Linwood
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I got a Cobalt Neotherm 200w and it worked perfectly (almost). I needed to heat treat ich, and raised it 10 degrees, it went up smoothly and almost perfectly (I am checking the temperature with a calibrated thermometer). Very nice.
It has a ring of LED's for display. one of the (at 80 degrees) was out. I emailed the company, they said "send it back". I can't, it is my only heater, I told them that and thought that was the end of it.
They offered to send me a new one if I would use a credit card as security until I sent mine back. Wow... that's very accommodating. But wait...
They were out of 200W units. So (I think) will just have to wait. But then they pro-actively offered to swap two 100W units for my 200W. Seemed very good to me, 100W is normally plenty for my tank (circa 5 degree heat normally in 45 G). Would have either a spare, or an in-tank backup. I said sure. (They would also have sent me a 200W when they had some).
Two days later they show up at my door.
Now THAT is service that goes above and beyond. I'm testing each now to make sure it is accurate (first blush indicate is they are -- they all show the same current temperature in the tank).
I am very impressed. I'm so used to rigid, unhelpful manufacturers, this is a very, very nice response.
Oh... and they paid the freight both ways.
I am new to aquariums, but old to electronics and being disappointed in what I buy. It's so rare to be pleasantly surprised I thought it was worth commenting.
I don't know about all the other heaters out there, but I know I am now very fond of Cobalt.
PS. It was also strongly recommended by my quite knowledgeable LFS, which is how I ended up with it. I probably would have gotten 100W at the time but they only had a 200W.
It has a ring of LED's for display. one of the (at 80 degrees) was out. I emailed the company, they said "send it back". I can't, it is my only heater, I told them that and thought that was the end of it.
They offered to send me a new one if I would use a credit card as security until I sent mine back. Wow... that's very accommodating. But wait...
They were out of 200W units. So (I think) will just have to wait. But then they pro-actively offered to swap two 100W units for my 200W. Seemed very good to me, 100W is normally plenty for my tank (circa 5 degree heat normally in 45 G). Would have either a spare, or an in-tank backup. I said sure. (They would also have sent me a 200W when they had some).
Two days later they show up at my door.
Now THAT is service that goes above and beyond. I'm testing each now to make sure it is accurate (first blush indicate is they are -- they all show the same current temperature in the tank).
I am very impressed. I'm so used to rigid, unhelpful manufacturers, this is a very, very nice response.
Oh... and they paid the freight both ways.
I am new to aquariums, but old to electronics and being disappointed in what I buy. It's so rare to be pleasantly surprised I thought it was worth commenting.
I don't know about all the other heaters out there, but I know I am now very fond of Cobalt.
PS. It was also strongly recommended by my quite knowledgeable LFS, which is how I ended up with it. I probably would have gotten 100W at the time but they only had a 200W.