which heater to buy?

[garyw68]

Since the colder months are amongst us"¦I am looking for a good quality heater. I have been looking online but I can't seem to settle on one. Can anyone please recommend a fine heating element I could possibly get for my tank? Thank you.

 

[edsreef]

Eheim Jaeger

 

[ghostman]

I've owned lots of heaters, and they all are garbage. I have had some luck with the Eheim Jaeger as mentioned above. I always have a spare, just in case.

 

[sivel]

ive got the catalina 500 w titanium. the thing is a beast .



mike

 

[James77]

All heaters are garbage, and rely on a cheap thermostat to switch on/off. Get a dedicated controller like a Ranco or at least an aquarium controller, and either use the heater setting as a fail safe or just get a heating tube.

 

[garyw68]

ive got the catalina 500 w titanium. the thing is a beast .



mike

did you get that with the controller as well?

 

[allsps40]

Jager

 

[solitude127]

Eheim Jager with an external controller. Only bad thing about Eheims is that they tend to be a little long

 

[garyw68]

im thinking about getting the Aqua Controller...Dual Stage. I found one at marine depot for 180 bucks:eek1: I have been using the single stage for my cooling and its been totally reliable. that with a good heater...which I think people refer the Jager...should fit my needs.

 

[garyw68]

actually, its the Aqua Logic Digital Temperature Controller...dual stage

 

[garyw68]

the jager only goes up to 250 watts? I need at least 400 watts for my 180gal reef.

 

[solitude127]

they actually have a 300w model now. But i would do 2. I feel it's good to have a redundancy.

 

[LegoZ81]

they actually have a 300w model now. But i would do 2. I feel it's good to have a redundancy.

definately do 2x250w vs 1 400w. it will give you a slight bump in wattage and give you some redundancy

 

[garyw68]

cool...ill do it. thanks everyone for your inputs

 

[aleonn]

I wanted to get the Eheim Jager heaters, but they were too long for my sump (and I didn't want to put them into my overflow). I got the JBJ Titanium heater with Tru-Temp controller. This is also attached to my Apex controller as a way to provide an additional fail-safe. If I could do it over, I'd get 2 heaters for additional redundancy as LegoZ mentioned.

 

[layer3switchguy]

I also "offset" the temp on each heater I have in my tank (I have two) by 2-3 degress and use a controller...

 

[snorvich]

Eheim Jaeger

Got my vote. But I would for sure run any heater on a controller.

 

[snorvich]

definately do 2x250w vs 1 400w. it will give you a slight bump in wattage and give you some redundancy

For sure. Excellent idea.

 

[fishchef]

Jager with a Controler. Best reviews on-line.

 

[snorvich]

All heaters are garbage, and rely on a cheap thermostat to switch on/off. Get a dedicated controller like a Ranco or at least an aquarium controller, and either use the heater setting as a fail safe or just get a heating tube.

I could not agree more. Do not be one of the sad stories about cooking your tank.