Winter and Heaters

[mich2599]

Winter is closing in and I’ve been reading about heaters nuking tanks during the winter due to a more frequent need of turning on to keep the water at an aceptable temperature. I was wondering, what kind of heaters do many of you use? I’m currently running an Aqueon Pro for my 50 gal. Just wanting to know peoples experiences with various heaters.

Thanks

 

[sa6hir]

Never had this issue in 5+ years of reefing. Yes like all equipment there is a chance of failure. Using eheim 300w heaters

 

[cromag27 Verified Sponsor]

aqua via titanium

like all other things, you’ll hear good and bad about every heater.

 

[Waters]

I have come to learn that the brand of heater doesn't matter....just get a good controller. I have had expensive heaters fail and I have had the cheap heaters fail....I now just buy whatever is available. That being said, I have had good luck with the Aqueon Pros that you are using.

 

[ca1ore]

Just use multiple lower wattage heaters. I figure out the peak wattage requirements for my tank, divide that number by two and use three heaters of that value. Thus one failed heater can neither cook the tank nor chill it. Controllers are fine, but they introduce a single point of failure. I have a big system, so for me it is worth using redundant controllers also.

 

[JMetaxas]

I have one controller and two heaters. The controller is set at ~79 degrees. Each heater is set about 82 degrees. So, if the controller goes crazy and stays on, or the probe falls out of the sump, the heaters will turn themselves off.

Of course, if the controller fails to turn on, there will be no heat at all.

But, I would bet failure points are more prevalent with a heater sticking "on" versus a controller failing.

 

[mich2599]

I have come to learn that the brand of heater doesn't matter....just get a good controller. I have had expensive heaters fail and I have had the cheap heaters fail....I now just buy whatever is available. That being said, I have had good luck with the Aqueon Pros that you are using.

How long have you had your heater for?

 

[littlebigreef]

How long have you had your heater for?

Worth pointing out that an old tired heater is more likely to fail. I have 3- 300 Watt Eheims on a 350gal system. I swap them out every couple of years after I've gotten my money out of them.

 

[Waters]

How long have you had your heater for?

My current heater is a Finnex Titanium which I have had for about 7 months. I have a 5 gallon bucket full of dead heaters from Cobalt Neo-therms to Jager to Finnex. They ALL fail eventually.

 

[don_chuwish]

I like the Finnex Titanium - just seems like such a simple device, should be less prone to failure. For too long I ran them (2 x 300W) just trusting Apex to be the controller. I've since added 2 Inkbirds. So overall a fairly spendy solution.