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Location
Long Island
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I believe my Rena ceramic heater is going bad. It lights up with a red steady light when its on and off when its off. Recently the heaters been flashing. I'm thinking about buying a new heater. I went to the fish store and seen two different types of heaters from Marineland. One was glass and the other was a "stealth heater? Any idea with one is better or do you have any other better brands/heaters to tell me. Thanks
 
I wouldn't recommend glass, they can easily break and the stealth is made of plastic if I'm not mistaking so that doesn't have the greatest heat exchange. I would look into titanium heaters, good heat exchange and nearly unbreakable, also they usually need a controller to run them because they don't have a built in thermostat but it is an advantage because you'll get more precise temperature readings and you'll have a nicely display temperature of your tank. I personally run 2-500w Finnex heaters on my system.
 

ClosetFishGeek

Advanced Reefer
Rating - 100%
114   0   0
All the inexpensive heaters are terrible. The controllers/thermastat they come with are horrible. I would plan on 3 things

1) Get any of the above heaters other than a glass model(they shatter)
2) Get two to do the heating job in your tank. (one breaks you have a backup; in addition they will work less= longer life)
3) Hook them to a Ranco or controller of some sort. This way you will have redundancy when they fail and trust me they will fail.
 

bigdog1428

Advanced Reefer
Location
babylon
Rating - 88.1%
59   8   0
Everbody keeps saying that glass heaters shatter yet Ive been using them for 5 years now in FW and SW and NEVER had one break. What the hell are you guys doin with the heaters that they break? lol

I had a glass shatter on me ,, I
Was in my living room watching tv and then I heard a pop by my tank ,, my hEater shattered in my sump


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CHEMCHEF

PERMANOOB
Location
westbury ny
Rating - 100%
79   0   0
Glass heaters usually shatter due to user error. Like not having a top off and heater sitting in a dry spot.
I am not saying glass heaters do not break. They are glass so,, you know,, glass breaks.
But in 25+ years of owning fish tanks. I have never had one break. However my stealthbheater failed after 1 year. I found this out when it shocked the piss out of me.
If you do choose a glass hearter jaeger will last the longest and seems to be the best quality IMO
 

Imbarrie

PADI Dive Inst
Location
New York
Rating - 100%
61   0   0
My stealth stuck on and I caught it before it cooked my tank.
Definitely stay away. I kept mine completely submerged all the time, even when it was unplugged all summer.


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House of Laughter

Super Moderator
Staff member
Vendor
Location
Ossining, NY
Rating - 100%
310   0   0
All heaters suck - that's the bottom line - if someone could make a heater that is durable, break resistant and priced well, they'd make millions.

I have seen large snails move heaters and crack them when they hit the glass of the tank, titanium eventually craps out and the marineland life expectancy is always questionable (but they do have a good replacement policy).

A controller is critical for ANY heater, regardless. RK Lite, Ranco or the like.

If you have a sump and there is nothing to break the glass, the EBO-Jager is the most reliable and has the history behind them. I also like the Via Aqua Titaniums.

FWIW

House
 

125reefer

Advanced Reefer
Location
brooklyn
Rating - 0%
0   2   0
ok ive owned every type of heater,most are the ones you guys mentioned.i love via aqua titanium .the one in my 125 is 5 years and going strong.i am though going to replace it just in case.i think it outlived its time.
 

Anthony.Luciano710

Advanced Reefer
Location
Bronx 10461
Rating - 100%
16   0   0
you could just get a hydor heater. i have one of those and it says unshatterable and so far it hasnt shattered one me. i turn up the thermostat to like the highest level and plug it into my reefkeeper and that controls it. right now i cant even get my temperature above 70 degrees lol. the tanks in a new house with the heat turned off because no ones living there. so the 300 watt heater is on day and night and the temp is 69.2 during the day and at night probably lower but idk because im not there to see it at night.
 

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