Heater questions

I have a similar q... just subscribing to the thread.

 

I really like the Visi-Therm Stealth heaters - I haven't had one go belly up on me yet. I've had problems with the Ebo Jager heaters. How many gallons do you have, and what temp do you keep your house at?

 

I used a mag 9.5 and halides to heat my tank.

 

i would run 2 heaters rather than just 1 ....that way if one goes out you'll have a back up and maybe a chance to save things

 

I've heard about an interesting theory that I want to eventually try... Instead of using one heater use 3 or 4 small heaters. That way if one sticks on it may raise the temp some but it won't nuke your tank, and if one dies your tank isn't going to freeze. It would be best to have a controller but they can be expensive. I'm using a visitherm right now that I haven't had any problems with yet, but I haven't used it for long either.

 

I like visitherm stealth heaters... they seem to be a little over rated though, so get a larger size than what you would probably think. They are probably one of the least expensive heaters and they work well and are fully submeriible. I also like the via aqua titaniums but not sure if they still make them..... anything other than a glass heater will probably work good.

 

Here's a good article on heaters. http://www.beananimal.com/articles/aquarium-heaters-what-you-need-to-know!.aspx

 

I wouldn't trust any heater without a controller of some kind. Even the Ranco controllers(cheap on eBay) would be better than nothing if you didn't want to get something like an AquaController Jr. Redundancy is a good thing in this hobby. I have my heater set to 77 degrees while the my controller will shut it down if it goes higher than 78.5.

 

Do you know anyone who has tried the Ranco or Johnson controllers? I was thinking about getting one of them.

 

I know a couple people with Rancos and like them because they don't really have a burning need(simple setup) for a controller.  Here's a search on RC for it.  Results