Best Heater and Carbon Reactor Q...

[thomasdo87]

Instead of making 2 threads, I just wanted to condense it into 1.

First question is what is the best brand of heater hat you guys are using? I have used Hydor Theo Heaters and have had nothing but bad luck with them. I have used several different wattages for different tanks and they all go berserk on me and go beyond the desired temp. I have had the 100w, 75w, and 2 25w heaters and none of them work now. So I am wondering what heaters do you guys use with relative success?

Second question is of the two which would you recommend for a carbon and gfo reactor:

Either its the BRS Dual Reactor:
Dual BRS GFO and Carbon Reactor - English

Or connect two of the TLF Phosban 150:
Two Little Fishies Phosban Reactor

The price difference is pretty small. I never really have heard any reviews on the BRS dual reactor whereas I have seen a lot of people using the TLF Phosban reactor.

 

[Blackhawk Fan]

Ebo Jager heaters and the BRS dual reactor.
I highly recommend running heaters on a controller of some sort. That is the best way to keep your tank safe from heater disasters.

 

[TJ15]

I use Ebo Jager. I like it.

 

[Curtie44]

I am having the same issue with heaters. I have about 250G of total water volume and can't keep my water at a steady temperature in the winter. I have been looking at alternative heaters to the crappy ones I have now. I'm leaning toward this one: JBJ True Temp Heating System w/ Controller & Titanium Heating Element It's a pretty salty up front (800W version) but it comes with a temp controller and a separate thermometer. It can also be calibrated which is a plus.

As for the BRS dual media reactor...that is the one I run on my system. Don't get the dual reactor. Buy 2 BRS single stage reactors....again, it's a little more money but you gain the control of the flow rate with the 2 singles. With the dual reactor, you have to throttle back your flow as not to tumble the GFO too much. In my opinion that reduces the flow through the carbon way too much. I'm using a MJ1200 to supply the reactor and have to throttle it way back to keep the GFO from tumbling way too much.

Good luck, I'll be tagging along on this thread for some more suggestions on heaters before I pull the trigger on the JBJ.

Curtis

 

[Ike]

Curtis, I agree with you on the two single reactors vs. the dual.

JBJ has always made some pretty mediocre stuff and about the last thing I'd trust them to is heating my tank. I'd suggest you get a cheap controller like a reef keeper lite or a and a couple 300w visitherm heaters. I used to use the Ebo heaters but have had 3 of the newer style leak/fail on me.