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Quality water heater

iamzrad

Members
After what must be about 7yrs, my Eheim Jager water heater for the 125gal tank decided it wanted to cook my tank as I was doing a water change! Phew, at least I caught it!

A slight "doh!" moment, I forgot to turn it off at the start of summer as my basement keeps a constant temp of 76F or so.

Any recommendations for a 250/300watt submersible heater? I'd be inclined to stick with the latest Jager but I've noticed that they're not insulated. The glass container is exposed (as my old one is).
 

Frank Cowherd

Global Moderators
Staff member
You can get metal heaters that will not break but if their thermostat goes bad and stays on, the heat will just build and can overheat at a rate dependent on the wattage of the heater. You can get heaters with thermostats that are external to the heater and the tank and these are probably less likely to go bad. I say that because the thermostats usually go bad when the heater leaks and water gets to the thermostat.

What I do is use two small heaters even in a large aquarium. If the thermostat goes bad on a 50 watt heater in a large tank, it can stay on for days and only heat the water 5 or 10 degrees above what you might want and in that time you should be able to catch that the heater is bad. Unless you happen to be on vacation. In say a 200 gallon tank, I might use two one hundred watt heaters.
I had a friend who had a thousand gallon tank. He heated it with one of those electric frying pan. It was on all the time. The electrical connection in the handle was above the surface of the water. He did use the dial on the handle to try to get the right temp but as long as it was in the 70s he was fine. Hey, I am not recommending this. There are some concerns with using a frying pan. Just shows that if you size the heater to prevent overheating, the heater can stay on all the time and not overheat the tank. You still need to at least look at the tank on a daily basis. Just feeding or touching the water is really all you need to do to monitor that things are going fine. Watching the fish will tell you almost instantly if something is not right.
 

mchambers

Former CCA member
I wish you had a picture of the electric frying pan used as a heater! That's hilarious.

Tony, don't try this!
 

dogofwar

CCA Members
If it stays around 76 down there, you most likely don't need a heater (I only use a couple in my fishroom).

Matt
 

Hawkman2000

Members
Recently got a cobalt neotherm. I like it. I panicked at first when I read about the issue with them, but I found out (here I think) that they solved the issue and as long as they are made after early 2015 they good to go.
 

Leffler817

CCA Members
I have had a lot of luck or success with both the Fluval M and Aqueon glass heaters. I got the Fluvals first and needed more but they were out so I tried the Aqueons based on a recommendation. I think the Fluvals are a buck or two cheaper than the Aqueon. Neither are what I'd consider to be a 'cheap' heater though.
 

maddog10

Members
In my old fishroom, I heated the room with a space heater and did not heat the tanks at all. In the new tank I have multiple undersized Finnex titanium heaters connected to an aquarium controller. Definitely not cheap, but if the heaters fail in the on position, and the water temp rises above a set point, the controller will kill the power to the heaters and send me an email.

For the record, ALL heaters will fail eventually. Some will fail on and some will fail off, but they will all fail.
 

londonloco

Members
I firmly believe all heaters suck, all are a disaster waiting to happen, but are a evil necessity in my tanks.

For years I used Fluval heaters, reasonably priced, never failed. Until....below happened in my reef's sump. Thankfully I was standing directly in front of tank, heard the pop, saw the flame shoot up, I was able to pull the power supply out before any real damage occurred. I'm done with glass heaters, that very day I bought Cobalt Neotherm heaters for all 7 tanks. Been a year, so far, so good......


 

carl_d_c

Members
My most recent heater purchase was a Finnex, I got one of the glass ones because it has an external temperature probe, connected by a wire, their titanium ones have an internal thermostat like most others, I don't have one of the controllers, but may look into that!
 

iamzrad

Members
If it stays around 76 down there, you most likely don't need a heater (I only use a couple in my fishroom).

Matt

Right, usually in the summers I take the heaters out. Surprisingly, some lake tang fish are very hearty. I once left the heaters out till early October! >_<

I like the cobalt heaters.
Cobalt Neotherm

I've seen Cobalt come up a lot and hearing nothing but good things from their products.

My most recent heater purchase was a Finnex, I got one of the glass ones because it has an external temperature probe, connected by a wire, their titanium ones have an internal thermostat like most others, I don't have one of the controllers, but may look into that!

Shopping around, I've run into Finnex Titanium heaters and I might go with a 300watt version with external thermometer and a temp controller with NFC probe.

In my old fishroom, I heated the room with a space heater and did not heat the tanks at all. In the new tank I have multiple undersized Finnex titanium heaters connected to an aquarium controller. Definitely not cheap, but if the heaters fail in the on position, and the water temp rises above a set point, the controller will kill the power to the heaters and send me an email.

For the record, ALL heaters will fail eventually. Some will fail on and some will fail off, but they will all fail.

I wouldn't be able to had a space heater as this is a family/entertainment room. I am, however, liking the sound a controller where I get notified. How reliable is something like this, https://www.amazon.com/Temperature-...keywords=aquarium+temperature+controller+wifi
 
The most reliable heater is my house HVAC system. I set my home thermostat between 72 to 77 in winter and summer, and between 65 to 82 .when I am away for vacation. So I only select small heater to raise the tank temp by a few degree above ambient. In selecting heater, more is not better but can be dangerous. You should never oversize your heater to avoid the danger of cooking.
 

mchambers

Former CCA member
Personally, I think you should give the electric frying pan a try. I'm sure you can find one cheap on Craigslist!
 

JLW

CCA Members
The Neptune Apex does A LOT more than just monitor the temperature, though. If you're looking for a way to automate the tank, reliably, that's the way to go! :)
 
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