So are all heaters junk?? or do they follow me around?

[testhead1313]

A few years back, I lost hundreds of dollars in fish because my heater went haywire and cooked them. I was away for the weekend, and my idiot roomates couldn't figure out that floating fish=bad. That one was my fault... it was a cheap heater. I woke up this morning to find the tank at 86 degrees-no lights, no sunlight, and the AC set at 75 overnight. Then I look and see that the heater light is on!!! It has been set at 82 since I set the tank up nearly 3 months ago and I haven't touched it since. I unplugged it this morning and came home to a tank that was comfortably at 82 after being under the MHs all day (with AC on). I think everything should make it, although the leather is not looking great.

I am using a 300W Theo Hydor on a system volume of roughly 75 gallons. I have also heard that titanium heater thermostats go bad quite quickly (I've seen the pile of dead ones where I work). What do you use, and what do you suggest to stay away from? I can't afford a Rancor, but I'm looking for a submersible of 15" or less. Thanks for the advice.
Chris

 

[ScottM]

...... I can't afford a Rancor, but I'm looking for a submersible of 15" or less.....
Chris

I can't afford constant crashes from temperature issues either.
Good equipment can never be substituted.

I have had multiple heaters over heat, break, and leak voltage. All not good.
The titanium?s are nice. Great idea, but some reason all the MFG put really cheap temp sensors/controls on them.

At least with a ranco, you could wire it to shut things off as a failsafe, thus an investment for your entire tank rather than just a heater....

I have had mixed success with WON brothers pro heaters ideally, something like this only less watts

http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/iid/9059/cid/2212

 

[MarkO]

I don't take chances anymore. I just got rid of the heater all together. But I find my lights and pumps keep my tank temp at normal reef temperatures. So far it's worked fine for about 3 years.

 

[SteveDola]

Ive had 3 Jaber heaters all with good success until last night when I noticed for no apparent reason my temp going up. I got home and my temp was 79.4 and then after dinner it was 81.2 with the lights off. I decided to keep an eye on it because the light on the heater was flickering. Before I knew it, the tank was 84.2 and I was buggin. It was my own fault for just not taking it out. Ive got a back up in the tank-yep im a moron. But anyways...theres my expirence with that. Almost a problem but not quite(thank god). Needless to say, Im in the market for a new heater too.

 

[SteveDola]

does anyone have feedback on the finnex units shown here:http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/iid/9063/cid/2194

 

[~Flighty~]

I got a finnex at AA and have heard rave reviews from everyone who has one. that is the only heater that I have not heard any horror stories about and everyone so far seems to like. Mine has worked perfectly so far (KOW)

 

[JohnK]

One (expensive) option is to go with a titanium heater and run a temp controller in additon. IME the pro heat heaters are ok, but when they do fail they gradually start to run hotter and hotter. With one of these connected to a temp controller you would avoid a potential overheat, just set the temp controller about 1-2 degrees hotter than the heater setting. If the heater began to run hot the controller would shut it off and then turn it back on when the temps began to fall. If the heater failed to keep the heat up (never happened IME), it would probablly not drop too far before you noticed since lights and pumps tend to provide most of the heat needed to keep up normal reef temps.

Controllers aren't cheap but they would save your tank in case of a thermostat or sensor failure.

Has anyone had any different experiences with pro heat heaters failing (other than them gradually beginning to run hot? I have had one fail after about 2-3 yrs, 3 others working well after 1-2 yrs. The one I had fail was the 150w that doesn't have a seperate temp sensor, the others all had the seperate sensors.

 

[jacqur]

Redundancy! Redundancy!

IMHO the only way to go regardless of the quality of your heater is through a controller. That way you have a redundancy. If the heater thermostat goes the controller will limit it's ability to cook the tank. Cooking is a bigger liability than freezing IME.

I use an aquanetics dual unit for my chiller and heater.

http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/product.detail/iid/9207/cid/2214

 

[clamm]

I like the redundancy idea...

 

[dz6t]

Cooking is a bigger liability than freezing IME.

If the tank volumn is big enough (>75 gallon), temperature drop in 12 hours (you are at work) without the heater in a heated room is not much even in winter. But cooking for 12 hour will give you a tank of fish soup.

 

[SteveDola]

this hobby gets more expensive everytime I look. When do I get around to just buying corals and fish? J/J

 

[Andy O]

The day I received my Hydor I plugged it in and set my temp to 79. I noticed the temperture light on for a little while and figured that it was adjusting itself. I went out to dinner and returned home about an hour and a half later and my temp was just about at 84. I called the vendor that I purchased it from and they sent me out a replacement. I set the temperature once again to 79, placed the replacement in the tank and kept a watchful eye on the heaters light and the temperature. Sure enought the light did not go out and the temperature slowly began to rise to 81. I don't know if it was a bad batch, but all I knew is that I had enough and would not give them another try.

The vendor decided to replace the Hydor with the Ebo Jager 200W and it has been reliable and has held a consistant temperature.

 

[testhead1313]

I left the heater off and even with the air conditioning on last night, the tank only dropped to 79. I just checked it now, and it's at 82. This seems like a reasonable range until I get a replacement(hopefully soon). Anyone disagree? Thanks for the stories everyone. Maybe we should pass this on to a manufacturer so they could think about bridging the gap between the $10-25 POS and the $150+ temp controllers.
Chris