New heater. You all have me scared.

[BowieReefer84]

Based on the recent posts I am replacing my 3 year old heater. Not sure the brand (came from petsmart I think). I have decided to go with a RENA Smartheater. Had a 4 star review on marine depot out of 30 reviews. None of the reviews had mentioned failures etc. Here is the link

 

http://www.marinedepot.com/Aquarium_Pharmaceuticals_RENA_SmartHeater_Inline_Specialty_Heaters-Aquarium_Pharmaceuticals_API_MARS_Fishcare-AP7151-FIHTIH-vi.html

 

I decided on the 150 watt. Price was discounted 20% at checkout so the total was $25.60 total. I ordered some other items as well so shipping was $10, but the order was a decent size. I will do a review of the heater once it arrives. I have not seen any mention of this heater before, hopefully all works out well.

[Coral Hind]

From reading some posts about the stealth heaters it seems a lot of people switched to the RENA smartheater. I didn't see any negative posts like what you see for the stealths.

[Charlie]

I'm kind of thinking that heaters ought to be considered a disposable item, like bulbs. If we can change our smoke alarm batteries when we change our clocks, we out to be able to change our tank heaters when we change out bulbs.

[BowieReefer84]

I'm kind of thinking that heaters ought to be considered a disposable item, like bulbs. If we can change our smoke alarm batteries when we change our clocks, we out to be able to change our tank heaters when we change out bulbs.

 

 

Yea, I mean $25 bucks a year . . .It should be a no brainer. The cost of a heater is less than 2% of the total tank cost (for me at least). Plus the warranties are usually only a year. This should be a sign.

[Coral Hind]

On my next build, instead of just throwing a heater in a sump I am going back to using a lifeguard heater module like I did back in the 90's. They protect the glass tubes and they keep the control end out of the water.

[BowieReefer84]

On my next build, instead of just throwing a heater in a sump I am going back to using a lifeguard heater module like I did back in the 90's. They protect the glass tubes and they keep the control end out of the water.

 

 

Do you have a link? I was in elementary school in the 90's and don't know what this is?

[Coral Hind]

Ouch, that hurt.

 

http://www.bigalsonline.com/edealinv/servlet/ExecMacro?nurl=control/StoreItem.vm&siId=1380633&catParentID=19168&scId=19168&ctl_nbr=3684&utm_source=Froogle&utm_campaign=FroogleUSA+Datafeed&utm_medium=Comparison+Shopping&CAWELAID=388700708

Edited August 11, 2010 by Coral Hind

[BowieReefer84]

Ouch, that hurt.

 

http://www.bigalsonl...ELAID=388700708

 

 

So this covers an explosion of the heater. Do you use a controller to cut it off if temps rise? I need to make sure I cover my bases once I upgrade. I would drop out of the hobby if everything in my tank died.

[extreme_tooth_decay]

I'm kind of thinking that heaters ought to be considered a disposable item, like bulbs. If we can change our smoke alarm batteries when we change our clocks, we out to be able to change our tank heaters when we change out bulbs.

 

 

This reasoning assumes there is something better about a new heater than a used one. I am not convinced.

 

You are just as likely to throw out a good heater and replace it with a faulty one, and nuke your tank.

 

Replace it often enough, and you'll get a junky one for sure.

[Coral Hind]

I would drop out of the hobby if everything in my tank died.

I hope it never happens, but if you stay in the hobby long enough it is bound to happen. Just learn from it and don't give up.

 

Most heater issues in our reef tanks are caused because water leaking into them around the top where the dial and cord are, they crack from physical damage letting water in, or they get exposed to air while turned on. The heater module helps protect against all of those issues.

 

Because the heater controls are out of the water via an o-ring you can use the heaters controls. I for one never trust a heaters built in control and use either a Ranco or Aquacontroller.

 

Here is a better discription of the unit.

http://www.marinedepot.com/filters_pentair_aquatics_rainbow-lifegard_double_inline_information-ap.html

[Der ABT]

why not use a titanium heater?? most of those have external control unit and temp probe, hook it up to a controller and you have a little redundency

 

i only use glass on water change water now,

[extreme_tooth_decay]

why not use a titanium heater?? most of those have external control unit and temp probe, hook it up to a controller and you have a little redundency

 

i only use glass on water change water now,

 

 

If I've learned anything from the "unbreakable" stealth heaters, what a heater is made out of is immaterial. The quality of it's construction is paramount. There is no problem with a glass heater that is well constructed. There are stories of LFS beating EJ heaters on the counter to show their strength, and

showing it's resistance to breaking under even extreme circumstances.

[Coral Hind]

If I've learned anything from the "unbreakable" stealth heaters, what a heater is made out of is immaterial. The quality of it's construction is paramount. There is no problem with a glass heater that is well constructed. There are stories of LFS beating EJ heaters on the counter to show their strength, and

showing it's resistance to breaking under even extreme circumstances.

 

Something people have to remember with EJ heaters is they are not fully submersible and they do have a water level line on them. Most reefers just throw them in the sump and after some time water seeps in and causes issues. The tops need to stay out of the water.

[extreme_tooth_decay]

Something people have to remember with EJ heaters is they are not fully submersible and they do have a water level line on them. Most reefers just throw them in the sump and after some time water seeps in and causes issues. The tops need to stay out of the water.

 

Indeed that is true, as it says on their box.

 

Although I have my new Eheim/Jager totally submerged for some time a few times...some guy at TFP told me in his opinion they are just as submersible as they were when they were labeled as submersible...I wouldn't recommend that, though.

[Matt LeBaron]

I have been using Rena Smartheaters for years in both Fresh and salt water tanks and have never had any problems and have been impressed with their performance. They were especially nice in my 55 gallon where I had the heater in the display tank because I did not have to worry about my seahorses burning themselves.