Best heaters?

[NeveSSL]

I know that heaters can't be that much better than each other, but I have noticed that glass heaters are DEFINITELY less desirable due to breakage. So this is my question:

The two that seem to stick out are the plastic "Stealth" series and the titanium models. I kind of think the plastic housing could potentially absorb some of the heat energy being an insulator, but they're readily available (IE, PetSmart). The titanium are a bit more expensive, but have external controls and also seem as though they would transfer heat better and cost me less in electricity. :D

So the question... which do you all like better? Or is there yet another option?

I know this isn't a HUGE issue, but I'm curious. :)

Thanks!

Brandon

[finfan4u]

Ehiem- JAGAR gets my vote!

[eckrynock]

I have Jagar and Stealth, like them both.

[drummereef]

I've used both Ebo Jager and Visi-Therm Stealth. Both are good imo. ;)

[Pea-brain]

I like the stealth heater. little chance of breakage, reliable, sleek. The only problem I have is that they click, and if I didn't know that my mantis died in a molt last time I'd swear I had a mantis in my tank (Trust me, the thing is DEAD, no where in the tank.)

Dan

[NeveSSL]

Gotcha... thanks, guys.

I will probably go with the stealth then. They're available locally and are a little bit cheaper.

Thanks again!

Brandon

[Young Frankenstein]

Don't trust their thermostat use a remote one to be safe :)

[NeveSSL]

I will be. An ACIII to be exact. :)

Brandon

[Yangtze Reef]

I like the Von brother Titanium heaters (not the digital one with LED).

Ying

[Meadowlark]

I replaced the glass one (JEBO) that my LFS sold me with two Visi-Therm Stealth heaters. I'm very happy with them.

[jon99]

I can tell you one not to use!! Hydor. Got stuck and cooked my reef. Lost about half of my corals. Learned an imprtant lesson: go with 2 or even 3 smaller heaters, rather than 1 really big one.

[szwab]

I have yet to come across a heater that has a reliable thermostat. a controller is definately the way to go. One would think that compared to the amount of damage a heater can do they would put better thermos on them. I am like my Titanium Finnex so far no issues. Nice thing when used with an AC or other controller you can get them with just the element w/o the thermostat.

[NeveSSL]

Where do you get just the element?

Thanks!

Brandon

[szwab]

got mine at Premium Aquatics.

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Finnexheat

[NeveSSL]

Thanks for the link.

Is the smallest 300w? That stinks...

Brandon

[szwab]

w/o the controller yes i believe 300 is the smallest.

[NeveSSL]

Gotcha. Thanks for the tip!

Brandon

[sjm817]

I wouldn't use a heater without a thermostat. If your controller fails, probe fails, the heater will cook the tank. It happened to someone in our reef club. Use an external controller like the AC3, but also use heaters with thermostats. Set the heater to a couple of degrees higher than the controller.

[NeveSSL]

That makes sense. I think I'm going to get either one of the Finnex compact Titanium heaters or a Stealth.

Thanks!

Brandon

[szwab]

to avoid that situation get 2 under sized heaters to work together. that way if one fails the other helps but neither is powerfull enough to "cook the tank"

generally from my experience a heater will fail in the "on" position from my experiences.
redundancy in this dept is a good idea.

[alkataz]

I too use two undersized heaters. It removes the cooking the tank worry. But I also have a chiller that will kck in in such an event.

[sjm817]

I use 2 undersized heaters with thermostats and each controlled by the ACjr. Undersized or not, I would not get a heater without a built in thermostat to limit temperature. One of the heaters I have now did fail off. It does happen.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

+1 on the idea of two (or more!) SMALL heaters.

Our reef tanks don't need a bunch of energy to stay warm, and you can always add or remove an additional heater in the winter if you need it.

[Nanz]

Finnex Titanium heaters

I have been using them for years on my discus tanks and they are reliable as well as indestructable, hehe.