HELP ME .... choose the best functional Heater(s)

[ZoWhat]

I will be getting a new tank delivered in the next two weeks. a Planet 6ft by 30ins deep (front to back)

I have an Apex system.

Heaters....
I want enough wattage among 2 or 3 heaters in the tank to quickly bring temp up during the winter months ( house kept at 68°)

BUT! I do not want so much wattage that if a single failing heater gets stuck ON and it fails to turn off that I don't wake up to a tank at 90°. I know this is rare bc of Apex but just a big fear of mine.

Please help my with Wattage and the quantity of heaters

 

[rtparty]

Any heater(s) powerful enough to "quickly" heat the tank will also be powerful enough to fry it if stuck on.

I would start with (2) 300w BRS titanium heaters each on an Aqua Logic controller with the Apex as the final backup. Not cheap but by far the best solution I have found over 20+ years doing this. This is how I ran my 250g peninsula for years and still use the Aqua Logic controllers on multiple tanks with zero issues ever

 

[Amstar]

Any heater(s) powerful enough to "quickly" heat the tank will also be powerful enough to fry it if stuck on.

I would start with (2) 300w BRS titanium heaters each on an Aqua Logic controller with the Apex as the final backup. Not cheap but by far the best solution I have found over 20+ years doing this. This is how I ran my 250g peninsula for years and still use the Aqua Logic controllers on multiple tanks with zero issues ever

good set up above

I have also seen ink bird and then the apex as the final backup --- two 300 heaters each with their own ink bird wifi controller -- and then alarms also set on your apex for temp notification if needed

 

[ZoWhat]

@rtparty which one?

this?

or this?

 

[ZoWhat]

....

 

[Jarob]

I just went through this for my 220g upgrade. Ultimately decided after lots of research to go with 2 ehrim jeager heaters plugged into a Ranco temp controller. Heaters are set to 81, ranco set to 79 and plugged into my apex as a failsafe with a shutoff at 81. Consensus from what I found are the jeagers while not super accurate are incredibly robust and last forever and the ranco is the best and most reliable temp controller.

 

[ZoWhat]

@Jarob why such high temps?

I currently have a few 100w eheims in my 180. nice product with temp control on top of the heater.

I guess it would be triple failsafe with 1) temp control dial on heater, 2) temp control thru controller, 3) temp control thru Apex turning OFF the outlet

my luck it would still f-up thru 3 layers of protection

 

[BZOFIQ]

I'd do a three heater setup. I use mixture of Eheims and BRS Titanium.

Stage 1 - 150W, this is going to be ON a lot, keeping things stable, especially in the winter months. Set it to OFF at .1 above desired temp and ON at .1 below desired temp. EB8 Outlets 1-3, 5-7 area great for this purpose.

Stage 2 - 300W, set at .2 degrees below stage 1 on apex for when #1 is not keeping on. Will come on and off as needed

Stage 3 - 600W (emergency), you can plug this to apex via Ranco to keep it on a leash. This will go on when stages 1 & 2 can't keep up or when room temp drops significantly.

This has worked very well for me.

Here is a week, see spikes when stage 1 wasn't keeping up, stage 2 brought it up. Stage 1 has been pretty much on this whole week.

 

[69cam]

Believe it or not, I have two 200 watts Eheim Jagers that are well north of 5 years old.

 

[BZOFIQ]

Believe it or not, I have two 200 watts Eheim Jagers that are well north of 5 years old.

That's not unusual.

 

[Jasonak]

I ran the jaegers for years, just switched to the Ice cap controller and element's. Seems to be working well but its only been 6 months

 

[Utubereefer]

I don’t recommend the brs heaters. Too many failures

 

[Jarob]

@Jarob why such high temps?

I currently have a few 100w eheims in my 180. nice product with temp control on top of the heater.

I guess it would be triple failsafe with 1) temp control dial on heater, 2) temp control thru controller, 3) temp control thru Apex turning OFF the outlet

my luck it would still f-up thru 3 layers of protection

The 81 on the eheim because it doesn't matter since the ranco controls them on or off. 81 on the apex as a worst case fail safe as the ranco controls them.

 

[rtparty]

@rtparty which one?

this?

or this?

