What do you use for your tank heater?

[littlebeard]

Woke up this morning, ran a quick visual check and I see my heater is reading 83! Freaked out for a second then checked the glass thermometer I always keep handy and it reads 78. Whew!

Reefing here in Wisconsin is different than that of Florida where I used to live. I am having difficulty finding a decent aquarium heater. So, quick question, what heaters do you guys run? How long have you had it? Do you like it?

 

[Zach B]

As of recent we use a titanium heater with ink bird controller. Before I was replacing cheap heaters every year or so

 

[jtlmnop]

Just started my reef tank a month ago. I’m using a Hygger 200w with digital thermometer and controller box for my 50gal AIO. So far, temp seems stable and the unit is very easy to use.

 

[Zach B]

Great topic btw

 

[Cell]

Reefing in MN here. Eheim Jager's are my go to. Rock solid and stable once dialed in. Calibration sucks, but everyone has an external thermometer so use that to calibrate and you are good to go.

 

[littlebeard]

Just started my reef tank a month ago. I’m using a Hygger 200w with digital thermometer and controller box for my 50gal AIO. So far, temp seems stable and the unit is very easy to use.

I bought 3 of those hygger thermometers/heaters. (reviews on amazon seemed good) The 3rd one that I've had for a grand total of about 5 months now has a temperature issue. The other one I had has lasted over a year and another one I only use very sporadically for my qt tank.

I also bought a few of their pumps, one has broken so far after about a month of use.
I'm starting to worry about hygger build quality.

 

[Hydrored]

I use dual BRS titaniums and a Ranco controller, found BRS branded controller never stayed calibrated.

 

[Weasel1960]

Don’t have any yet so watching this. I am liking the BRS Titanium with inkbirds. also plan on doing multiple small ones so malfunctions don’t overdo the heat or provide no heat at all. For instance 3 200W instead of 1 400. 1 is always final backup to the other 2

 

[Weasel1960]

I use dual BRS titaniums and a Ranco controller, found BRS branded controller never stayed calibrated.

Question....have heard this before but don’t they use Inkbird controllers which I have not heard of them having issues

 

[vetteguy53081]

I use twin Finnex 800wt titanium units with inkbird controllers and my apex. Always on the dime.

 

[Hydrored]

Question....have heard this before but don’t they use Inkbird controllers which I have not heard of them having issues

They do, it's the basic one that they originally released last year. I was using 2 and calibration drifted on both, seems by the feedback I wasn't the only one. Now they use the inkbird wifi

 

[Flux Capacitor]

I use 2 Ehiem Jager heaters using their own thermostats, backed up with my apex to kill the outlets if the temp gets too high. The hold the temp somewhere around .5 degrees of 78. The nice thing about living in Minnesota is in the winter it’s usually cold enough in the winter that even if one of my heaters were to stick on, it wouldn’t be able to heat my tank over any real danger zone. In the summer my heaters don’t run much at all since my tank is on the second floor of the house. Win win there too.

 

[Jon's Reef]

Currently using Cobalt NeoTherm. I like the compact form factor. Have it set to 78 with APEX set to 75-85 as backup.

Out of stock in a lot of places, I think they are coming out with a new model soon.

Also have had these:
Finnex with external control --> plastic guard would accumulate crud and an extra controller to put some where
Eheim Jager --> larger for the wattage, glass makes me nervous

 

[Cell]

Probably out of stock because they blow up, a new model was definitely needed.

 

[Jon's Reef]

I would guess they are going to replace it with a version of this:

AquaEl Ultra Heater Can Increase And Decrease Its Own Power Consumption | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

Polish equipment manufacturer AquaEl has introduced what it calls a Smart Heating System to its Ultra heater range. As well as the shatterproof chassis, overheating warning, and one-touch control, the new Ultra models come with a microprocessor controller that its makers say selects the lowest...

reefbuilders.com

 

[tkd]

I use 2 BRS titanium heaters on my Apex. One as a main and the other as a backup. I run both just under the recommended wattage, if one gets stuck on it will not overheat my tank. Heats my tank without any issues. They hardly run during the summer. They have been rock solid.

 

[Reef-junky]

Jager's with this

 

[littlebeard]

So I ordered 2 Eheim Jager heaters from amazon. One arrived broken. ugh... Hope my current hygger can hold on a few days more.

 

[Detour]

I have a 120DT and another 30 in the sump. I had been running 2 250watt Aquaen without issue. Then I updated my programming (Apex) to approach two heaters as one being primary and 2nd being redundant/supplement if needed. To make sure both get used (and monitor if for when one fails), the programming swaps which of the two heaters is primary and backup every 12 hours. What I learned is that one 250watt can't maintain my tank temp and both were running for more than an hour at a time to keep up. So, I replaced with Finnex 500 watt heaters and the new Finnex 820 controller. Because the heaters are 500 watts, I needed separate controllers anyway - since I couldn't plug 1000w of heaters into one outlet on the Apex EB832 (if both come on, it would trip the breaker on the EB832 because it exceeds 7amps on one outlet - I also wanted to separate my heaters to separate EB832s for redundancy). I set the Finnex controller to 82 degrees and use the Apex to turn off/on to maintain at 78 (this is the preferred method from a programming perspective). Functionally - works just fine, keeps my temp +/-.5 degrees of where I want it 24/7. BUT, the new Finnex 820 controllers beep EVERY TIME they turn on - which is very annoying.

 

[Jon's Reef]

I set the Finnex controller to 82 degrees and use the Apex to turn off/on to maintain at 78

From a wear perspective, shouldn’t you do the opposite? Have the cheaper Finnex turn on/off more frequently and use Apex as the safety? Then the expensive eb832 will last longer.

—> Apex set to off at 82. Set Finnex to 78. Set Apex to send email alert below 76.