Which heaters are best?

[scorpion-stinger]

Which heaters are best, EHEIM Jager, or Aquarium Systems Visi-Therm?

Thanks!

[woodendude]

I partial to ther Jager heaters, haven't had one fail on me yet.


Derek

[busdriver]

Not to sit on the fence, but you'll get a lot of different responses to this kind of question, I'm partial to Jager, I have a 250 watt Jager in my 150 and I have a Hydor in my 75 that I like because it's attached to the return hose on my canister filter.
I also have one in my 20 gal. that I'm not sure what the name of it is, but it still works fine.
So in my opinion, whatever works for you is the best one.

[Danni]

I have had several jagers fail on me. Mind you, this was about 10 years ago but I have four of them sitting in the tank cabinet and am sorry to say I don't trust them as one of them cooked some of my glass cats. Really sad! Anyhow, I have a Visi-therm and love it as you can set the temp you want on the heater and it keeps the tank at exactly that temperature.

[scorpion-stinger]

Hummmmmmm  just went and got a jagers Yikessss!!!!!!   

[catfishsteve]

never had any kind of heater fail after 20 years so i guess its just luck of the draw

[Saltcreep]

Well, I'm one who has had a Jager fail. I had a 200W on a SW tank that was just being set-up. Just boiled a few snails but it also changed my approach to heating. I now use mutiple smaller heaters in a tank to get to the same wattage. Not only does that reduce the chance of another boiled dinner, it also introduces some redundancy in case of a failure of one heater; the others should be able to keep up until the failed unit is replaced.

[bitterman]

Well, I'm one who has had a Jager fail. I had a 200W on a SW tank that was just being set-up. Just boiled a few snails but it also changed my approach to heating. I now use mutiple smaller heaters in a tank to get to the same wattage. Not only does that reduce the chance of another boiled dinner, it also introduces some redundancy in case of a failure of one heater; the others should be able to keep up until the failed unit is replaced.

The main problem of this is synchronizing the heaters. In order to do this you are best off with a heater controller to control all your heaters. Using 2 small heater mean 1 heater is doing most of the work and will in time prematurely fail, of be on most of the time and then burn out early.

Bruce

[Saltcreep]

The main problem of this is synchronizing the heaters. In order to do this you are best off with a heater controller to control all your heaters. Using 2 small heater mean 1 heater is doing most of the work and will in time prematurely fail, of be on most of the time and then burn out early.

Bruce

Good point. Unfortunately, I'm one of the many who has trouble enough affording a heater or two, let alone a controller. Some day maybe, but for now, I fly by the seat of my pants.

[bitterman]

Good point. Unfortunately, I'm one of the many who has trouble enough affording a heater or two, let alone a controller. Some day maybe, but for now, I fly by the seat of my pants.

I agree comersially available controllers are very expensive, but you might want to look here http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=20106.0

about 46.50 each + shipping.. Think it was around $60 each (I got 2). Then used an old 15amp power bar to wire it. Was cheap in comparison to what would happen if a heater failed. That could cause $1000's of $ of loss in livestock and time to replace your tank be wiped out. Each controller is rated for 1800 watts, but I woudl not go over 1500 watts.

I'm controlling about 750 watts on one system and about 700 on another with them.

Bruce

[Saltcreep]

I agree comersially available controllers are very expensive, but you might want to look here http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=20106.0

about 46.50 each + shipping.. Think it was around $60 each (I got 2). Then used an old 15amp power bar to wire it. Was cheap in comparison to what would happen if a heater failed. That could cause $1000's of $ of loss in livestock and time to replace your tank be wiped out. Each controller is rated for 1800 watts, but I woudl not go over 1500 watts.

I'm controlling about 750 watts on one system and about 700 on another with them.

Bruce

Interesting, I had forgotten about that thread. May be off to my first foray into the world of E-bay.

Thanks

[dpatte]

i have picked up some interesting heaters lately. They are marineland dual-temp heaters, and have only two temperature settings, 25C, and 29C. It seems that other infinately variable heaters are not as accurate as people would wish, but by making heaters with two fixed temperatures (just flick a switch), the price is lower, and the accuracy of the thermostat is very excellent. Since I run all my 18 tanks at 25C, this heater was an obvious choice, and I now have it in more than half my tanks.