Any info on a really good heater and controller?

[invertigator]

Hi guys, and gals.

Im looking for a good (accurate and reliable) heater and controller setup.

I just bought an aqua medic, bio therm 1000 watt titanium heater and controller. The temp probe on the controller is telling me I have fish soup at 85.6 when my temp is really 78.5.

I read a couple of horror stories about people coming home to 100 degree water and a tank full of seafood gumbo, and now I am worried about the accuracy and or reliability of this $130 item.

BIO MEDIC BIO THERM

Any suggestons for a good quality product, or should I just send this back and see if it was just a bad temp probe?

 

[ReefWreak]

Ranco are always my favorite because you can set the top and bottom temps and it does the rest. I've got a dual-stage Medusa controller, which I don't like as much because you set a mid point and it'll keep it within a 1.5 degree or so range of that midpoint, maybe 2 degrees or so. But anyway, when I had the ranco, I liked to swing my temp from 83 to 78, just to keep everything on it's toes in case something really bad ever happened where the temp skyrocketed. They would less apt to dieing off after something like that if they were used to a larger swing with higher temps.

 

[45commando]

Ranco controllers are pretty decent,but if you can spend the extra $ why not go with something like an aquacontroller jr.This way you can control heating,cooling,lighting,fans etc.You can literally dial it in to 0.1 degree temp swing this would obviously kill a heater/chiller in short order due to cycling on/off,but it is so flexible.You could even break down the heaters into say 2 x 500 watts & have them set at slightly different on/off cycles,basically to build in a margin of safety.
Lastly even if your new heater/controller is reading way off in terms of temp,could you not adjust it,so that it is still maintaining your desired temp(even if the controller is saying different).You would just have to calibrate it against a couple of thermometers that you trust.HTH.

 

[Ding2daDong]

I use jager heaters in all my tanks for over 2 years with no problems. They are cheap and reliable.

-Matthew

 

[bawla47]

you can also look into all in one controllers like aquacontrollers etc. they will turn on your chiller or heater to whatever temp, plus other safety features like having dif metal halides turn off if the temp reaches a certain degree.

 

[invertigator]

45c I know I could compenste for the difference in temp, but after just paying $130 +shipping, I would like it to give me an accurate read. I wrote the company stating, if it was a $6 digital thermometer, I could live with it saying 82 when I know the water was 78...............but at $130 it should say 78 if the water is 78. The reason I dont want to get an aqua controller is that I dont have an issue with anything other than water temp too cold. I dont have a chiller or MH lights...........I just have the new solaris lights that do not generate any heat and we keep my house at 71-72 degrees.

 

[invertigator]

I will probably end up getting the two stage ranco, and hook up my heater on the hot side and fans on the cool side. I was just wondering if there was anything else out there. Thanks RW, DD and B47.

 

[db_triggerfish]

Re: Any info on a really good heater and controller?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11745921#post11745921 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by invertigator

Any suggestons for a good quality product, or should I just send this back and see if it was just a bad temp probe?

i would send it back, i 2nd or 3rd picking up a controller like aquacontroller jr since it will give 3 protections one from the heater and then if that fails then 2nd the aqua controller, 3rd it will shut off the lights if temp reaches a certain temp. In the early 90's i had several a fish tanksin NJ where heaters work harder than south florida and many brand different heaters they all got stuck on at one time or another the best was jager it only got stuck after years of use and storage.

 

[db_triggerfish]

Re: Re: Any info on a really good heater and controller?

Re: Re: Any info on a really good heater and controller?

double post

 

[45commando]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11748174#post11748174 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by invertigator
45c I know I could compenste for the difference in temp, but after just paying $130 +shipping, I would like it to give me an accurate read. I wrote the company stating, if it was a $6 digital thermometer, I could live with it saying 82 when I know the water was 78...............but at $130 it should say 78 if the water is 78.

Invert,I agree for that price it should be accurate,but just to give you a heads up.I have had 3 ranco controllers over the years & one of them was off by about 3 degrees in temp,so I still had to compensate for it.As for the aquacontroller,even if you don't plan on a chiller,you could still use it for lights,reactors etc.I have just recently bought a used one & I am very impressed with it.I love the fact that it has a built in memory for all the power outages we get here,so I never have to reset any of my timers.HTH & good luck with your decision.

 

[gasman059]

Cono Carlitos u have a Solaris so spend some extra $$ and get a controller so life becomes a little simpler.