Heater not heating!

[ConnorG]

So I got a titanium dial thermostat for my 75 gallon reef and it has been horrible. Yesterday I came home to a tank that was 84 degrees! And it was ON! So I took off the canopy, turned out the lights and opened the stand doors. I just woke up and the tank is at 74.5 and the heater IS NOT on! I don't know what to do anymore. I have about 9 corals in my tank and 2 fish. Somthing is going to die and I have no idea what or when. How do I control this? The heater was set turn turn on when the water reached below 79 degrees, why isn't it doing that? I need help asap as I have gone from 84 degrees to 74 degrees within 13 hours.

[devildog999]

Do you have a back up heater you can use in the meantime? If no, my best suggestion would be to run to your nearest 24hr walmart and buy a heater you can use in the meantime until you get this one figured out

[kissman]

My heater died a fee weeks ago and my temp stayed at 73-74 degrees for a week before my new heater arrived i lost nothing! You will be fine.

[ConnorG]

I'm more worried about the swing of 10 degrees in 13 hours

[sslak]

Always run your heaters on a controller. A $50 heater could cook your entire tank. A Ranco single stage or a RKL isn't that expensive compared to the entire tank full of livestock.

[rivero9897]

I agree with sslak, heaters should always be ran by a controller because it can cause a lot of headaches if it fails.

[bnumair]

yes i agree above, i have 4 titanium heaters withe their individual controllers set at 78 going through my controllers for safety reasons.

[Playa-1]

+1 on the Ranco or a good tank controller will get the job done. You don't want to rely on hobby heaters and their proprietary thermostats. They will let you down when you turn your back on them. It's a good idea to figure out your heating requirements and spread that out between two heaters on a controller.

[ConnorG]

Where do you get the controller and what brand if heater would you recommend?

[sslak]

I won't use anything but a Eheim Jager heater.

A Ranco controller can be had at many online vendors, amazon, grainger, etc.

Reefkeeper Lite is another fantastic option that will replace all your timers for lights, dosing etc as well as control your heater. It's a big step up from the Ranco if you're willing to spend a few extra bucks.

[ConnorG]

I have been reading about the ranco controllers and I don't exactly what they do. Can someone please explain what they do and why they are needed?

Thank you everyone!

[Jeff_NJ]

+1 on the Eheim Jager heater. I have been using them exclusively for as long as I can remember and have never had an issue.

I do also use a heater controller (RKE in my case) along with the heater just in case.

[devildog999]

I personally am about to buy this .... http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/products/miscellaneous/aquarium-heaters/jbj-true-temp-digital-heater-controller.html ....... I have heard great things and for me personally, I am not looking for something to control everything. I am more worried about something like that when I build my 700g. This does what I need and only what I need for $100. And you can use whatever heater you have with it up to 1000 watts

[bnumair]

i use via aqua 300w titanium heaters that come with a controller on it but i also back them up with reef keeper or apex for added safety,
heater set at 78 while RKE or Apex will not power the heater unless tank drops below 77 and cut heater off when tank hits 79.
heaters when they go out usually go out in on position. thus in my setup when tank hits 79 power to heater cuts off causing no harm while on other hand if heater does not turn on and is bad then when tank hits 75 i get email alerts on my phone.

[ConnorG]

Would a reef keeper light be a good option?

[ConnorG]

Bump

[MarkGP]

Yes and you can control your lights too with the basic model.