Best Saltwater Aquarium Heater? You choose!

revhtree · Dec 3, 2012

One of the most important and dangerous pieces of equipment to use in your reef is a heater! Get a good one and all is well. Get a bad one and you could kill your tank!

In your experience what is the BEST aquarium heater you have used for your reef to date and why?

-Logzor · Dec 3, 2012

Any glass heaters, titaniums always leak....all heaters need to be on a separate controller, regardless of brand. Therefore it shouldn't matter too much of the brand so long as it's glass.

redfishbluefish · Dec 3, 2012

RULE 1: You must use a temperature controller, regardless of the brand of heater.

RULE 2: Use two heaters in your tank. This way, when one craps out (and it will) the other will maintain temperature, or at least close to temperature.

NOW, as far as choice of heaters:

I believe Ehiem Jager’s are the best. The glass on these things is real thick. The only problem is that they are long.

If you can’t fit a Jager, my second choice is Sera.

Dowtish · Dec 3, 2012

Eheim Jager has my vote

oceangirl2009 · Dec 3, 2012

Eheim Jager has my vote too.

SC reefer · Dec 3, 2012

Fluval has been very good my 40 breeder and Eheim on my 75 has also been very good.

bobbyM · Dec 3, 2012

Eheim Jager have always been my first choice. But, I have had to send a few of them back this year. :tsk:

Bootstrap · Dec 3, 2012

redfishbluefish said:
RULE 1: You must use a temperature controller, regardless of the brand of heater.

RULE 2: Use two heaters in your tank. This way, when one craps out (and it will) the other will maintain temperature, or at least close to temperature.

NOW, as far as choice of heaters:

I believe Ehiem Jagerâ€™s are the best. The glass on these things is real thick. The only problem is that they are long.

If you canâ€™t fit a Jager, my second choice is Sera.

Could you explain temperature control to a noib?

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX HD

impur · Dec 3, 2012

My experience:

I always use a temp controller. I've found Eheim Jager heaters to have the most inconsistant settings. I have 3 of them, and all are off. I finally had to throw one away over the weekend. Via Aqua titanium heaters have been the best I have personally used. The one I have on my cube has been going strong for almost 10 years now. The Hydor heaters seem to work really well also.

Budman's Corals · Dec 3, 2012

is it really important to keep a constant temp? mine never goes below 75 but will always get to 79 How much is to much flux's

AZDesertRat · Dec 3, 2012

Via Aqua Titanium, I have had nothing but problems with glass heaters, Eheim and VisiTherm included. The Titaniums come with a seperate controller and temp sensor and are extremely accurate.

att · Dec 3, 2012

won bros 300w titanium & finnex 500w titanium, controlled by reef keeper elite/net.

jdl513 · Dec 3, 2012

I use three eheim jagers with a spare in reserve.
Two of them are enough to maintain the temperature, but one is not enough on it's own.

This way if a heater fails in the "on" position my display won't overheat or if it fails in the "off" position I still have the other two to maintain the temperature.
I do not trust the thermostats and verify the temperature with a thermometer.

GeoHawk · Dec 3, 2012

Eheim Jager

Bootstrap · Dec 3, 2012

jdl513 said:
I use three eheim jagers with a spare in reserve.
Two of them are enough to maintain the temperature, but one is not enough on it's own.

This way if a heater fails in the "on" position my display won't overheat or if it fails in the "off" position I still have the other two to maintain the temperature.
I do not trust the thermostats and verify the temperature with a thermometer.

So do you just set the thermometer 2 max temperature and let the controller decide when to turn them on and off

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX HD

redfishbluefish · Dec 3, 2012

Bootstrap said:
Could you explain temperature control to a noib?

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX HD

I'm talking about one of the many controllers that control your entire system. I personally use a ReefKeeper myself, but there are many other options out there. The ReefKeeper controls not only my temperature, but also my lights and pumps, and everything else.

revhtree · Dec 13, 2012

WOW mixed reviews so far!

Loki · Dec 13, 2012

Finnex 500w titanium controlled by a reef keeper. This is flawless :)

Sent from tapatalk

NanaReefer · Dec 13, 2012

Been keeping aquariums for 35+yrs. Have gone through many heaters. For the last 10+yrs I've owned the same one. A Via Aqua 300w Titanium. Controller mounts outside the tank. Has a 12" heat prob. Hands down the best heater I've ever owned!

Peterock · Dec 13, 2012

Haven't used a heater in years on my 72 bowfront. I run halides but the tank is my my living room and I was always scared to run one without a controller. I'm hoping to get a controller for Xmass, and will add one for more stability then. I'm also getting 2 LED units so the tank may need more heat without the halides.