Newest addition: Hydor ETH 300w in-line heater with Marineland 360 Canister

[ciaus]

So I finally purchased my in line heater, having seen mostly good reports on them.  I have been using multiple submersible units to heat the tank, but that means cords in the tank and more surface area for algae to grab a foothold...  I like to think of myself as a minimalist/purist and have only the as little as is possible in the tank, to be discreet, so as to not distract from the fish...

Installing the 300w In line heater to the out flow of the canister is pretty straight forward, if the hose sizes are the same for the Canister outflow, as the input/output of the heater.  In this instance they are not.  The Marineland c360 Canister filter indicates that it uses 5/8'ID(Inside Diameter) hoses, as does one specific 300 watt model of the Hydor ETH (External Thermal Heater)300-5/8.  In fact, the Marineland canister uses 3/4" ID hose. 

Hydor recommends installing the heater vertically to minimize the chance of trapping air bubbles in the heating chamber, damaging the heater and maybe causing a fire.

I ended up getting the heater installed, after about three hours, (Had to hit the local big box building supply store for pieces to build an adapter assembly to transition to and from 5/8 ID hose, - Before and after the heater.  The added plumbing pieces cost an additional 21 dollars, not too bad, but still over 20% of the purchase price for the heater itself.  Some Teflon tape is mandatory in the joining of the hose barbs and unions, not doing so guarantees seepage leaks that mean pulling it all part and re threading it all.

Aside form my oversight on the actual hose size on the Marineland canister I have great expectations for this heater being able to stabilize the water at a higher level more quickly and consistently than I was able to do using multiple submersible heaters.

I will also make note that I am really not impressed with supplied compression coupling supplied ont he heater inflow and out flow connections.  There is very little surface area for the compression nut to trap the hose edge against the housing and so if the connection isn't fit perfectly there is the possibility to pull the hose off with nothing more than the pressure from th canister and the force of gravity on the hose assembly...A little scary because the out flow will back siphon water if there is a breach in the line...

Ciaus