I need a new heater. Suggestions?

[Pete polyp]

I have recently noticed a problem with my system. During the day while the light is on the display will heat up and the sump will be cooler making the heater kick on. And at night the sump is warmer than the display causing the temp in the display to drop. So im going to have to buy a heater with a temp probe and controller. As of now I'm using a Jager and not terribly impressed with it. What kind of heater controller would you recommend and why? I'm thinking of getting a finnex at the moment, mainly because the price. Are they reliable?

 

[Downbeach]

Is your sump in the basement? What are you using for a return pump? I don't have any experience with the Finnex product, since I had a Pinpont dual stage controller I've been using for many years, and placed a fan in the cooler plug when I no longer needed a chiller. I think the Jager is one of the better/best heaters that are available, but regardless of which one you select, they all should be controlled by a decent device with a good probe, and not rely on their internal control.

 

[Bubba12]

I have a 300w finnex on my 90. It maintains my tank at 78. No complaints

 

[redfishbluefish]

What I can't understand is why there is a temperature difference between your DT and sump.....unless your sump is located in an area with drastically different ambient temperatures than your DT. Do you have decent flow between DT and sump?

Anyway, regardless of the brand of heater (I like Jager's), put it on a controller...all heaters will fail. The controller protects your tank from and "always ON" failure. If you don't have a total tank controller to do this, look into something like a Ranco. I also run two heaters so that one goes, the tank still tries to maintain temperature.

 

[nervousmonkey]

Thanks for the advice on the Ranco redfishbluefish! Never heard of one before; learn something new everyday!!

Pete, I've had on and off success with Finnex. Running one now but a couple heaters back a Finnex wouldn't keep my temp stable. I still like Jägers too.

 

[Pete polyp]

I had an apex a while back and from what I noticed is the Jager would swing 1.5° with this tank. I have another tank with aqueon pro and it would only swing 0.5°. The sump is in the floor next to the tank and I'm giving the sump all the flow the junk overflow box my tank had can handle.

I think I may have found an easier fix already. I have been running a fan 24/7 over the display and turned it off last night. The display heated back up a little bit and has remained there.

 

[Pete polyp]

Is your sump in the basement? What are you using for a return pump? I don't have any experience with the Finnex product, since I had a Pinpont dual stage controller I've been using for many years, and placed a fan in the cooler plug when I no longer needed a chiller. I think the Jager is one of the better/best heaters that are available, but regardless of which one you select, they all should be controlled by a decent device with a good probe, and not rely on their internal control.

I will look into the pinpoint. I was looking around at the heater controllers and they seem to be priced just as much or more than a heater with controller and a temp probe. Everyone knows how money is these days and if I can save a few bucks I'm all for it.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Well that's an Apex issue, not your heater's issue. I run two heaters through an old-school ReefKeeper II, where it is set to turn on at 78.0, and off at 78.3. My temperature stays between 78.0 and 78.3, unless it's the summer time and I forget to turn the air conditioner on.

 

[steve&mari]

I run 2 cheap eBay heaters 300w each it's overkill I know for our system but they're ran of separate outlets off our rkl plus. Keeps temps stable with .5 degree swing. Unless powers out for days n we help another with the generator. Lol.

 

[Pete polyp]

Well that's an Apex issue, not your heater's issue. I run two heaters through an old-school ReefKeeper II, where it is set to turn on at 78.0, and off at 78.3. My temperature stays between 78.0 and 78.3, unless it's the summer time and I forget to turn the air conditioner on.

I don't have the apex anymore. I couldn't figure out how to use it. With no Internet available here I just got rid of it.

 

[Pete polyp]

I just need a temp probe in the display so the temperature in there stays constant. I don't really want to put the heater in the display though. I was considering putting it inside the overflow box but I'm afraid if the return pump fails then I will have a heater out of the water.

 

[LostInTheDark]

I've been using the Finnex with 2 Jeager heaters. 1 in the sump and 1 in the display. I have the Finnex set to 78 and the heaters set to 79 just in case one or the other goes bad.

 

[Pete polyp]

I've been using the Finnex with 2 Jeager heaters. 1 in the sump and 1 in the display. I have the Finnex set to 78 and the heaters set to 79 just in case one or the other goes bad.

I did see the finnex controller also. But for $5 more it comes with a 300w heater

 

[kannon50]

Finnex 100%

 

[human]

I had an 800w Finnex on my 75g and it kept my temp stable at 78°. I know 800w is overkill, but my tank was in an unheated basement that stays roughly 56°. Before I got the Finnex, I was running multiple heaters. I can't speak of longevity though as I only ran that heater 8 months before my tank blew a seam.

 

[domination2580]

Finnex all the way, just bought a 800 watt for a 125 I will be setting up. It came with a digital controller as well but will be hooked up to reef keeper on the tank, right now I have it hooked to the controller in my rock curing container.

 

[reefwiser]

Ranco controller is worth the investment to keep a heater from sticking on. Would never run a tank heater without in in the loop a safety thing for me. lost a breeding pair of clowns years ago due to a heater so never again.