heater suggestions?

[rica5tully]

I have a 72-gallon bowfront, mixed reef.

Right now I have two Ebo heaters (the newer ones). I'm not sure how crazy I am about them. They don't seem to hold a temperature as well as Viso-therms I've had in the past. Now with winter coming I want to make sure my tank is happy.

Two quick questions of advice:

1) How often do you replace heaters?

2) If I replace them, what brand would you suggest?

Thanks!

 

[steve414]

I have 3 Viso-therms and one of them I had for 4 years the others I had for 1 year.

 

[jeffgp]

i use the same

 

[Red Sea Purple Tang]

Stealth Heaters. Good stuff!

 

[rica5tully]

Why do you like the Stealth?

Do they have a display like the old Visi-therms?

Should I get two 100 watts for my 72-gallon? (They're in the sump) Or bigger?

 

[Red Sea Purple Tang]

I first saw them a couple years ago at IMAC and the Marineland dude was testing the durability by hitting a salt bucket with one and it still worked. I've had VisiTherms crack in the past and cause problems. I'm running two 250w and the tank is staying within a degree of the set temp. I'm using two heaters as a failsafe as opposed to one large one. Fosters and Smith is running a sale. The prices are very close, so I personally would go with two.

 

[TropTrea]

For years the only two heaters that I would even consider were the EboJager or the Visa Term. When I started my store up one wholesaler talked me into stocking Rena heaters which I tried.

Through 3 years with the store front I probably sold 60% Rena Heaters, 20% Penn Plex heaters, 15% Visa Terma, and 5% Ebo Jagers. For returns I never got one Rena back a hand full of Visa Terms, two Ebo Jagers and probaly 20% of the Pen Plex heaters I sold.

In my mind the Rena's are the most durable while the Ebo Jagers are probably the most accurate. If you do go with Ebo Jagers though be very catious that you are not buying 2nds at a discount house.

Also keep in mind that there probably 30 other heaters out there. Some are probably better than thoise I mentioned like the titanium ones however they will cost you an arm and a leg.

A little word on advice that I recom end to everyone. Use two lower wattage heaters rather than one high wattage heater. If a termostat were to stick closed you will not have baked fish over night with only one heater stuck on. This was probably 80% of the problems I had seen with heaters.

 

[prugs]

I have been using ebo jagers for 5 years. The only problem was a small amount of water entering the heater tube. They still worked, but I pitched them to be safe. Always a good idea to have heaters on a GFI.
Searching thru titanium heaters, I've read lots of bad stories.
I read somewhere to replace your heaters every year, but I do it every 2.
Also using a Neptune AC Jr. to control the heat gives me greater control & safety.

 

[TropTrea]

I usualy get 5 plus years out of my heaters without failures that that were operator induced.

The contoler system is realy great and probably the safest way to go however also the most expensive. There are several companies out there which make heaters or the substrate heating systems that work with seperate thermostats. They are definatly superior however the entire system will set you back at least $100.00.

Dennis

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10867013#post10867013 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by prugs
I have been using ebo jagers for 5 years. The only problem was a small amount of water entering the heater tube. They still worked, but I pitched them to be safe. Always a good idea to have heaters on a GFI.
Searching thru titanium heaters, I've read lots of bad stories.
I read somewhere to replace your heaters every year, but I do it every 2.
Also using a Neptune AC Jr. to control the heat gives me greater control & safety.

 

[prugs]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10876768#post10876768 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TropTrea
I usualy get 5 plus years out of my heaters without failures that that were operator induced.

The contoler system is realy great and probably the safest way to go however also the most expensive. There are several companies out there which make heaters or the substrate heating systems that work with seperate thermostats. They are definatly superior however the entire system will set you back at least $100.00.

Dennis

But what will control you cooling fans, tank lights, fuge lights, pumps, calcium reactor, etc? Add it all up & you could have bought one AC Jr. with a DC8.

 

[TropTrea]

Well yes there are loads of options out there. You can set up a 72 gallon bowed reef tank with a bare bones system for probably under $1,000. or4 you can go to the other extreme and spend well over $20,000 on it. It all comes down to what your budget is how wisely you spent your money, and how frugal you are.

Sure the AC JR's have there advantages but there are probably 20 other options out there that people will argue are a better option.

Now for lighting you can pick up $10.00 timers to control those so for $30.00 you can control your actinics, main lights, and fuge light. For pumps there is no better controler that I have seen yet than the Tunze units, And for cooling some of the better termostats have switches for heating and cooling so they could turn on your fans when the temp gets too hot.

This leaves your calcium reactor... And the electronic calcium sensors are so costly that they are not practical yet for the home aquarium. Plus they do not take constant readings on a controler system but rather a reading every X number of hours.

The automatic calcium probe we used at the last place I worked was a maintance headache. It took a reading everytime the controler requested a calcium level. The process of reading took about 5 minutes while the system sat idle waiting for the reading. Then every 25 to 30 readings the unit had to be disassembled cleaned filled with new agent, aqnd recalibreated. The cost of that little unit was around $600.00 . I'l take test kit readings daily and save time time and work compared to that system.

 

[prugs]

To control your calcium reactor, the biggest step is to control the PH within the reactor. A PH controller does that quite well.

 

[johns]

There is no realistic way of controlling the calcium level in your tank using a calcium monitoring probe. You need to control a calcium reactor using a pH probe or solution-based calcium dosing using a dosing pump (which is usually simply a timer or flow rate mater).

I agree with prugs. You can either get multiple thermostats, meters, single parameter controllers, and a bucketful of timers - or simply things by buying a controller that can care of a lot of those things all at once. The Neptune AC III can monitor and control temperature, 2 pH's (or 1 pH and 1 ORP), and up to 20 outlets.

 

[TropTrea]

While I do agree it is not practical it is possible to control calcium using a calcium meter.

The basic system is to that at X time the calcium measuring device takes a sample of the water and measures it for calcium level. Dependent upon a preset value if it needs to add calcium it opens a valve to allow a set dose of liquified calcium into the system. Then at X numbers of hours later it repeats the proicess.

In the event you are using a calcium reactor this monitor can increase or decrease to flow from the calcium monitor.

The draw back is that at even a $600 calcium monitoring system is only good for 30 measurements between maintenance that takes almost 2 hours to clean the system refill the system and recheck the calibration.

The second draw back is that it is not that difficult to set up a flow rate from a metering system. If you have the flow set up how often do you need to measure your calcium levels to assure things remain in balance. 4 times a day, daily, weekly, monthly? Is a $600 device worth not having to do it manualy. And on top of this even with this mearuring system you still need a controler to tell it what to do with these measurements.

Controlers I will agree are usefull. However I think each individual needs to personbaly eveluate what is in his budget and which items he should put into what pririty level.

 

[johns]

The chemistry behind the calcium level in your tank does not allow for you to dose and then accurately test for a calcium change soon after. Changes in the Ca level take at least a full day, possibly more, to accurately be determined. Thats why it makes no sense to dump in calcium while monitoring it's level.

Also, remember that while you are dosing Ca from a reactor you are also changing the Alk and pH at the same time. These 2 parameters change much more rapidly than the Ca level. And the huge changes and swings in their levels can be much more detrimental to your tank than you will be able to tell from simply monitoring Ca. It just doesn't make much sense.