sen5241b January 20, 2009 January 20, 2009 Anyone had luck with a titanium heater brand? My tanks temperature is fluctuating 4 degrees a day with the cold weather and the afternoon heat from the lights! My heater ain't cutting it.
extreme_tooth_decay January 21, 2009 January 21, 2009 (edited) Anyone had luck with a titanium heater brand? My tanks temperature is fluctuating 4 degrees a day with the cold weather and the afternoon heat from the lights! My heater ain't cutting it. Absolutely nothing special about titanium heaters. I'd get an ebo-jager if I were you. Tried and true is what you want. Edited January 21, 2009 by extreme_tooth_decay
stevearlen January 21, 2009 January 21, 2009 FWIW, I wanted to avoid glass heaters but could not find a reliable titanium. Iy seems that the Visi-therm Stealth heaters are encased in plastic and are reliable. I replaced my existing heaters with Stealths. see http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?show...3&hl=heater Steve
BeltwayBandit January 21, 2009 January 21, 2009 +1 on the Finnex titanium. I use the one without a thermostat and have it controlled with a Ranco controller, I use my ACjr as a failsafe on the Ranco.
lhcorals January 21, 2009 January 21, 2009 +1 on the Finnex titanium. I use the one without a thermostat and have it controlled with a Ranco controller, I use my ACjr as a failsafe on the Ranco. I also use the Ranco Controller. I should have mentioned that in my original post.
stevearlen January 21, 2009 January 21, 2009 I should add, I have dual Stealths, each with a dedicated Ranco controller. I have purchased (but not yet installed) an AC III
jamesbuf January 21, 2009 January 21, 2009 I can also recommend the Stealth heathers. They use plastic/resin instead of glass. I run two on my system and both are hooked up to my ACIII for backup. I've been very happy with them.
Origami January 21, 2009 January 21, 2009 Similarly, I'm looking for a high-wattage (500W) heater to double up in my expanded system (right now I'm running 3 x 250W Visitherm Stealth). Champion Lighting has their titanium Blueline heaters (available in 500 & 1000W, as well as lower wattages) which are supposed to be re-branded Aquamedic heaters. Does anybody have experience with Blueline heaters? The reviews online seem to be few. For those I've seen, they've been modestly positive, and not negative, but still not enough to give me the comfort I want. I guess that I cold just throw another 250W stealth online but that means either using 4 outlets on my DC8 or using short extension cords to give me more outlets to plug heaters into.
JC Pollman January 22, 2009 January 22, 2009 Few things get me as angry as heaters! I have posted this before, but it makes me feel better to post it again <rant> My opinion - based on my experience: Never trust the controller on a heater. Never! Spend the money to get a Ranco controller - you can get one for about $80 plus shipping. Rancos are industrial strength and I have never heard of one failing. I think heaters are the poorest quality piece of equipment we use in our tanks - and the controllers are the worst part of the heaters. They ALL suck! In the past two years I have gone through 6 heaters (four different brands - glass and titanium) - and only by sheer luck did I not loose any carbon based lifeform. Well, actually not quite luck: I have a thermometer mounted on the front side of my tank so I noticed the problems fairly quickly. I also use a grounding probe which was truely life saving during one of the heater problems. The worst problem I had was a heater that was always on, but its d@mn light was off! After getting the Ranco I sleep much easier. O, and getting a spare heater is also essential - though they will stick in the "on" position sometimes, they can also stick in the off position, so a spare heater, this time of the year, can be a life saver. Did I mention: I really hate heaters! </rant> JC
quazi January 23, 2009 January 23, 2009 So, JC, how do you really feel about heaters? Please donn't hold back!
jason the filter freak January 23, 2009 January 23, 2009 i use a dundundun won heater but you better believe it run by a dual stage ranco. i have a stealth heater lying around to replace it when it burns out though
ctenophore January 23, 2009 January 23, 2009 5 finnex heaters, all failed within 1 or 2 months of use. These were on Ranco & AC3 controllers.
mling January 24, 2009 January 24, 2009 Stay away from Won Bros. Mine caught fire. My Won Bros. nearly ended up cooking my fish ! While I still use one of them, I keep a close eye on the "real" temp. It is also a 100 Watt in 200 G of water, so it can't do much damage if it screws up. The heater itself is ok, the controller part of it is a different story. I use the bad one to pre heat my water during tank changes in winter.
lhcorals January 24, 2009 January 24, 2009 I have (1) 500 watt Finnex heater with Ranco controller in my 265 Gal. It's been in the tank 16 months and no problem. Knocking on wood.
lanman January 24, 2009 January 24, 2009 The cheapest pre-wired Ranco controllers I found were $74.99 plus about $8 ground shipping. From an apiary supply company. Which I thought was pretty cool - because I used to keep a few hives of honeybees. Does anyone have a less expensive source? I saw them un-wired for abut $48, but until I've seen one, I didn't want to take a chance on screwing up the wiring. Thanks, bob
jason the filter freak January 24, 2009 January 24, 2009 Bob I can't tell if this is wired or unwired. http://www.radiantsite.com/product.php?product=110270
lanman January 24, 2009 January 24, 2009 Bob I can't tell if this is wired or unwired. http://www.radiantsite.com/product.php?product=110270 Unwired is how they come from the factory - so usually if it is wired, it says so in the ad. The place I ordered from will even let you pick wire length, etc. bob
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