Who makes a good reliable heater??

Carey1465

Carey1465

New member
Right now I'm using a Jager heater and the only thing I dont like about it is I have to calibrate the heater and them temp goes up and down by a few degrees. Does anyone have any recommendations on a good heater? Should I stick with the Jager?

Y'all have a good weekend!!
 
Stick with the jager and get a controller to control it. Most if not all built-in temp controller in the heater is junk.
 
Any heater not on a controller is ready for disaster. I use eheim on a ranco doubled up through my apex. No way of failure.
 
Agreed on the controller... Have mine on a full Apex.. Keeps my water temp at 78 to 79...
 
Carey- go on "the bay" and look for a Ranco single stage controller. I got my last one for $40 but assume they are more expensive now. Then go to You Tube and you will find plenty of videos by reptile guys showing you how to wire it up.
Insert old fart grumpiness: There are no reliable heater since Eheim took over Ebo-Jager. I have a box of of failed Eheims (still the one I buy) and a working, accurate "green wienie" Ebo-Jager that's at least 30 years old.
 
There are no reliable heaters. Even the "good" ones are still a nightmare waiting to happen at some point. As crazylawyer said...get a Ranco, they are only 50-ish dollars and last for a very long time. At the least, use a reef controller.
 
I run 2 jagers on a controller. No issues at all. They are definitely more reliable then some of the other garbage that's out there.
 
What else can I hook up to the controller? I've been in this hobby for almost 4 yrs but never looked into controllers. I have an idea what they do but I don't know the whole story behind them. I can monitor my tank thru my iPhone right?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Look at and watch youtube vids of the Reef Keeper lite controllers. They are inexpensive and would be a nice investment as opposed to just having a heater controller. I bought one for the main purpose of being a failsafe against a heater failure. Even more insurance is buying a titanium heater. Titanium eleminates the fear of a glass heater cracking/shattering and wiping out your tank.
 
skip the reef keep lite and look at the apex. having owned both I will tell you that the apex is worth every penny
 
I've had a Marineland Visi-Therm heater for 6+ years still kicking. Good for on a budget. Jager is top notch as well. Got one in tank lot sale a while back and its been a model heater for my mixing buckets
 
Dido on the Apex... A few of my friends have the Reef Keeper and hate it. They wished they invested a tad more and went with the Apex.... I think the Apex Lite is like 350???

I bought the full version, and I must say, one of the best investments I ever made on my tank... My Temp via controlled by Apex is always stable...I used to get 2-3 Degree swings. Now I am at 78.0 to 79.0 at all times... Notice the decibels???
What I'm finding I love about the Apex is the ability to quickly shut something off. Feed Modes, Water Change Modes, and the piece of mind to know everthing is on and working... I can Flip on my iPhone at work, and quickly get a status of the tank.... I also integrated live video feed, something I always have dreamed of doing...


If you have Vortech's you can completely program different modes at any times to independent pumps... Which is awesome for me because I have different kinds of corals on different sides of the tank. I prefer my right side to be more turbulent then the left... I have a few low flow corals on the left.. I program the Vortechs to sync up time wise with my Radions coming on, going off, different intensities, faster surges at peak hours ect.... All this just as an example...
 
DarthSimon said:
Dido on the Apex... A few of my friends have the Reef Keeper and hate it. They wished they invested a tad more and went with the Apex.... I think the Apex Lite is like 350???

I bought the full version, and I must say, one of the best investments I ever made on my tank... My Temp via controlled by Apex is always stable...I used to get 2-3 Degree swings. Now I am at 78.0 to 79.0 at all times... Notice the decibels???
What I'm finding I love about the Apex is the ability to quickly shut something off. Feed Modes, Water Change Modes, and the piece of mind to know everthing is on and working... I can Flip on my iPhone at work, and quickly get a status of the tank.... I also integrated live video feed, something I always have dreamed of doing...


If you have Vortech's you can completely program different modes at any times to independent pumps... Which is awesome for me because I have different kinds of corals on different sides of the tank. I prefer my right side to be more turbulent then the left... I have a few low flow corals on the left.. I program the Vortechs to sync up time wise with my Radions coming on, going off, different intensities, faster surges at peak hours ect.... All this just as an example...
Click to expand...

To be fair, there are people that hate their apex as well. Lol Personally, I went with the rkl because it seemed more simple and easily fit what I wanted to do plus the price made it a good "first controller". Ive even gone further with it than I thought I would. Currently I monitor temp, monitor ph, control my heater, return pump, skimmer and have moonlights programmed to follow the lunar cycle. I love the Vortechs controller so I have no need to use the rkl or any other controller for that. That said, I do love the monitoring ability of the apex units. Now that I gained experience and have become "comfortable" with controllers. An Apex unit will likely be the next progression for me, eventually. For now, Im quite happy with the rkl, the simplicity, cost, and abilities, IMO, make it a great inductory into controllers for those of us who are "programming illeterate"! lol If the OP is comfortable with programming and plans to take advantage of a few extra apex abilities, Id say go for it, its a great controller. If the OP isnt going to take advantage of a few extra apex abilities, and or, isnt comfortable with programming, Id say save some money and get some experience with the rkl. One thing I think we both would agree on, dont waste money on a "heater only controller" like the ranco when a full "introductory" controller can be had for as little as about $110.
 
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