Newbie - Heating Advice

[TK9NY]

I have heard a couple of horror stories about heaters malfunctioning. My concern is less about the tank and more about the couple of "it blew up and started a fire" stories. Is that really common?

Which heater is safest? Most reliable? This is my first time keeping a tank that wasn't for goldfish or neons. First in a while where i used a heater. Looking for suggestions so i can get this thing set up! It's a 29 gallon if that helps.

 

[IllusionX]

I've never had problems with my heaters other than it stopped working or preset temp is no longer correct.

Top pick were Aqueon and Eheim, I don't know if this is still the case.

I've even had several Tetra preset heaters and they all worked fine (when they worked haha). Out of 6, one died, one had a dead LED and one had a thermostat failure.

 

[TMaier]

I have had some stop working but other than that, if they work they work.

Stay in the habit of glancing at it and the temp every time you feed.

 

[madstyle1]

Also have a backup plan. Have extras just in case. Heaters can fail at anytime. Better to be safe than sorry

 

[Barliman]

You'll find complaints about all brands of heaters. Sometimes it's a poor quality product, sometimes just a now-angry purchaser whose had bad luck. I'd spend time reading reviews good and bad here and at Amazon to see which one fits your needs best and you're comfortable with.

FWIW, I have a Fluval E-series on my 10g and an old Marineland Visitherm on my 20-long. Both have worked great (I don't know if they make the Visitherms anymore), but I've bought a separate temperature controller for the 20-long, just in case the thermostat on the Visi gets stuck on.