Whats everyones go to heater?

reeflife3 · Oct 30, 2018

I'm in the market for a new heater and I'm curios whats everyone using
My tank is a 60 gallon cube with a 4ob sump in the basement (no reef controller)

Eheim Jager, Aqueon Pro, or something different

joec · Oct 30, 2018

reeflife3 said:
I'm in the market for a new heater and I'm curios whats everyone using
My tank is a 60 gallon cube with a 4ob sump in the basement (no reef controller)

Eheim Jager, Aqueon Pro, or something different

I have Eheims which are good.

I also have Cobalt Neo therms which I really like a lot. They stay on temp very accurately and are small and thin and are super easy to set and monitor. They supposedly cannot stick in the on position like Ehems can if they malfunction. I think I like them better than Eheim

cromag27 · Oct 30, 2018

via aqua titanium

Clownfish2 · Oct 30, 2018

I like the Finnex HMO heaters. I got three 300 watt heaters. Very accurate.

DesertReefT4r · Oct 31, 2018

Ehiem.

don_chuwish · Oct 31, 2018

With heaters, redundancy and failsafes are very important. If a heater goes wonky and keeps on heating, or stops heating - serious consequences. So you should have two. Each one capable of heating the tank by itself. Some say you should have one in the sump and one in the tank in case the return pump fails. I think that's valid, but I don't want to see a heater in my DT, so I take that risk.
Each heater should be controlled by TWO temp sensors. In your case, most likely a heater with it's own thermostat, which is then plugged in to a temperature controller. Inkbird, Ranco, Bayite - all popular.
Heater1 is set to the temp range you like - maybe 77-79deg - and the controller about 2 degrees above that to cut it off if it starts heating too much.
Heater2 minimum is set 2-3 degrees lower - say 74-79, in case Heater1 fails. The controller is then set to the same max as for Heater1.
It all sounds excessive, but for your tank it's probably a $30 heater and a $30-40 controller - twice. $70 extra in the grand scheme of things....

Waters · Oct 31, 2018

Like don-chuwish stated, I would go with two smaller heaters or invest in a cheap controller and buy whatever heater is available to you. I have used all models of heaters and every one has failed on me. I have a 5 gallon bucket filled with broken Finnex, Eheim, Cobalt, Aqueon, etc. If I had to pick one that has been the most reliable, it would probably be the Aqueon Pros, if you can believe that.

reeflife3 · Oct 31, 2018

Thanks for the information everyone, I just purchased a inkbird controller and i'm going to go with a couple of smaller heaters

Retro Reefer · Oct 31, 2018

I really like the neo therm’s I have one in a nano that’s been operating flawlessly for 3 years however they are to expensive so on my new tank I’m running a Eheim and it seems to be working great.. with decades of producing aquarium related products I completely trust them.

madweazl · Oct 31, 2018

I like the Marineland Visi-Therms and have never had one fail since their introduction roughly 20 years ago (I've not had one in continuous operation that long but did for have one for 11 years). This isnt to say they cant or wont fail! I stopped submerging the heaters and believe this adds a level security from failure (keeping power out of the water as much as possible).

JBKReef · Oct 31, 2018

I would get an inkbird controller and then either Eheim or Neo-Therm. I use both of them on different tanks. I would probably use the Neo-Therms on everytank I owned if they had larger wattage heaters. I just cant justify having 4 heaters in a tank when 2 large eheims can do it.

Jonreefer · Oct 31, 2018

I have Aqueon pro in mine and never had any issues.
I had a Jager before but it developed some condensation on the inside I was told by them it was normal but did not trust it.
I had a Neotherm 150 and it feel in the serial range of the potential issue they would melt and cause a huge issue. I contacted them and they would not replace the unit they just offered me 50% off one in their store.
So I would never purchase another cobalt item again.

jefra · Oct 31, 2018

I also love my Cobalt Neotherm!

Larry L · Oct 31, 2018

joec said:
They supposedly cannot stick in the on position like Ehems can if they malfunction.

I have had a couple Neotherms fail in the on position over the past few years, I think it can happen to any brand of heater that has an internal thermostat.

don_chuwish said:
With heaters, redundancy and failsafes are very important.

Totally agree - any heater *will* fail at some point, and you are not guaranteed to be right there to notice when it happens, so always have a temp controller of some sort as a backup.

joec · Oct 31, 2018

Larry L said:
I have had a couple Neotherms fail in the on position over the past few years, I think it can happen to any brand of heater that has an internal thermostat.

I believe you. Wonder why Cobalt told me that?

Crabs McJones · Oct 31, 2018

+1 for the cobalt neotherm. In testing they were shown to be the most consistent with little temp fluctuation.

ActualProof · Oct 31, 2018

I use an Aqueon Pro 300W set at 82 in my overflow, and a Finnex Titanium 300W in my sump. Both of these are plugged into an Inkbird with the temp set at 80, with a 1 degree variance. This, along with the Aqueon built-in thermostat, are specifically failsafes. The inkbird is plugged into and controlled by Apex, with “ON” set at 77.4, and “OFF” set at 78. The Apex temp probe is located in the first chamber of my sump. The inkbird probe is in the return chamber of the sump. No heater in the display. This makes certain that cooking the tank isn’t possible unless Apex, Inkbird, and at least one built-in thermostat fail. As long as my return pump is running, I know that my display is the correct temperature. If the return fails, tank could drop to just below room temperature, which is 74.

mich2599 · Oct 31, 2018

Aqueon Pro for me. Have a 50 gal. DT and 20 gal. sump and it does keep the water at a constant temp. I’ve had it since May without any issues.

Larry L · Oct 31, 2018

Larry L said:
I have had a couple Neotherms fail in the on position over the past few years

joec said:
I believe you. Wonder why Cobalt told me that?

I don't know, but I have one in my sump right now that's stuck on, if they want to see it.

Currently my Apex is keeping it from overheating the tank while I wait for a replacement to show up (I set the Apex low/high limits just a bit lower and just a bit higher than the heaters normally manage themselves).

Crabs Mcjones said:
+1 for the cobalt neotherm

Agree, I still think it's a really good heater, just be prepared for it to fail at some point like any other.

Crabs McJones · Oct 31, 2018

Larry L said:
I don't know, but I have one in my sump right now that's stuck on, if they want to see it. Currently my Apex is keeping it from overheating the tank while I wait for a replacement to show up (I set the Apex low/high limits just a bit lower and just a bit higher than the heaters normally manage themselves).

Agree, I still think it's a really good heater, just be prepared for it to fail at some point like any other.

Everything fails, nothing lasts forever.....except cockroaches