What is the BEST heater available!
 

I just dropped close to $200.00 after shipping, taxes, etc. on a Aqua Medic 250Watt Titanium heater and controller in a attempt to finally have a reliable heating system. NOT!

The wife asked me the other day why the tank was down 2 degrees. So I looked and sure enough the brand new, state of the art piece of junk heating element had stopped working!

After soaking it in the bathroom sink in ice cold water the element started working again. I don't have to tell ANYONE here that once a pce of equipment fails you can NEVER fully trust it again. Just what I need, another reason to lay in bed wondering if my tank is okay.

Anyhoo, it worked fine for 2 days but once again this morning my tank temp is down by 2.5 degrees!

I cannot express how sick and tired I am of trying to find a reliable heating system. I like to travel and I have to know that all my equipment is working properly while I am away.

If money was no issue what is the best, most reliable way to maintain proper heat?

Hmm, I used two stealth heaters on my Biotherm as well as the titanium aquamedics...neither one failed. I like my dual stage ranco controller but i broke it. Could be just a flawed element...it happens. Is it undersized for what it is doing?

I don't think that it's undersized. I have a total water volume of approx. 150 gallons. The heater element is 500 watts.

Is 500 watts enough?

I am thinking of buying 4 -250 watt Stealth heaters, running 2 of them off of the Aquamedic controller and two of them separate just in case the wonderful controller decided to crap out one day. I would set the two backup heaters 1 degree lower than the Aquamedic controller. That way they would not come on unless the controller stopped working.

I am one of those people that will get up 15 times a night to check on the tank if I am not confident that everything is working 100%, yes I am a freak. LOL

I am hoping to find something outside the realm of aquarium heaters that really kicks *ss and is totally reliable, something like a spa heater? My hot tub is always bang on, 24/7, 365, surely somebody can make something reliable for our fish tanks. This is a joke. I have wasted more money on heaters than any other peice of equipment, including Halide bulbs.

Where is the tank located? What is the warmest and the coolest temperature that room gets to? What temperature are you aiming for with your tank?

Personally, I have found that if you use multiple heaters of a lower wattage it is MUCH more reliable. If one heater gets stuck on (it happens more often than you would like to know!) then one heater alone isn't enough to cook your tank. If one fails, then there is still a backup or two that can keep the tank at least moderately warm. One heater is ok, two heaters is better, three heaters is best! Ever since I started this type of setup 6 or 8 years ago I haven't had an issue. Before I started using this method I had several heating mishaps.

Depending on the temperature of the room your tank is in, you're probably looking at about 450w total. If I were you I would use three 150w Ebo or Visitherm or other decent quality heater. I don't think the super expensive heaters are worth their price tag. I honestly don't think there's anything more reliable about them. They are superior for other reasons, but not reliability, IMO.

Get an aquarium controller! I use the Profilux and I've been happy with it. Not only does it keep the temperature dead on, but it also gives you an extra measure of safety.

I've had some problems with the stealth heaters. I had one die totally after about a month of use, and another that started releasing current into the tank after about two months. Visitherm was really good though and replaced the heaters under warranty.

The main tank is in my kitchen, the sump is in the basement. It gets pretty cool in the basement and that is where the majority of the water is. The heater doesn't seem to be working overly hard. It waits for the temp to drop 1 degree before kicking in, which seems to be every 45mins to 1 hour.

I like the idea of running numerous lower wattage heaters. I didn't consider one sticking on, that would not be good. That, knock on wood, has never happened to me.

Maybe I will try that, thanks.

Visitherm are nice because the temp is easy to adjust and it is easy to clean off the display when the coraline growns over it (so you can see what it is actually set at).

That being said, IME thermostats in heaters are are inaccurate and should be controlled by a reliable temperature controller.

I use the titanium rods two hooked up to my aquatronica controller so if one ever failed I would still get heat. I dont run a chiller so I do slowly climb throughout the day but only by a few degrees; Cant go wrong with the controller doing all the work over the crappy thermostats in the heaters

This is gonna seem unconventional, but I am 100% serious.

What is the best heater?

Another pump! I don't have heaters in my tank. Why spend money on heating, when you can spend money on a pump that will both heat the water and circulate it. They both will go through electricity. If you want you could even put the pump on a temp controller.

Think about it.