Heater Recommendations

PapaShrimp · Mar 3, 2020

So, it’s been 5 months now since I’ve had my Red Sea 350 up and running and due to the initial set up costs I skimped by with the old Fluval heater I had in my smaller previous tank. This has never been ideal and used to run tank at approximately 23-24c but I’ve noticed recently that it occasionally drops down to 22c so I need to act now.

looking for recommendations for a reliable (in heater terms) heater for a 90g tank and some sort of controller to keep consistent temp. I live in the UK so no need to worry about having to plug a Cooler into the controller.

Planning on maybe ordering something tonight so any suggestions in next few hours would be much appreciated.

Cheers
PS

Potatohead · Mar 3, 2020

I use Eheims with Inkbirds on three different tanks without a problem

Houstoner · Mar 3, 2020

BRS heater hands down, trick is waiting until they are back in stock. No other heater manufacturer offers a 3 year warranty.

PapaShrimp · Mar 3, 2020

Houstoner said:
BRS heater hands down, trick is waiting until they are back in stock. No other heater manufacturer offers a 3 year warranty.

I’ve seen a few decent reviews of the BRS heater but unfortunately it’s a nightmare to get things shipped to the UK from BRS.

PapaShrimp · Mar 3, 2020

Potatohead said:
I use Eheims with Inkbirds on three different tanks without a problem

This combo was a strong contender. If going this route would recommend two 150watts for my size tank or the one 300watts? I thought the two 150’s may be more reliable? Plus if hear these are long heaters so I am assuming the 150’s are shorter for the sump.

Miller535 · Mar 3, 2020

Houstoner said:
BRS heater hands down, trick is waiting until they are back in stock. No other heater manufacturer offers a 3 year warranty.

BRS controller used for theirs, is just a re-branded ink bird.

Potatohead · Mar 3, 2020

PapaShrimp said:
This combo was a strong contender. If going this route would recommend two 150watts for my size tank or the one 300watts? I thought the two 150’s may be more reliable? Plus if hear these are long heaters so I am assuming the 150’s are shorter for the sump.

I would do two 150's. The 300's are looooooooooonnnnnnggggggggggggg

lol

Miller535 · Mar 3, 2020

Potatohead said:
I use Eheims with Inkbirds on three different tanks without a problem

Being that you live in the UK, I would definitely go with this.

Miller535 · Mar 3, 2020

PapaShrimp said:
This combo was a strong contender. If going this route would recommend two 150watts for my size tank or the one 300watts? I thought the two 150’s may be more reliable? Plus if hear these are long heaters so I am assuming the 150’s are shorter for the sump.

I would do two 150's just for redunantcy. If one quits you still have another. Your tank isn't going to be totally cold.

Potatohead · Mar 3, 2020

Make sure you calibrate the Eheims though. Just put them in a bucket of water and let them go for 24 hours. Then you can set the red pointer to the temp the water is actually at. Then turn the blue dial to the temp you want. Do the two independently.

Miller535 · Mar 3, 2020

Potatohead said:
Make sure you calibrate the Eheims though. Just put them in a bucket of water and let them go for 24 hours. Then you can set the red pointer to the temp the water is actually at. Then turn the blue dial to the temp you want. Do the two independently.

Definitely. Out of the box they are off by several degrees. Learned that lesson when I bought my first pair. Fortunately I was only cycling my tank and there was no livestock in there yet.

MichaelReefer · Mar 3, 2020

Been running this Titanium Finnex, haven't had a problem.

SteveEreef · Mar 3, 2020

Houstoner said:
BRS heater hands down, trick is waiting until they are back in stock. No other heater manufacturer offers a 3 year warranty.

Both Ehiem and cobalt Noe-therm offer 3,year warrants also. Cobalt will warrant them just a hassle to deal with. My Ehiem hasn’t failed yet so I have not dealt with their customer service

Houstoner · Mar 3, 2020

SteveEreef said:
Both Ehiem and cobalt Noe-therm offer 3,year warrants also. Cobalt will warrant them just a hassle to deal with. My Ehiem hasn’t failed yet so I have not dealt with their customer service

Oh snap you are right, I have a neotherm in my 10gal but I always thought it was only a year. The whole 200w exploding fiasco has just put me off of any the higher watt neotherm, Eheim is great I have one for backup just in case.

YankeeTankee · Mar 3, 2020

I believe the BRS heater is simply a rebranded Schego heater.

Schego heaters are sold on many of the EU sites

PapaShrimp · Mar 3, 2020

Thanks for the recommendations guys. Inkbird controller seems to be the way to go and I will have a look into the three heaters recommended. Appreciated. Fairly new into this hobby and love R2R when you just aren’t sure about something.

YankeeTankee · Mar 3, 2020

As for the controller, ranco made a great one but if I recall you needed to wrap the probe in plastic, anyway aqualogic rebranded it with a probe thats ok in saltwater. I like that a lot more than the inkbird but it is also more $$$$

AbjectMaelstroM · Mar 3, 2020

BRS titanium heating elements have been great for me over the last few months (300watt x2) on a 120g and a 40B sump. Can't speak for their controller as I'm using ReefPi to control them.