Good heater

[AquaAdam]

I've got a 60 gal. cube with a 15 gal sump. I've been through a few of the eheim heaters in the past few years and am tired of replacing them. Whats a desecent quality heater I can buy? my budget will be around $100+

[LQT]

Do you have a controller? If so, I like the 300 watt Finnex titanium heating tubes. They don’t have their own thermostat, so a controller will be necessary. If you’re looking for an integrated unit, I also like the Aqueon Pro heaters... I think the 200 watt version would suffice for your tank size.

All heaters though, whether it be just the heating element or integrated unit should have an independent 3rd party controller for redundancy, be it a full controller like an Apex or just a temperature controller, like a Ranco.

[scuzy]

Originally Posted by LQT

Do you have a controller? If so, I like the 300 watt Finnex titanium heating tubes. They don’t have their own thermostat, so a controller will be necessary. If you’re looking for an integrated unit, I also like the Aqueon Pro heaters... I think the 200 watt version would suffice for your tank size.



All heaters though, whether it be just the heating element or integrated unit should have an independent 3rd party controller for redundancy, be it a full controller like an Apex or just a temperature controller, like a Ranco.

I use a ranco and Apex to control my heating. Never to much redundancy.


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[mcgyvr]

They all fail..
In general Eheim Jager is commonly recommended but they fail too..

What I always recommend is to never fully submerse them (do not put the knob/temp control part under water even if they state fully submersible..
Its that joint from glass tube to plastic top/cap/dial that can/will fail..

There is not a single brand or model that has not/will not fail..

[Uncle99]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

They all fail..
In general Eheim Jager is commonly recommended but they fail too..

What I always recommend is to never fully submerse them (do not put the knob/temp control part under water even if they state fully submersible..
Its that joint from glass tube to plastic top/cap/dial that can/will fail..

There is not a single brand or model that has not/will not fail..

I have a hand full of Eheim Jagers most recent is 1 year, oldest is more than 10, none of mine has failed........yet.....but absolutely I support controller for heater.

[WVfishguy]

Originally Posted by mcgyvr

They all fail..
In general Eheim Jager is commonly recommended but they fail too..

What I always recommend is to never fully submerse them (do not put the knob/temp control part under water even if they state fully submersible..
Its that joint from glass tube to plastic top/cap/dial that can/will fail..

There is not a single brand or model that has not/will not fail..

In the past 40 years, I have lost more fish to stuck heaters than every other reason combined. Ebo jagers were the only reliable heaters.

I was telling this to my step daughter 20 years ago when she told me the heater in her tank simply said "Jagar", not "Ebo Jagar." Sure enough, it failed.

Why in hell did they stop making the only reliable heater on the market?

I must concur with mcgyvr. With every word he said. And it's a damn shame, too, since Ebo jagers really were pretty much perfect.

[ispookie666]

Schego titanium heaters on this side of the pond along with a temp controller

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[moondoggy4]

I found a BNIB Ebo Jager at Goodwill, it is a green model.

[heritage]

if you don't have a controller then I would recommend the finnex with digital controller.

[West1]

I've never heard of keeping the top part of a Ebo Jager out of water. I don't understand the logic behind this.

[WVfishguy]

Originally Posted by moondoggy4

I found a BNIB Ebo Jager at Goodwill, it is a green model.

I wish I could. I'd kill for one

[WVfishguy]

Originally Posted by West1

I've never heard of keeping the top part of a Ebo Jager out of water. I don't understand the logic behind this.

A friend of mine began doing that with all submersibles. He reasoned that was where leaks began, so he kept that part out of the water.

[West1]

Originally Posted by WVfishguy

A friend of mine began doing that with all submersibles. He reasoned that was where leaks began, so he kept that part out of the water.

Interesting. Unfortunately my sump level is not deep enough to place the heater vertical.

[WVfishguy]

Originally Posted by West1

Interesting. Unfortunately my sump level is not deep enough to place the heater vertical.

Angle it.

[jacksonpt]

I've got the 10yr old, analog version of this one... been very happy with it, but no idea if the current models are as good.

