whats the best reef heater nowaday's

SUPERSTOCKRACER · 03/24/2013, 08:46 AM

i am having alot of problems with marineland visitherm 300-400 water submersible heaters.
i'm on my 5th one and they keep crapping out. light on but no heat. my buddy has gone through the same issue.thank goodness theres a 100% guarantee on them but what a pain when my temp keeps dropping.
what are you using for a good submersible heater these days.

maroun.c · 03/24/2013, 08:53 AM

I've had two Visitherms explode 2 years back. I'm now using 4x300 Eheim Jaeger and will upgrade to 600W Titanium Schego heaters next year.

uny2bld · 03/24/2013, 08:56 AM

There is no such thing as a perfect heater. I got so sick of dealing with them that I just heat the ambient temp of my fishroom to 79 degrees and it works great. It's a lot less expensive for me to do it this way as well...

cloak · 03/24/2013, 01:53 PM

These Aquaclear heaters I have have been working flawlessly for years on end without any problems. Set it & forget it.

Sugar Magnolia · 03/24/2013, 02:22 PM

Nothing but Jager here. I had a Visitherm get stuck in the on position and nuke my nano when I first started in the hobby.

SUPERSTOCKRACER · 04/07/2013, 05:28 PM

I'm on my 7th visitherm heater. The light stays on but no heat coming out of them.
Something is definitely wrong with this marineland visitherm heaters lately.
How can 7 go bad in one month?

CIGARSC351W · 04/07/2013, 05:31 PM

EBO Jäger in my tanks.

coral_lagoon · 04/07/2013, 05:46 PM

X2 on Ebo Jager..

Terrance · 04/07/2013, 09:51 PM

My oldest heater is Jager, but all newer heaters are Aqueon Pro.

SUPERSTOCKRACER · 04/08/2013, 04:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terrance

My oldest heater is Jager, but all newer heaters are Aqueon Pro.

I was thinking the aqueon pro this time around. my 300 gallon reef needs 4 heaters to keep up in the winter.

jaa1456 · 04/08/2013, 06:34 AM

Jäger all the way, I still have heaters from them that are 20 years old and still work. I can't say that for one other brand out there. They are the only heater I trust and buy. I have used others and they have failed or had recalls.

Neogenocide · 04/08/2013, 06:40 AM

I'm using a finnex external controller with a 800w titanium element in the tank. Love it so far, holds a tight temp band, would buy another one if this one dies.

I've also used to use the via aqua titanium heaters, never had one fail....also good units in my opinion. Only reason I changed is 2 600w heaters in my tank weren't working out well so I went with a single 800w finnex.

phinfan8 · 04/08/2013, 06:57 AM

Not trying to be a jerk but, why would you be on your 7th visitherm heater? I would have given up after 2. I run finnex, and jager. So far so good.

thegrun · 04/08/2013, 07:30 AM

I have all Eheim Jaeger now, but I've also had very good luck with the relatively inexpensive ViaAqua titanium heaters in the past. The key in my opinion to any heater is to first calibrate it with a good thermometer (I use a lab grade glass thermometer) as I’ve seen the thermometers provided on the heaters off as much as 4 degrees and always use a controller for actual on off function. I set the thermometer on the heater to the maximum temperature I want the tank to heat to (80.0 degrees F) and then use the controller to set the actual range of each heater (always use at least two at half your necessary total wattage so when one breaks you at least have 1/2 the heat necessary if it fails off and only overheat half as much if it sticks in the on position).

HiImSean · 04/08/2013, 07:38 AM

I'm using Jager too. Great heaters. I use to use some Marineland on my freshwater tanks but would unplug them during the summer. This winter I went to plug them back in and they didn't fire back up.

Fgtank · 04/08/2013, 09:10 AM

Jäger

aandfsoccr04 · 04/08/2013, 10:07 AM

eheim jager for me.

mnchartier · 04/08/2013, 11:08 AM

Running Fluval E Series heaters since 09 without any issues. No matter which heater you run you should run it on a controller. The issue is as mentioned above they get stuck on. So if you have a controller (Apex, ReefKeeper, or Ranco) it would shut off when the water gets to the proper temp and you dont have to worry about cooking your tank.

risin · 04/08/2013, 11:12 AM

Jager has never failed me.

