I need a rec. for a heater

[stingythingy45]

I have a 55 gallon.
What's a good brand to look for and how many watts?
Right now I have a 100 watt Marineland Stealth that i'm not really thrilled about.It doesn't have any indictor light to tell if it's working and a 100 watts I think it's undersized.It's holding temp fine at 78 deg.,but i'd like to upgrade and use this for my QT and the QT heater for heating mixing water.

Thinking maybe this one:
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idproduct~FC3133~tab~2.html

 

[IffersTankSlave]

Big fan of Ebo Jagr.

 

[maurod]

Visitherm Stealth, accurate, plastic, cheap from petsmart (if you bring a printout of the web price). The come in sizes up to 250watts.

I know it doesnt have a light. But what would you rather have, a Hydor Theo with a light that cooks your fish, or a heater that keeps a rock solid 78degrees and you can trust?

M.

 

[RobB]

I have a 55 gallon.
What's a good brand to look for and how many watts?

Thinking maybe this one:
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idproduct~FC3133~tab~2.html

When I had a 55. I had a Ebo-jagr. I still have it after years of service (though now I use it to prep water change water.

I went initally with the finnex solution (thermostat+heater) I had to replace the stat twice. But the element (300w) worked fine. I would not recommend the stat.

If you do go with a seperate Thremostat/heater solution, make sure to affix the temp probe securely to avoid my recent problem http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=57623

FYI I'm looking at a visitherm stealth for my next replacement.

 

[stingythingy45]

Visitherm Stealth, accurate, plastic, cheap from petsmart (if you bring a printout of the web price). The come in sizes up to 250watts.

I know it doesnt have a light. But what would you rather have, a Hydor Theo with a light that cooks your fish, or a heater that keeps a rock solid 78degrees and you can trust?

M.

Yippeee!!!

You mean I finaly purchased something good?
Right now I'm running a Visi-therm Stealth( from Marineland) 100 watt in the 55.
And a 50 watt Stealth in the QT tank.Maybe I'll just purchase a 200 watt for the 55 and use the other 50 watt for mixing water.
I've read a lot of great reviews for this product.That's why I purchased 2 to begin with.
I must admit it's rock solid,like you said.

 

[reefkeeper2]

It's always a good idea to use 2 underwattage heaters instead 1 full wattage. It helps prevent catastrophes. Should one get stuck on,(all brands are notoriously unreliable) it would have difficulty cooking your tank because it is undersized. If one should fail, the other would keep your tank from getting lethally cold. There are manythreads you can find where the controller on a heater has failed or the temperature sensor is exposed to air and the whole tank dies. Don't let it happen to you.

 

[MartyM]

I think most aquarium heaters are pretty hit or miss.
I've got 3 Ebo Jager's that lasted less than a year, while others will report good luck with them. The same can be said for other brands.
The best solution is a dedicated temp controller.
You can pick up a commercial grade Ranco controller on ebay for around $60 and wire it to any aquaium heater for a reliable solution.

 

[ceige]

I have had very good luck with WON Pro heaters....

But I agree with the other comments as well......

 

[reefkeeper2]

The Ranco is definately the way to go, but there is still the possibility the temp sensor gets out of the water somehow. Two lower wattage heaters (with Ranco controllers if possible) is IMHO the best.

 

[Ifferfish]

We run Ebo Jager, but as everyone has said, have multiple heaters undersized for your needs. If it dies, then there is another one that will not let the temp drop too low and if one goes the other way, it will not have the ability to "cook" your tank. I have been running the same heaters for 6 years and am just changing them now. I will keep the old ones for spares, but I figure they are due to fail sometime soon, it just a matter of time!