Yet another heater thread: 2014

[Moe_K]

I have a 125 gal tank with a ~50 gal sump.
Sump is in the unheated basement.
I run my house cold in the winter, but like to keep the tank at 78 degrees.

I had a big ol' Blueline 1000 watt (yes, you read that right) heater in there. It did a good job up until a few days ago.
It shorted out the circuit the Apex was plugged into.
Wasn't sure it was the heater (shoulda known).
Plugged the lights into another circuit. Fine.
Added the Apex. Fine.

Added the heater... short.

So the Blueline failed.

I don't like glass heaters.

What do you folks recommend for a larger wattage (lets say at least 300 watt, I'd get 2) titanium heater?

Thanks.

 

[Rone]

Ive got theJBJ 500 watt titanium heater with controler. Very nice unit and accurate. Krystal Clear has them.

 

[JD46]

no more titaniums allowed in my tank. Had a bad experience with a ViaAqua. I also noticed that the titanium on that heater looked very pitted and rough after a few years in my tank vs my 10yr old Won Bros heaters where the titanium looks shiny and new like the day I bought them (their controller reliability is a completely different story). So, I question the grades of titanium some of these companies are using today in order to stay cost competitive. I have no proof or data, just a gut feel so I avoid them all together.

I have a 180 in my basement. Basement temp can get as low as 55deg during winter cold stretches. 3 Aqueon 250's keep tank at 78deg (with help during the day from 3 250W MH) with no issue.

JD

 

[reefstarter]

Little trick I have found that if you put your heaters in overflow they are more efficient

 

[toddhgr]

Jaegers have always performed well for me.

 

[dcforester1]

I just posted I have had the same titanium Via Aqua for over 5yrs with zero issues. I love them and they look just like the day they were bought.

 

[Flame Angel]

This is an interesting thread and inquiry.

First off, I hope you had nothing major occur other than the heater failure. ie: losses, contamination etc...

As I am sure you are aware there are pluses and minus to both. Someone just posted a failure of a titanium heater within the past week.

Someone mentioned Eheim Jager up above and I have loss two of those in less than a months time. One that was two years old and the other less than a month old. One got stuck in the on position and one just stopped working.

Now I do remember Marc Levenson talking about heaters briefly and controllers. The said part is I cannot remember what exactly it was he said, so I could be wrong here. I want to say he said stay with glass, keep them in your sump and hook them to a controller. There was a reason why he shied away from titanium, but I cannot remember what it was exactly.

I do know I had planned on going with titanium's for the large tank, but do remember someone saying a couple of things through the past two years to make me think twice.

I also remember hearing something bad about the larger watt titanium heaters as well in regards to failures.

Good Luck! Moe. you have some thinking to do.

 

[s_kelley]

I know you said that you do not like glass heaters but I have been using Eheim Jager's for years now and never had an issue. I have them run through the reefkeeper though, not sure id trust any heater without some kind of controller.

 

[reefstarter]

Keep them small that way if they get stuck on they can't over heat the tank corals don't seem to have much issue getting down to 72 the other way around will certainly kill them

 

[FishHead]

Little trick I have found that if you put your heaters in overflow they are more efficient

interesting.
more efficient than in what other locations,,,sump?

 

[reefstarter]

smaller volume of water to heat in the overflow so it heats them faster sump is good too but where I have 550 gallons total volume and the sump has roughly 80 alone it made sense

 

[Moe_K]

I just posted I have had the same titanium Via Aqua for over 5yrs with zero issues. I love them and they look just like the day they were bought.

Derek, how many do you have in the system?

 

[maximo]

I currently cannot seem to keep my temp up! I have an 80 gallon deep blue rimless display which then feeds through the floor into my basement (currently 63 degrees) to a 55 gallon Rubbermaid trough then to a 40 gallon breeder and then back up to the display! I had 2 400 watt glass heaters on each end of my refugium which is covered. 2 weeks ago the temp fell to 72 and would not come up so I went and grabbed a 250 watt glass heater and placed it in the Rubbermaid trough; all hooked to my reefkeeper. All was well at 76-77 until yesterday( which was warmer out than it has been lately) and my temp fell to 70.5 and is not coming up! I grabbed an additional 300 watt heater on my way home tonight! After reading this thread I fell that I have way too many heaters in my tank for the temp it Is staying at! I keep my refugium covered for insulation but not the trough. All heaters are running through an 8 amp outlet and the thermostats on them I leave cranked all the way up. Does anyone think I may have burnt out the heaters by leaving them run full blast when they are on? All heaters are no more than 5 months old! They are marine land heaters!


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[reefkeeper2]

For those of you with sumps in the basement, wrap them with insulation. Just get a roll, preferably the kind that is encased in plastic, wrap around and tape. Then get the solid insulation and cut it to fit the top of your sump. My skimmer pokes out the top of mine. If the lines from your basement to the tank are long, get the pipe insultion and wrap those too. The difference is dramatic and will save you much $$$$$. I go another step and cover the top of my aquarium at night with solid insulation that I cut to fit. You will be amazed at the difference.

 

[Moe_K]

Ive got theJBJ 500 watt titanium heater with controler. Very nice unit and accurate. Krystal Clear has them.

Do you use a controller like an Apex or Reefkeeper or do you use the thermostat that comes w/ the heater?

 

[dcforester1]

Derek, how many do you have in the system?

I have 2, one in the display and one in the sump. I also have two temp probs running them. I do the in case the return pump fails I still have a heater in the display. Like someone else posted either heater left on is not large enough to over heat the tank. I need them both running to keep the heat up.