Heater Reccomendation

Until you are able to get a controller, I have a couple of suggestions based on the reading I've done about heaters.

While I don't really trust heaters without controllers, I do like the Ehiem Jager line. They have been reliable nd high quality in my experience with them.

Edited by Ann_A - September 05 2013 at 7:01pm

+1

Elite-Aquatics wrote: Ann_A wrote: While I don't really trust heaters without controllers, I do like the Ehiem Jager line. They have been reliable nd high quality in my experience with them. I also really like Jager heaters, Jager is the only heater I will use and recommend.

Two slightly undersized heater would be ideal in my mind... For the same reasoning as has been mentioned. If one get stuck on, it won't overheat the tank.. If one fails, it won't get too cold. As Mark said, its always good to check! I've had two instances where one stayed one too long and one died. Had I not checked it often, I could have lost a lot of corals.

I have to add, that my experience has been almost the opposite of the general opinion.

My experience is that the heaters that fail stuck 'on' are almost always the 'undersized' heaters... and they fail because the contact points literally melt together from the darn thing being 'on' so long!

People trying to heat a 75g tank to 76 - 78 degrees, w/ a 50 or 100w heater, in a cold room that stays at 65 degrees all winter long (for example)...

I use an oversized heater, with the idea being it can add heat relatively quickly - and so does not need to run for long periods of time...

I have a 400 watt in the sump of my 90g; it originally came from my 225g setup, where I ran 2 of them (so 800 watts)...

I do also recommend a controller, so that the controller will actually keep the heater from running too long.

I use an oversized Mick Jagger (eheim jager) and unplug it in summer as pumps keep tank plenty warm even though its in basement. How cool is your tank getting and do you know the approximate swing in temp over a 24 hour period? I have LEDs and that means no heat there but my pumps and powerheads run 247 so they keep tank warm even at night. I also keep my heater in sump and have thermometer  in both the display and sump when I do use the heater so that when I do check say my skimmer, ATO, etc., I can take a peek at the temp in the sump to give me some assurance the heater isnt out of wack....not best but since I do not have a controller thats what I do...fish dropping dead would also be a good check ;)

By "controllers" we mean tank controllers such as the Apex or something similar. I've never used one on my tanks, but if I could afford to I would not hesitate to get a full Apex.

They have optional electronic probes to constantly monitor Ph, Temperature, ORP, Salinity, and I believe Dissolved Oxygen (VERY expensive probe). The standard Apex comes with a temperature probe and a ph probe. It also includes a display unit, base unit (the "brain" of the system), and EB8 (basically the powerstrip to plug equipment into). You can buy all sorts of add-on modules to add probes and more control modules to plug more things into the system. You can buy modules that will interface with wireless equipment like LED lights and Vortech pumps. There are tons of ways to use controllers like the Apex.

Thanks for the information! That is a good idea. I'd be interested in learning on how to build one. It sounds like it is something you built, nut just purchased, right?

Ok, so here is what I think I will do. and I just watned to run it past everyone to get thoughts.  It sounds like these Jager Eheim heaters are the way to go as far as a good brand. The safest option sounds like getting a controller. Which I would love to do, but I probably don't have the budget at the moment and my tank is getting down to 75 degrees some nights. So I figure I should probably get a a heater before it gets much cooler.