what are the best heaters

[rgsa8892]

i'm looking for input on either drop in or inline heaters for a system that holds 250 gal of water.I live in pittsburgh so i get my share of falling temps and need a good reliable heat source

[johnnydoe]

i have tryed couple different ones i always go back to ebo jager , for me its the best

[aqualab]

2nd that

[Reef or Die]

I like the RENA Cal Top Light Excel Heater - 200W.
Fully submersible!!

[cbrguy]

I've had the same luck with all heaters and this is that they all fail. Some take years others in a few months. I use 4 300 watters, my tank only requires 2-3 so if one fails the others can keep the tank temp up.

[Swirlygig]

I use the finnex 300W. Work great! I plug it right into my chiller, but only drawback is that my chiller heater controller is only 2 prong, so I got a converter.

It is only 10" too!!! most others are a lot longer.

[grigsy]

I like ebo jager. reliable heaters.

[SeanT]

Sadly, through the years I have found heaters to be the one area in our hobby that has gone pretty much ignored by manufacturers.
I can not think of a brand out there that I haven't tried.
And all have failed at one time or another.

Either stuck on or stopped working (even with controllers).
I suggest using several smaller heaters to prevent over/under heating if one poops out.

[tkeracer619]

Titanium stick (heater with no temp control) and a Reef Keeper Lite or other reef controller.

Still not fail safe.

The probe must remain in the sump... I zip tie mine to something solid in the sump so it cannot fall out.

[James77]

I would never trust any of them. It is a super cheap theremostat on them, and it has the potential to fry thousands in corals- no thanks. I do what tke ^^ does, and have a heating stick only controlled by my controller. I ziptied my temperature probe to my drain lines so it will not budge. I also sized the heater where it is enough to very slowly warm the water, so I have a chance of catching the raising temp on my stick thermometer on the side should something happen.

Even safer would be having a Ranco temp controller connected to a reef controller, with different set points.

[raynist]

I have had all of my ebo jäger heaters fail within a year. I have switched to the visi-therm and have had good luck so far.

Actually I don't trust any heater on it's own. I either have them hooked to an aqua controller or ranco.

I am also in Pittsburgh, check of the Pittsburgh forum here:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=2

--Ray

[Kaos]

I don't know that there is a best, but my favorite setup is an Ebo Jaeger on a controller. I've used Ebo's for over 5 years w/ no problems at all (but they have mostly been on controllers).