Why is it so hard to build a heater that won’t fail and kill everything in our tanks?  Cobalt Aquatics has taken on this pet peeve of many aquarium owners.  From their explanation, one of the leading causes of heater failure is electricity arcing across the circuit that causes the heater to weld itself into the on position.  Many a fish and coral has been cooked as a result of this phenomenon.  Cobalt has resolved this issue by using a magnet to create resistance to the switch opening and closing rapidly, basically there is a small bit of hysteresis between on and off which keeps the heater from switching on and off rapidly when at the desired temperature.  In addition, the heating coils are surrounded by ceramic which allows for more efficient radiation of heat across the entire heater.  This new line of heaters is targeted at the budget conscious reefer and will be available in the coming months.