...(petsmart,petco,any other suggestions)..Thanks guys!! Shane

 

[BobinCovington]

My opinion is that I just don't trust aquarium heaters that much...

I have had several different heaters, titanium, glass, digital LED and they have all failed at some point. The Aqua medic LED display model I had used to change to different settings on it's own when there was a power surge, which is scary. So now I will use it in my salt water mixing tank.

I now have one of the Marineland stealth models and it seems to be working well. Maybe others will chime in on that model. I am wiring mine through a heater controller mounted on my sump panel to maintain some extra reliability. The digital panel mount heater controller shows set value and actual temp in nice easy to read numbers. It also has a battery back up to keep the temp set correctly if the power goes out. I am also considering running a backup heater in my sump set just a degree or two below the other one (just to eliminate waking up to a cold tank).
Having the panel is probably more complicated than is practical for many, but maybe having a backup heater is something you can do to keep this from happening again. When ever I have a failure of any reef tank equipment, I look for ways to keep that from happening again (continuous quality improvement).
I am curious to see what heaters others are having good luck with. Try Barrier or Blue Sierra, they should have something for you today.

 

[Scooterman]

I use a Ranco controller & that way I can use any heater to serve the purpose.

 

[nwinverts]

I have been replacing the heaters in my 11 FW tanks with the Marineland stealth heaters...They seem to keep my tanks at a rock solid temp... Although if it were me I'd run two 200 watt instead of one 300. Two 200 will share the load if one sticks you won't fry fish, if one fails they won't freeze... Thats just me though. You will also pay twice as much at pet store as you can buy on line, although I realize you need them today not next week. Pet Smart carries them.

 

[BobinCovington]

just my $0.02 worth but if you value the advice and convenience of the local fish store and how nice it is to have them nearby for situations just like this...it might be good if you buy your heater from them. Fish store owners don't get paid very well for all the advice they give, (compared to an accountant, tax professional or lawyer), so support our local advice givers.

By the time you wait two days and pay shipping there is not that much of a difference

I do buy some things online, but I sure try to buy locally too.

this ad approved by me and not funded in any way by the local fish store owners guild

 

[Myteemouse]

Sumner pet store has 300w heaters and all the way down!!!

 

[gotfish]

The marineland stealth ones work great. I have 2 250w ones on my 125g and a 250w on my 75g. They won't break and they auto shutoff when they are out of the water. There is also the visi-therm deluxe also made by marineland. Go on petsmarts website and print out the online ad which is usually cheaper then the in store price and they will match it.

 

[nwinverts]

just my $0.02 worth but if you value the advice and convenience of the local fish store and how nice it is to have them nearby for situations just like this...it might be good if you buy your heater from them. Fish store owners don't get paid very well for all the advice they give, (compared to an accountant, tax professional or lawyer), so support our local advice givers.

By the time you wait two days and pay shipping there is not that much of a difference

I do buy some things online, but I sure try to buy locally too.

this ad approved by me and not funded in any way by the local fish store owners guild

I couldn't agree more about supporting your independent pet shop Bob...

Although, except for convenience I don't feel any particular allegiance to the Petco's and Petsmart's of the world.

-Mark

 

[Shane and John]

Thanks everyone for the input..I am just going to head to sumner and get one..I do order some things online,But i just dont want to wait on the heater!!Btw..Mark,the owner of TFW in sumner is a great guy,and a good friend of mine!!

 

[nwinverts]

Cool!! Thats good to know. What's the name of the shop? I'm in Sumner on occasion, I'd like to stop and check out his shop.


-Mark

 

[Shane and John]

The store is called Tropical Fish World..Unfortunatly they didnt have what i wanted for a heater,so i will have to go out in a bit to a cpl of other local stores!

 

[jezzeaepi]

Order some Ebo jagers from online. Ive used them in all my tanks for the last 10 years an havent had a single problem. Some of them have been in opperation for 10 years straight.

 

[g0rFz]

i use an ac jr and in my opinion this is the best thing i own. i only have a 100 watt heater in 90 gallons in a COLD house (65-70) and it has never dropped below 78 or above 80 since ive used the ac jr.

sooner or later it'll probably die and ill go get another 8$ heater.

 

[krowleey]

i always look at where the heater is made, i will not buy china made heaters. but i will buy Italian made heaters.

 

[jezzeaepi]

I should also add that I use both an AC jr and a ranco controller to provide a tripple check on my heaters =)

 

[Holygral]

As others have stated the only good heater is one that is hooked up a temperature controller. If you have a heater set up on a controller and it gets stuck on, then the controller shuts the electric off to it. One stuck heater will cost you a whole lot more than a controller.

 

[atavus]

As others have stated the only good heater is one that is hooked up a temperature controller. If you have a heater set up on a controller and it gets stuck on, then the controller shuts the electric off to it. One stuck heater will cost you a whole lot more than a controller.

FWIW, I've recently gotten into hydroponics and there's a store called Eco Grow near shoreline, wa that sells 350W titanium heaters for ~$30. They've got a separate heater and controller (controller has a plug and an outlet), so I figure that's probably not as good as a RK type controller but ought to be better than the fully submersible heaters. I just got one for my tank, and I'm sure I'll scream here if anything goes wrong with it. I'm also almost positive I've seen this heater online for comparable prices with a different name sold as a tank heater, but I'm too lazy to check.

They also sell $2 carbon-steel disposable scalpels. And a little 1-2g f/w tank... with I think a "molly" but no idea about f/w.

Here's a link: http://www.ecogrow.com/index.cfm/product/145/mid/15/nid/58/home.html

 

[jezzeaepi]

That heater actually has a pretty poor track record =\ I could find you dozens and dozens of threads on RC, and probably a few here.

 

[atavus]

Actually, would you mind digging a couple up for me? I've had no luck finding anything on the brand name I bought it under (hydrofarm) and don't recall the brand for the similar one's I've seen.