Heater recommendations

fredjr · Oct 6, 2017

batfish5 said:
Cobalt Neo-Therm,have used the 200 watt heaters in all 5 of my reef tanks.Bought them 2-3 yrs. ago,the temp is perfect in the cooler months.Over the yrs. I tried all of them,majority are junk!! The decision is yours,good luck.

I have two of them and they are spot on. I let my apex control them.

J Rog · Oct 6, 2017

Thanks guys! I will one day get an apex. But for now I really can't if I want to get live stock in this tank after the cycle. lol I have a 3 month old and a 16 month old daughters. And I'm the only one bringing in money at this point as my wife is in school. So I can't swing an $800 apex at this point. I will check out the pin point controller though. I had there PH prob on my last tank and it worked great. Still need to get one of those for this tank..

JoshH · Oct 6, 2017

Had an ehiem jager on my FW set up, great heater but when you get into the larger sizes they can be rather long. Added bonus, they are definitely affordable. Currently I'm running with 2 100w Cobalts and love them, they are dead accurate temp wise and there slm design is perfect for my, not a whole lot of extra room, situation.

J Rog · Oct 7, 2017

Man, more and more of you guys keep tossing around that cobalt. I do have limited space in the sump but not sure if I want to risk it with those horror stories of them exploding.. this is tuff..

Gablami · Oct 7, 2017

I've got like 6 neotherms. A wide range of wattage, from 25W to 300W. Besides having an accurate temp display, attractive and solid build quality and slim form factor, I find that the temperature between units is very accurate. They are all set at 78 degrees, and I can pour mixed salt water from my 65g mixing station into a 10g transfer tank, and be assured that the temp in the 5g won't change (I don't break out my thermometer anymore). No dials to fiddle with, just set and forgot for all of them.

aabjones888 · Oct 7, 2017

Find a good used apex to control it is another option.

Ryan Browne · Oct 7, 2017

All aquarium heaters suck. You just need to choose one that sucks the least, and use more than one controller. I dont like any glass models, because they can break or crack and fry all your fish. I use a finnex heater connected to a finnex controller, and then connected to my Apex. Sounds like a lot, but it’s the best way to monitor the heater. The Apex is so much better at temp control than any heater on the market. The aquarium companies need to come up with an industrial heater that is more reliable and SAFE. We spend thousands on lights, pumps, fish and corals, but we’re still using the same crappy heaters that have been around since I was a kid. Good luck.

J Rog said:
Hi guys, looking for suggestions for a heater for my 70 gallon with 20 or 30 gallon sump. I don't have a controller or anything. Might get an apex in the future but not any time soon. So I need a reliable heater. Let me know your ideas. Thanks!

d2mini · Oct 7, 2017

I used a cobalt neotherm in my nano with no problems and I like finnex titanium heaters in my big tanks.
I get the ones without controllers and use my Profilux to control them.

Big G · Oct 7, 2017

Ryan Browne said:
All aquarium heaters suck. You just need to choose one that sucks the least, and use more than one controller. I dont like any glass models, because they can break or crack and fry all your fish. I use a finnex heater connected to a finnex controller, and then connected to my Apex. Sounds like a lot, but it’s the best way to monitor the heater. The Apex is so much better at temp control than any heater on the market. The aquarium companies need to come up with an industrial heater that is more reliable and SAFE. We spend thousands on lights, pumps, fish and corals, but we’re still using the same crappy heaters that have been around since I was a kid. Good luck.

+1 on the Finnex Titanium heater with the a Finnex controller. Keeps a steady temperature. The reading is off by 2 degrees, but that's ok. Compensate.

Fudsey · Oct 7, 2017

I am using a Finnex controller with a regular old glass heater(it works just doesn't control worth a crap) and the controller is only off by 1-2 degrees. Best purchase yet for a thermometer.

I bought another glass one to replace one I dropped and it CLICKS when it is on now... useless, time to go Titanium.

FirstContact · Oct 8, 2017

Eheim Jaegers for years here. Controller is the second point of controller.

JasPR · Oct 8, 2017

The worrisome trend in more and more complicated technology in an inexpensive China made product we all depend on is getting scary. I've NEVER had a heater that lasted ten years- ever. And I've never had an Auto top off unit of any brand that lasted more than two years with some malfunctioning. This is obviously due to the fact that you can't expect 100% accuracy and reliability in a unit that costs under $175! In the case of all these things- redundancy and fail safes need to be designed into our systems. At best, we can go with the word of mouth stories, know the likelihood of common failure issues, have back up equipment in house ( these things tend to fail on Sundays!) and expect Murphy's law to visit when least convenient ( like during vacations)