Most reliable and sensitive heater 250 watt

[frameguy]

Hello, I have had good luck in past with Visi-therm heaters for 50 - 180 gallon reef tanks. The new one I bought seems to fluctuate temp. I am taking room temp changes into consideration. What is your feedback for most reliable and high quality heaters? I am currently running a 55 gal reef, no sump. Thanks. Also in past I have kept my reef tanks between 77 and 79 degrees, however i read that keeping tank at 81 or 82 year round is desirable because of summer month temps, and keeping tank at 78-79 in winter months can't be upheld in summer months. Any thoughts? I am new to site and have been impressed with even keeled and non-preachy, "experts" LOL great site and friendly feedback! Cheers from Port Orchard , Wa.

 

[pitkat]

I am running titanium heaters. 2 x 500W controlled by an Apex Neptune controller. I have my tank running at 78 F and the heat is held to within .1 of a degree. I believe the issue with running your tank at 81-81 F is higher electricity bills and also I have heard that running that hot can cause unwanted pathogens to grow easier. I'm sure some of the more knowledgeable members can verify that. Got to be honest, I do not trust glass heaters with their own thermostats. If you run more than one it is very hard to get them reading the same temp and switching off and on together. Not sure of their accuracy.

 

[N1Husker]

I run a Via Aqua 300 Watt heater that has the desired temp and actual temp displayed on the front. I am also running it through my Digital Aquatics controller and if the temp gets up to 77.5 the fan kicks on. I was watching a video from Vivid Aquariums that they do not recommend that you run your temp any higher than 78 degrees because it can cause algae to grow at anything over 78 degrees. I also can see my temp displayed on the front of my controller being monitored by its temp probe. The temp reading on the controller and on the heater are usually the same, maybe 1 degree difference at times.

 

[Holygral]

ALL heaters will fail, would never consider a tank without a temp controller to shut them off when they get stuck, have had titanium also fail, after all it is just a metal covering over a standard heater, no magic in in

 

[TJL]

Like Holygral ^above^ stated all heaters can and will eventually fail, Redundency is the key to success so having a controller of some type is money well spent. Also having two smaller heaters is safer ie 150w x 2 instead of a 250-300w single. I have used only Ebo Jagger heaters in my systems for over thirty years with only one to fail by having contact weld shut. Of course I've KILLED a few over the years myself by forgettting to unplug them during water changes. If you don not have or plan to purchase a Neptune or DA type controller there is also Ranco brand heater controllers for much less.

Cheers, Todd

 

[Airphotog]

Completely agree I have some older digital heater controllers and would never run heaters without some sort of digital controller. I have read way to many posts about heaters getting stuck and nuking the tank.

 

[Holygral]

I have been using a Ranco 2 stage for 5 years ($120), I use 3 small heaters for my 125g. heaters in one end, a clip on fan on the other, set it to 1 degree difference and forget about it. I check the heaters each fall to make sure they are all working, (if the pilot is on doesn't mean it's working) If a heater gets stuck on, the unit shouts power off to it. Running a reef without a temp controller is like playing with fire, you will get burnt at some point. TRUST me , the last time I lost a fish was 5 years ago from a bad heater