Inline heaters

[Poeticlydead]

Ok so I know a lot of guys will say just throw some submersible heaters in your sump but what I am interested in is personal experiences and reviews of inline aquarium heaters.

So if you have personal experience with or currently use an inline heater please post your experience (good or bad) and review of it below.


Thank you.

 

[scuzy]

Inline heaters

Well I can tell you one plus is that the heater is not in tank so if it failed on you you won't get electrocuted if you don't have gfci. Ones less device to troubleshoot for stray voltage.


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[mcgyvr]

Which one are you looking at? (curiosity).. There aren't many inlines out there at all until you get into the "industrial" stuff..

 

[Darth_Tater]

I've used the Hydor ETH and it worked great for me. They only make a couple different variants though, so they're not very flexible. Also, I used it in freshwater. Not sure if it's rated for saltwater.

 

[postaldave]

Ok so I know a lot of guys will say just throw some submersible heaters in your sump but what I am interested in is personal experiences and reviews of inline aquarium heaters.

So if you have personal experience with or currently use an inline heater please post your experience (good or bad) and review of it below.


Thank you.

i just looked at mine the other day. been running flawlessly for 5 years now. doing a major upgrade adding a sump. the one i have is inline with a canister fliter. i was kinda bumbed out looking at it since the hook up are 1/2 inch. hoping to find a 1 inch style out there if they make one.

just nice not having one more thing in the water.

 

[tkeracer619]

They have some of the same issues as does a submersed one. They too can leak water internally causing a hazard. One advantage the submersible has is that it can be placed in a spot where water should always be present. In line heaters require water flow to have water. If it is on your return pump and your heater fails then it's all the same since the main display wouldn't be getting heat either way.

Most of the commercial inline heaters I have seen have been installed in a closed loop that would always have water inside it regardless if the pump was running or not.

IME there aren't many options out there for hobby sized setups.

 

[jda]

My biggest issue with them is that unless you buy a few, they are so powerful that they can boil a tank if they fail on. If you use multiple smaller heaters, if one fails on, then it will raise the temp, but not kill of the inhabitants. They also usually have their own controllers that cannot be dual-controlled. I really like an internal mechanical thermostat running on a Ranco (or Medusa for the older folks) so that both have to fail to have an issue. Electronic controllers often cannot be turned on/off all of the time with a second controller or the lose their setting - not all, but most.

 

[ktownhero]

I've been using the Hydor ETH on my planted fresh water tank for about 8 years now. Works great...

That said, I don't see the point if you have a sump. It's just another plumbing point of failure for what purpose? In freshwater it's nice because it keeps the heater out of your tank without a sump... But we use sumps in reefing

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[Poeticlydead]

Which one are you looking at? (curiosity).. There aren't many inlines out there at all until you get into the "industrial" stuff..

I went with the Hydor ETH 200w with the 5/8" connections it is also available in the smaller 1/2" size and up to 300w.

 

[Poeticlydead]

I've been using the Hydor ETH on my planted fresh water tank for about 8 years now. Works great...

That said, I don't see the point if you have a sump. It's just another plumbing point of failure for what purpose? In freshwater it's nice because it keeps the heater out of your tank without a sump... But we use sumps in reefing ��

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Simply put I will not be running a sump on my newest set up.

While my MDT has long had an external sump, separate refugium and all the associated pumps, skimmers, heaters, bells whistles etc.. this system will be simpler.

Also I decided on the ETH with the 5/8" connections for this application.

 

[Poeticlydead]

i just looked at mine the other day. been running flawlessly for 5 years now. doing a major upgrade adding a sump. the one i have is inline with a canister fliter. i was kinda bumbed out looking at it since the hook up are 1/2 inch. hoping to find a 1 inch style out there if they make one.

just nice not having one more thing in the water.

You could easily DIY a 1" or even bigger with some simple plumbing fittings and a uniseal. Look up DIY inline heater on YouTube The king of DIY did a nice video on it but you'll find others too.

 

[Potatohead]

I bought two 300w versions in 2013 to use on my 220g cichlid tank. They worked well for a couple years so I bought another one for another tank. That one failed after about nine months (relay clicking back and forth rapidly when on) The replacement then also failed after about nine months doing the exact same thing. So, I got nervous about the ones on the first tank, ran them a couple months more, started hearing some funny noises from one, so I unplugged them and now run Eheims on a controller, which of course is uglier.

I would probably use them again but would put them on a separate controller.