What heater to buy?

[nighttimenick]

I think my heater may be going south on me! I am getting a temp swing of 76 to 81. It doesn't matter if the light are on or off. It may also be my digital themomter. I think I might replace both! The one I have now is a 200w stealth. Any recommendation on what to get for a 55 gal. Would it be better to go bigger as someday I plan to go with a bigger tank? Heater thermoter together, plastic, glass, titanium, and where to buy? Thanks

 

[Siffy]

Since you already have doubts about the thermometer I'd replace it. Well, I'd recommend adding a $2 glass one to see if the readings are consistent between the 2. A 5 degree swing is unacceptable and strange. I've been really happy with my stealth heater, but I also like my ViaAqua Titanium heaters. You didn't mention over what time period that temp swing occurs. I'm wondering if the heater is just set to turn on at the lowest temp and something else is raising the temperature to 81. The quality of stuff made for aquariums isn't all that accurate, and it doesn't matter if it has a digital readout even. How long has this been happening/did it used to not swing like this?

As for material, anything other than glass. As I said even as cheap as the stealths are compared to titanium heaters I like mine, and I'd recommend one. For size, 200 watt is fine and it's actually better to have multiple (within reason, 2-4) heaters rather than 1 large one. The reason behind it is usually heaters fail/stick either completely off or completely on, so if you have 3 heaters all the same size where any one of them isn't enough to overheat your tank by itself you've created a failsafe if it sticks on.

Here's a pretty detailed article on heaters if you'd like to read more.
http://tinyurl.com/5hcpxl

 

[NeveSSL]

Here is what I would do, Ricky.

You can get the Stealth 100w heaters here for $15.99. Print it out and take it to PetSmart in the Boro, and you will be able to get a Stealth for a great price. Probably 2 100w heaters (one set for redundancy) would be great and inexpensive! I need to get rid of my glass one... I've just not done it yet. I'll probably get a stealth simply because they're available locally.

You could also try to find a website with the same models of digital thermometers and get them to price match that, too. And like Will said, pick up a glass thermometer.

They'll price match anything, so thats where I got my salt (you can do sand, too), mag floats, etc. Great stuff!

Brandon