heater questions...

[insanefishguy]

Ok, so the entire time I have had my tank set up, I have never needed to worry about a heater. I was lighting it with 260w of pcs and my temp was usually around 81 or 82. I just recently upgraded to 216w of t5s. What a difference! My tank now sits at 74 with no fans on. I know that to get the most out of the t5s I need to keep them cool. I had 2 four inch fans, so I mounted them in my hood. With the fans on my tank drops down to 70 or 71 degrees (and boy does a lot of water evaporate!). My question is, what is a decent and inexpensive heater to use. I want to get something reliable that I wont have to worry to much about shorting out on me. Is a standard tetra submersible glass heater ok, or should I get something better? I remember seeing something called a stealth that was plastic and unbreakable somewhere and I have heard talk of titanium but I think they are probably expensive. Does anyone maybe have a decent one that they are looking to sell so I can save some dough?

Thanks much, Joe

 

[rickyfins]

Marineland offers a lifetime guarantee on their heaters and have a digital readout for setting the temp.

 

[coralnut99]

I wish I could help you out, but I just bit the bullet and bought an aquamedic titanium with the controller. This was after yet another glass heater literally fell apart after a long power outage, and I didn't realize it until I noticed the corals looking funny. The temp. got to something 62! Don't buy used, don't buy cheap on a heater. Just my 2 bits.

 

[Critter]

The last set of heaters I got were RENA's, and I got them primarly because they have a larger dial on top for setting the temp, with the others I was having a hard time getting a hold of the dial. Anyway, I've had them now for 1.5 years or so now and so far they are working correctly. HTH.

Chris