Neither. I have seen way too many fail of both brands to trust either one. Especially InkBird

I can't remember who sells Aqua Logic now but it is a rebranded Ranco and absoutely bullet proof IME. The controller alone is like $220 or more. Worth every penny IMO

I have used well over a dozen BRS heaters and only one failed around the 18 month mark. BRS replaced it zero questions asked under the 3 year warranty. They are SCHEGO brand and one of the most reliable elements on the market. I have multiple that are 5-6 years old in my backup bin that still work just fine

 

[Jarob]

I'd do a three heater setup. I use mixture of Eheims and BRS Titanium.

Stage 1 - 150W, this is going to be ON a lot, keeping things stable, especially in the winter months. Set it to OFF at .1 above desired temp and ON at .1 below desired temp. EB8 Outlets 1-3, 5-7 area great for this purpose.

Stage 2 - 300W, set at .2 degrees below stage 1 on apex for when #1 is not keeping on. Will come on and off as needed

Stage 3 - 600W (emergency), you can plug this to apex via Ranco to keep it on a leash. This will go on when stages 1 & 2 can't keep up or when room temp drops significantly.

This has worked very well for me.

Here is a week, see spikes when stage 1 wasn't keeping up, stage 2 brought it up. Stage 1 has been pretty much on this whole week.

This concerns me as the apex EB4/8 are not meant to be turned on and off dozens of times a day and can wear them out.

 

[viceversabrd]

Aquatlogic (Ranco) is the gold standard. They’re literally used by public aquariums for temp control. This is the 2 stage unit that I’ve got. Believe it is a bit cheaper if you don’t need the cooling half. My thoughts for splurging were to protect my investment in livestock. Eg one heater stuck on failure would be at minimum 10x more expensive than the cost of the controller.
https://aquaandbeyond.com/products/...gital-temperature-controller-115v-up-to-1-3hp

 

[Jarob]

Aquatlogic (Ranco) is the gold standard. They’re literally used by public aquariums for temp control. This is the 2 stage unit that I’ve got. Believe it is a bit cheaper if you don’t need the cooling half. My thoughts for splurging were to protect my investment in livestock. Eg one heater stuck on failure would be at minimum 10x more expensive than the cost of the controller.
https://aquaandbeyond.com/products/...gital-temperature-controller-115v-up-to-1-3hp

Yup, this is a rebranded Ranco

Edit I see you said that! Definitely the way to go if you want once with the temp probe specifically for an aquarium and pre wired.

 

[BryanM]

I will be getting a new tank delivered in the next two weeks. a Planet 6ft by 30ins deep (front to back)

I have an Apex system.

Heaters....
I want enough wattage among 2 or 3 heaters in the tank to quickly bring temp up during the winter months ( house kept at 68°)

BUT! I do not want so much wattage that if a single failing heater gets stuck ON and it fails to turn off that I don't wake up to a tank at 90°. I know this is rare bc of Apex but just a big fear of mine.

Please help my with Wattage and the quantity of heaters

I run apex, and two helios controllers with two 800w titanium heaters. Helios are the primary controller, apex is the fallback, and there's programming to run each heater 12hrs a day to extend their lifespan.

800w was overkill, could have done 500w, but it works.

 

[BZOFIQ]

There are

This concerns me as the apex EB4/8 are not meant to be turned on and off dozens of times a day and can wear them out.

Nothing further from truth!

There is nothing to break/wear out on outlets numbered 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 on an EB8 because there is nothing mechanical. As long as they are not overloaded I have not had one fail in about 18 years that I've been on APEX. These outlets are reated for 5A, I keep them at or below 300W or less than 3Amps.

Now the EB832 is a different beast althogether with plenty of its own problems, besides the mickey mouse design.

Here is my observation tank. No failure to report and none expected either, not from an EB8. Look at the number of clicks - notice the temp is within .1 degree from desired temp in either direction.

Week

Day

 

[BZOFIQ]

Yup, this is a rebranded Ranco

Edit I see you said that! Definitely the way to go if you want once with the temp probe specifically for an aquarium and pre wired.

Not just re-branded - upgraded!

The temp probe on AquaLogic is epoxy sealed in a titanium sleeve, eliminating one possible failure point of otherwise great Ranco controller.