Best Temp/Heater Controller

[BadAtThis]

Hate to dig up an old thread. Google pulled this up as I'm looking for a new controller to replace the what I consider garbage inkbird. My 306 whatever is less than a year old and has been plagued with various imaginary issues. Their online tech support is worthless too. Gonna try the ranco asap.

 

[dmsc2fs]

If you want the cheapest with potential construction issues go with Inkbird. If you want similar to your title suggest go with Ranco.

 

[Eric R.]

I haven't personally had any issues running inkbirds for a few years now on several freshwater tanks, and they are very affordable. However, I agree, if you're really looking for industrial level reliability, quality control, and construction, and don't mind spending the extra couple hundred bucks (not all that much for some builds), Ranco is it.

 

[dadnjesse]

You can get a Ranco at a reasonable price if you have electrical experience and wire it yourself. You just have to waterproof the temp sensor. Plenty of YouTube videos.

 

[Yodeling]

I don’t remember how much my Ranco cost, but I think it was like less than $80.00. I wired the outlets myself and used heat-shrink tubing on the probe.

 

[YOYOYOReefer]

best and inkbird are tough to say in the same sentence. I would say the best heaters are Tempco or Cygnet or plenty that are not sold on aquairum sites. Better yet run a heat exchange manifold off your water heater with a peristaltic pump drivign the loop. Tons of ways to do it besides putting a toaster oven tech in a glass tube in your aquairum, but best is never cheap. You will find more tempco in industrial use than inkbird or any aquarium brand.