Stay away from those black plastic stealth heaters, can't remember the manufacturer. getting shocked sucks and your tank won't like the black toxic goo they spew out.

dml931 · 04/08/2013, 11:59 AM

i use the Aqueon Pro heaters in all 3 of my tanks. super stable and very reliable. never had an issue so far. i don't like the glass encased heaters as i've had too many crack when doing water changes, even if i've unplugged the heater before i remove the water. The aqueon are plastic encased and shatterproof. great product if you ask me.

Drae · 04/08/2013, 12:18 PM

Titanium heating prong without a thermostat on a controller (rkl or apex or better) hands down. Fail proof.

don_chuwish · 04/08/2013, 12:48 PM

Aqueon Pro on an Apex controlled outlet. If it fails 'on' the Apex will turn it off. If the Apex goes wonky in some unexpected way, the heater isn't set high enough to do any harm.

- D

MedRed · 04/08/2013, 12:56 PM

I moved passed Jager's and onto Cobalt Neo Therms. The tech level and features are higher and I couldn't find a single instance of someone saying one had failed.

Drae · 04/08/2013, 01:11 PM

With a heating prong IT WILL NEVER FAIL! There's no on/off switch to get stuck. Period. Your controller would have to fail. .. very rare. Even a simple rkl Does a great job at controlling one. They simply act as the thermostat. Get a good temp probe and your done.

sslak · 04/09/2013, 09:09 AM

Nothing but Jager.

03/24/2013, 08:46 AM	#1
SUPERSTOCKRACER Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 192	whats the best reef heater nowaday's i am having alot of problems with marineland visitherm 300-400 water submersible heaters. i'm on my 5th one and they keep crapping out. light on but no heat. my buddy has gone through the same issue.thank goodness theres a 100% guarantee on them but what a pain when my temp keeps dropping. what are you using for a good submersible heater these days.

03/24/2013, 08:53 AM	#2
maroun.c Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Lebanon Posts: 6,111	I've had two Visitherms explode 2 years back. I'm now using 4x300 Eheim Jaeger and will upgrade to 600W Titanium Schego heaters next year. __________________ 390 G mixed reef build Current Tank Info: 390G mixed reef

03/24/2013, 02:22 PM	#5
Sugar Magnolia Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Northern VA Posts: 17,691	Nothing but Jager here. I had a Visitherm get stuck in the on position and nuke my nano when I first started in the hobby. __________________ Adrienne The only thing to fear is fear itself....and spiders.

04/07/2013, 05:46 PM	#8
coral_lagoon Pushrod Powered Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Down The Corkscrew , CA Posts: 1,263	X2 on Ebo Jager.. __________________ Cars and keeping saltwater fish. That's what it's all about..

04/07/2013, 09:51 PM	#9
Terrance Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Seattle Posts: 352	My oldest heater is Jager, but all newer heaters are Aqueon Pro. __________________ Kind regards, Terrance Current Tank Info: None

03/24/2013, 08:56 AM	#3
uny2bld Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Hudson Falls, NY Posts: 219	There is no such thing as a perfect heater. I got so sick of dealing with them that I just heat the ambient temp of my fishroom to 79 degrees and it works great. It's a lot less expensive for me to do it this way as well...

03/24/2013, 01:53 PM	#4
cloak Moved On Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Stockton, CA Posts: 14,854	These Aquaclear heaters I have have been working flawlessly for years on end without any problems. Set it & forget it.

04/07/2013, 05:28 PM	#6
SUPERSTOCKRACER Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 192	I'm on my 7th visitherm heater. The light stays on but no heat coming out of them. Something is definitely wrong with this marineland visitherm heaters lately. How can 7 go bad in one month?

04/07/2013, 05:31 PM	#7
CIGARSC351W Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: NH Posts: 66	EBO Jäger in my tanks.

04/08/2013, 06:34 AM	#11
jaa1456 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: NJ Posts: 1,145	Jäger all the way, I still have heaters from them that are 20 years old and still work. I can't say that for one other brand out there. They are the only heater I trust and buy. I have used others and they have failed or had recalls.