[WVfishguy]

I had ViaAquas in a customer's cichlid tank. The whole tanks was wiped out - we're talking several hundred dollars worth of Africans. I didn't see them stick, but they would not work afterward. It was a crazy, borderline psycho customer to boot, one I always wanted to quit but paid me too much to do so. She looked like one of those old "Troll" dolls with the pig face and frizzy hair. I called her "Pig-face troll doll."

When they first came out, I thought they were the answer to my prayers, but I had ALL the titanium heaters go bad, and I had a good number of them.

[NaasReefer]

+1 on the controller, I got one on amazon last year and I've never looked back. Since then my temperature hasn't varied by more than a degree. My heater has a built in thermostat but I have it set to higher than my controller so my controller does all the work.

[jacksonpt]

Originally Posted by NaasReefer

+1 on the controller, I got one on amazon last year and I've never looked back. Since then my temperature hasn't varied by more than a degree. My heater has a built in thermostat but I have it set to higher than my controller so my controller does all the work.

Not to hijack the thread too much.. is there a "best" way to setup a heater/controller combo?

Should the heater thermostat do most of the work and the controller kick in only if the heater malfunctions... or should the controller do most of the work more or less ignoring the heater thermostat?

[NaasReefer]

Originally Posted by jacksonpt

Not to hijack the thread too much.. is there a "best" way to setup a heater/controller combo?

Should the heater thermostat do most of the work and the controller kick in only if the heater malfunctions... or should the controller do most of the work more or less ignoring the heater thermostat?

Not sure if either way could be described as best but I do the second way you mentioned. I have my controller set to 25.5 degrees celcius and my heater is set to 30. When my controller reads a temperature of 25.2 it turns on the heater and when it reads 25.5 again it turns off the heater. The reason why I have my heater set so high is that it is in the sump so it's internal thermostat is reading the sump temperature whereas my controller temp probe is in my display and therefore keeping the display at my set temperature. My controller also sounds an audible alarm if the temperature goes down to 24.0 or up to 27.0

[WVfishguy]

Originally Posted by jacksonpt

Not to hijack the thread too much.. is there a "best" way to setup a heater/controller combo?

Should the heater thermostat do most of the work and the controller kick in only if the heater malfunctions... or should the controller do most of the work more or less ignoring the heater thermostat?

The controller should do the work - otherwise it's a waste of money. Heater thermostats are what go bad, I believe because of humidity. If the controller is the main on/off switch, the heater thermostat is never or seldom used, and therefore will not stick on.

[Dmorty217]

one that is controlled by a reefkeeper or Apex that way when it fails (they always fail on) it won't matter.

[jacksonpt]

Originally Posted by WVfishguy

The controller should do the work - otherwise it's a waste of money. Heater thermostats are what go bad, I believe because of humidity. If the controller is the main on/off switch, the heater thermostat is never or seldom used, and therefore will not stick on.

How is it a waste of money? It's still turning off the outlet if the heater fails/sticks on. Isn't that the whole point of the controller?


I'd rather have the heater fail than the outlet/controller, so I've got mine setup so the heater does the work and the controller only intervenes if there's a problem (turns the outlet off and sounds alarm if temp gets too high, sounds an alarm if the temp gets too low).

[WVfishguy]

Originally Posted by jacksonpt

How is it a waste of money? It's still turning off the outlet if the heater fails/sticks on. Isn't that the whole point of the controller?


I'd rather have the heater fail than the outlet/controller, so I've got mine setup so the heater does the work and the controller only intervenes if there's a problem (turns the outlet off and sounds alarm if temp gets too high, sounds an alarm if the temp gets too low).

I guess I was thinking that the less a heater thermostat kicks on and off, the more likely it is to fail, so the whole idea of a controller is to bypass the ****-poor heater thermostat. But in retrospect I guess it's moot point.

[smatter]

I miss green Ebos

[WVfishguy]

Originally Posted by smatter

I miss green Ebos

I still have a few, by they are not Ebo JAEGERS They are still pretty darn good.