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View Full Version : which heater is better for my situation?


blakeoe
02/19/2007, 09:46 PM
I have two 25 gallon Quarentine tanks that are in an extra room in my house. Here in Louisiana the tempeture can go from 30 degrees in the morning to 80 degrees at noon. The room (and the house im renting) has verey little insulation and the temp in the room fluctuates closely to the outside temp. I need a heater that will work hard when it is cold but not over heat the tank when it warms up again. I have cheap walmart heaters in them now and they are either set too low and the temp falls (i have seen it at 62!!) or they keep the temp fine over nite then during the day they overheat it. Im looking at the Jager: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=3858&N=20
and the Azoo: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=13966&N=2004+11376704+113767
I was told that the azoo may work better b'c it has an external sensor and control. What do you guys think i should go with? Do you have any other suggestions??

bertoni
02/19/2007, 09:56 PM
The first link doesn't work, but both those heater are reasonable, in my opinion. I'd probably go with the Azoo, for the reasons you mentioned.

blakeoe
02/20/2007, 07:51 AM
Sorry here is the link to the Jager: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=3858&N=2004+113767

blakeoe
02/20/2007, 08:35 AM
do the jagers and most other heaters actually use a thermostat or are you controlling the time intervalls between heating periods?

bertoni
02/20/2007, 02:01 PM
They all use thermostats. The temperature scale on the heater shouldn't be trusted, though.

InvaderJim
02/20/2007, 02:32 PM
I'm also curious about this. My tank is in a spare room on the back of my house, which is all brick with probably no insulation.

blakeoe
02/21/2007, 06:39 PM
so what is the most important thing to look at when you need a constant temp even though the room temp fluctuates?

bertoni
02/21/2007, 06:46 PM
Well, you need a heater with enough capacity to keep the temperature up, and a sensitive thermostat. Most of the electronically-controlled heaters should be fine. I use Tronics, since they tend to fail off rather than trying to cook the tank, but I use multiple heaters and a temperature controller to deal with heater unreliability.

BeanAnimal
02/21/2007, 08:18 PM
as bertoni mentioned, the combination of a QUALITY temperature controller and multiple SMALL heaters is the safest way to go.

The temp controller in combination with the built in thermostats (set a few degrees above the temp controllers set point) will keep the units from overheating the tank in the event they temp controller sticks on. The multiple heaters will keep the tank warm in the event that one of them fails to turn on.

sgallagher7
02/21/2007, 08:22 PM
what would be a good controller for a newbie. I plan on buying 2 150 watt heaters for my 75 with 30 gal. sump. Is this too much?

bertoni
02/22/2007, 12:05 AM
The Ranco controller seems to get good reviews. I use a DIY unit from seabay.org to prevent overheating. For that tank, I'd likely use 3 150 W heaters, just for redundancy.

sgallagher7
02/22/2007, 12:27 AM
Thanks. I respect your input. I like the idea of a all in one controller.