04/08/2013, 06:40 AM	#12
Neogenocide Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Findlay, OH Posts: 851	I'm using a finnex external controller with a 800w titanium element in the tank. Love it so far, holds a tight temp band, would buy another one if this one dies. I've also used to use the via aqua titanium heaters, never had one fail....also good units in my opinion. Only reason I changed is 2 600w heaters in my tank weren't working out well so I went with a single 800w finnex. __________________ NorthWest Ohio Reef Association

04/08/2013, 06:57 AM	#13
phinfan8 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Posts: 97	Not trying to be a jerk but, why would you be on your 7th visitherm heater? I would have given up after 2. I run finnex, and jager. So far so good.

04/08/2013, 07:30 AM	#14
thegrun Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Garden Grove, Ca Posts: 17,023	I have all Eheim Jaeger now, but I've also had very good luck with the relatively inexpensive ViaAqua titanium heaters in the past. The key in my opinion to any heater is to first calibrate it with a good thermometer (I use a lab grade glass thermometer) as I’ve seen the thermometers provided on the heaters off as much as 4 degrees and always use a controller for actual on off function. I set the thermometer on the heater to the maximum temperature I want the tank to heat to (80.0 degrees F) and then use the controller to set the actual range of each heater (always use at least two at half your necessary total wattage so when one breaks you at least have 1/2 the heat necessary if it fails off and only overheat half as much if it sticks in the on position).

04/08/2013, 07:38 AM	#15
HiImSean Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Acworth, GA Posts: 834	I'm using Jager too. Great heaters. I use to use some Marineland on my freshwater tanks but would unplug them during the summer. This winter I went to plug them back in and they didn't fire back up.

04/08/2013, 09:10 AM	#16
Fgtank Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Long island,ny Posts: 91	Jäger

04/08/2013, 10:07 AM	#17
aandfsoccr04 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Virginia Beach, VA Posts: 3,561	eheim jager for me. __________________ 120 gallon mixed reef

04/08/2013, 11:08 AM	#18
mnchartier Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Oh look a river Posts: 458	Running Fluval E Series heaters since 09 without any issues. No matter which heater you run you should run it on a controller. The issue is as mentioned above they get stuck on. So if you have a controller (Apex, ReefKeeper, or Ranco) it would shut off when the water gets to the proper temp and you dont have to worry about cooking your tank. __________________ "I accept your apology." - BrianD "That's only idiotic because I don't think you're joking." - Satori (CT4 Chronicles) Current Tank Info: DD150

04/08/2013, 11:12 AM	#19
risin Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Clearwater, FL Posts: 715	Jager has never failed me. Stay away from those black plastic stealth heaters, can't remember the manufacturer. getting shocked sucks and your tank won't like the black toxic goo they spew out.

04/08/2013, 11:59 AM	#20
dml931 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: ohio Posts: 100	i use the Aqueon Pro heaters in all 3 of my tanks. super stable and very reliable. never had an issue so far. i don't like the glass encased heaters as i've had too many crack when doing water changes, even if i've unplugged the heater before i remove the water. The aqueon are plastic encased and shatterproof. great product if you ask me.

04/08/2013, 12:18 PM	#21
Drae RAIDER NATION! Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: City of sin... Posts: 3,476	Titanium heating prong without a thermostat on a controller (rkl or apex or better) hands down. Fail proof.

04/08/2013, 12:48 PM	#22
don_chuwish Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Southern Oregon Posts: 345	Aqueon Pro on an Apex controlled outlet. If it fails 'on' the Apex will turn it off. If the Apex goes wonky in some unexpected way, the heater isn't set high enough to do any harm. - D

04/08/2013, 12:56 PM	#23
MedRed Registered Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 2,035	I moved passed Jager's and onto Cobalt Neo Therms. The tech level and features are higher and I couldn't find a single instance of someone saying one had failed. __________________ 60 Gallon Current Solana XL 24x24x24 Cube: SPS/LPS/NPS/Softie/Invert Reef Candy Basslet Pair Showcase \| Minimalist Aquascape

04/08/2013, 01:11 PM	#24
Drae RAIDER NATION! Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: City of sin... Posts: 3,476	With a heating prong IT WILL NEVER FAIL! There's no on/off switch to get stuck. Period. Your controller would have to fail. .. very rare. Even a simple rkl Does a great job at controlling one. They simply act as the thermostat. Get a good temp probe and your done.

04/09/2013, 09:09 AM	#25
sslak Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1,705	Nothing but Jager. __________________ Steve Current Tank Info: 58 Oceanic/20g Sump/250w XM 20k/2x39w T5 True Actinic 03/2010 Reef Octopus NW Cone Skimmer