Poll: Best Heater Brand

[Niterunner77]

I wish I could afford a apex to control several products and more important to me, warnings, but it will be a while for one.
If all of us loose fish/corals because of a heater, we'd wish we had a controller, even a low cost unit !

I honestly use a Eheim Jager heater and have been for about 5 years and still going strong. I was wanting to get a Apex one day but since I couldn’t afford one I made a DIY temp controller and have maybe $30 invested in it. Here is the link: http://spec-tanks.com/how-to-make-an-aquarium-temperature-controller/

If temp goes too high it shuts down the heater and turns on my fans to cool and vice versa. Might be an older article but it’s been working for over a year now!

 

[drblakjak55]

Had a jaeger work perf3ctly for six years until one night the tank went to 88 degrees. Still great for heating up water change water. Now no way not to have a digital temp built in and a push button controller.

 

[Mindi]

Schego Titanium

 

[KJAG]

Have had multiple Jagers fail over the years. No issues with Finnex, yet at least.

 

[YumaMan]

Eheim Jäger for me. Cobalt have failed to work from the box for me.

 

[Anthony Mckay]

Shego titanium for me. German reliability as usual

 

[dmh41532]

I’ve always had marineland heaters, except for one jager that I bought for my one saltwater tank, it wasnt reliable, so I went back to marineland.

 

[Bruce Burnett]

I had used finnex titanium heaters but I currently do not use any heaters as I don't need them or a chiller.

 

[gcrawford]

Finnex titanium X 2 controlled by an apex controller. Hard to beat.

 

[Cory]

All fail.

Use two underpowered heaters. If one fails in the on position your tank won't overheat as it requires two to overheat it.

 

[orr2003]

I currently have two 300w eheim jager heaters that have been in service about 7 months now and just noticed both of them have water/condensation on the inside of the tube around the top part of the heater. Never had a problem with the finnex titanium ones I used in the past. Guess it's time to buy new heaters.

 

[Foscoletty]

Have been using Eheim for years, without ever having one fail. Maybe just lucky...but I wouldn't use any other heater.

 

[427HISS]

Shego titanium for me. German reliability as usual

Where do you buy this specific titanium "Shego" brand ?

 

[Sleepydoc]

I use Eheim Jagers.
This vid is like 7mos old but has great info.

Since everyone is fearful of heaters eventually failing...
How many years do you all actually get out of em before replacing?

By the way, I used to think cobalt neotherm were junk based on the fiasco a few years back...
But on recommendation from a fellow r2r’er, i went ahead and bought them.
I’ve been liking them so far, they’re flat and not too long which makes them quite low profile.
The 150w fits nicely in my sump

The BRS video compares the accuracy of the thermostats but the real issue most of us are concerned with is reliability. A few years ago there was a flood of reports of Cobalt heaters exploding and spewing goo into people’s tanks. That seems to have improved, but the reports of poor customer service by Cobalt during the whole fiasco were enough to steer me away from cobalt products. I’ve had both Jäger and Finnex heaters fail on me. All will fail eventually so it’s wise to anticipate this and take precautions. Most of these have been mentioned above, but for completeness sake:

• Use a controller! Either a ‘real’ aquarium controller like an Apex, Profilux, etc, or a temp controller like a Inkbird or Ranco.
• The thermostats on heaters are generally cheap bimetallic thermostats that tend to fail in the ‘on’ position. Set the controller and then set the heater thermostat 1º higher so it normally stays ‘on’ all the time with the controller doing the switching. If the controller ever fails, the heater thermostat will serve as a backup.
• 2 small heaters are better than one big one. If one fails in the on position, it is less likely to overheat your tank. If one fails in the off position, the remaining one will keep the temp from plunging too low.

 

[alanjeffery]

Schego titanium, avoid aqua medic

 

[Anthony Mckay]

Where do you buy this specific titanium "Shego" brand ?

Hello 427HISS
You can get them from lots of suppliers in Europe and off eBay. I’m not sure about the US.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Schego-T...0w-300w-600w-Elitech-Controller-/331721236224
As Alan Jeffrey says stick with the shego titanium as the aqua medic had issues with screws under the rubber top cap rusting.
I’ve not seen a bad review of the shego heaters.
I have 4x 600watt which are controlled by a profilux 4.
Hope this helps.

 

[Joseph Wright]

Ehiem Jager killed my entire reef. How a power outage and when the power came back in both 150w heaters stuck on and overheated my tank while we were out to dinner. Came home to every softie and sps drooped and polyps sucked in. tangs were all dead and stuck to the skimmer boxes. So sad for my babies and angry, wish I could sue the b******s.

 

[madweazl]

Ehiem Jager killed my entire reef. How a power outage and when the power came back in both 150w heaters stuck on and overheated my tank while we were out to dinner. Came home to every softie and sps drooped and polyps sucked in. tangs were all dead and stuck to the skimmer boxes. So sad for my babies and angry, wish I could sue the b******s.

It sounds like a power outage killed your reef; the heaters were a victim, like you. Also, how long was your dinner and how large was your tank that 300 watts of heater was able to raise the temp to lethal levels?

 

[Sleepydoc]

Ehiem Jager killed my entire reef. How a power outage and when the power came back in both 150w heaters stuck on and overheated my tank while we were out to dinner. Came home to every softie and sps drooped and polyps sucked in. tangs were all dead and stuck to the skimmer boxes. So sad for my babies and angry, wish I could sue the b******s.

Sorry for your loss - that totally stinks. Unfortunately, you give a perfect example why a temp controller is so important.

Best of luck rebuilding your tank.

 

[reeferfoxx]

It sounds like a power outage killed your reef; the heaters were a victim, like you. Also, how long was your dinner and how large was your tank that 300 watts of heater was able to raise the temp to lethal levels?

I have two 150s in my 30g. One is for back up if the other is to fail. Though have controllers. Even if both 150s were not on I can see how they would fail in this mannor. There is something wrong at a QC level with ehiems. Ive seen this type of failure before.