Best Saltwater Aquarium Heater? You choose!

[Hans24hrs]

I have a 1.5kw inline titanium heater. I also have 2 300w jäger heaters in my sump as a backup in case I blow a fuse on the plug the inline is plugged into.

 

[Colin Chaplin]

Cable heater, any good?.

 

[MT. Reefer]

Cobalt Neo-Therm. I have two 28 gal. JBJ Nanos. One for 3 years, one for two years. Have one 150 watt in each. Holds constant temp and have not had one problem with these heaters.
However, over a year ago, Cobalt shut down production on their 200 watt heaters. From the reviews I read at the time, they were blowing apart in the tanks. They were off the market for over 6 months from what I remember. I have heard they have been redesigned and doing fine now.
None of their other wattage heaters had that problem.
These have been so accurate, I have no reason to change heaters.

 

[zoomonster]

That's like a trick April fools question... Other than maybe a glass Eheim-Jager there is no such thing anymore as a good heater IMO. I do have a couple Jager 300w I use for backup and utility but a glass heater is a ticking time bomb. I've had a number break over the years with a variety of nasty results.

So not to have glass the choice is really titanium. This build has been running 21 months and I've already had two of the 800w Coralvue titaniums go belly up. Out of those two. two failed heating elements and one failed controller. I ran one of the Jager's a while (didn't need much heat this winter) and eventually settled on a Finnex 800w element only. They all have pretty much horrible reviews but not a lot of other choice. It remains to be seen how long that one lasts.

I always preach redundancy for heater control. My heating element still runs off one of the still working Coralvue controllers which is controlled by Apex. Not quite sure whats more of a recipe for disaster... a heater w/o redundant controls or a cheap ATO. Been bitten by both over the years.

 

[A+Aquatics]

I've had good experience with cobalt. I'm using the slim design now on all the systems.

 

[Joe30326]

I've had good experience with cobalt. I'm using the slim design now on all the systems.

I switched from 2 Jäger to the one 200 watt cobalt neotherm couldn't be happier my tank went from inconsistent temperature of +/- 2.5 degrees to stable temperature of 78

 

[Wisehart]

I personally will not use a ehiem jager again. I bought the 300w. The temp control was a pain to move and it stopped working after 3 months.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Three tanks and I only use Titanium heaters. Never let me down

 

[cmcoker]

I personally will not use a ehiem jager again. I bought the 300w. The temp control was a pain to move and it stopped working after 3 months.

Did you contact warranty support? They have a 3 year warranty and will replace. They just replaced mine that was a year old..

 

[Wisehart]

No I did not. I will not trust putting that brand back in my aquarium again. I'm only out about $ 35 dollars.

 

[427HISS]

I've wondered about this in-line heater.

What size pump is needed to slowdown/speed-up the water enough the heater ?

When you shut down the pump, do you need a check valve so the heater stays in water so it does not overheat ?
I see that it is supposed to shut down, but does it really work ?

 

[Reefcowboy]

Heaters make me paranoid when I think about them, just because we read threads like this and notice every single brand has or does fail. I bought an Apex just because i didnt want to bet on a heater internal controller element.

I bought a Jager 300 for my new tank and will lay it on the sump, not submerging it completely(i read the top end is prone to water going in with time). I have three Cobalt neo therms, and run one 100w one in a smaller tank. I woukd love to trust their 200w ones, but read over and over it blows and kills everything in a tank. Not sure if people read about the "DIY GUY" loosing everything in his tank due to that heater melting in his sump...

 

[427HISS]

I have also read reports about the 200w. I have a Cobalt Neo in our 29g, for 1.5 years with no issue. I don't understand why the Neo is so good, but not the larger heaters ?

 

[Reefcowboy]

I have also read reports about the 200w. I have a Cobalt Neo in our 29g, for 1.5 years with no issue. I don't understand why the Neo is so good, but not the larger heaters ?

I dont understand either, these guys started out well with these neo therms, reviews on the 100-150w are excellent. Good quality, sleek, everything people look for in reef equipment.

Somehow the 200's started blowing and they seem to have not really worried about stopping the "damaging reputation" of these as being bad news. The LFS i go to says the manufacturer assures them the new 200's have the problem fixed, but how do we really trust that info? I wish Cobalt advertised better assuring reefers to trust their new 200's. Instead they leave it as it never happened.

As i had ponted in the previous post, look up on youtube the DIY guy talking about how he lost some expensive stingrays and almost burned his house down with the 200w neo therms. You can feel how upset he is with the loss, im sure he has some bad things to say about these heaters if ever asked.

Heaters are IMO a market manufacturers could improve lots making good profit. Look this forum From the start and you will notice so many using all different brands, with pros and cons everywhere. Is titanium the way to go? Glass?
HD plastic? I have no clue... I bet thousands of dollars in my tank in a $36 Jager, and pray it never fails. I replace them every year to make sure i have things working properly, but as with everything in this hobby, im sure ill come accross a faulty one out of the box that will make me reach deep in my pockets at somepoint

 

[Salt-Lick]

Great thread. Thanks for all the suggestions

 

[Joe30326]

Supposedly they redesigned the 200w with new epoxy and a stronger case

 

[David Robb]

Aqua Medic Titanium Heater is my favorite.

 

[Weeble10]

Cobalt Neo-Therms(75w and 100w) in two different tanks. I haven't had any issues, and they hold temp with zero fluctuations. Can't speak to the issues others have bought up regarding the 200w. But for a smaller tank I wouldn't use anything else!

 

[mushroomrob]

Switched to Cobalt from generic, amazing.

 

[Nowell]

I have three Ebo-Jagers from late 90s that are still going strong. I've had 3-4 of the new ones fail, however, they were on almost constantly in a basement frag tank.