Best heater??

[aquachris]

Hi, my wife is putting together a 55 gal tank. She's almost done, just needs to buy a heater and a few more decor pieces (and then fish). What's the best heaters on the market right now? I've heard people mention to get one that shuts off when the desired temp is reached. Makes good sense. Please recommend some brands and models to us. Thanks in advance!

 

[LostLoach]

all glass aquarium brand or marine land stealth shatter proof i like both and both shut off when desired temp is reached..i believe most have that feature though

 

[Rebel1970]

For what it is worth, I ma going with a fully submergible heater and use it horizontally instead of vertically. I might get 2 for the 75 gallon tank to ensure that there are no areas that are not at a constant temp.

 

[mr_X]

it's redundancy that makes a bullet proof tank. 2 heaters instead of 1, in case one fails.
i was always an advocate for visitherm stealth, until i heard a few bad experiences in a row.
i have heard good things about aqueon submersible heaters.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I used to swear by Visitherms, the glass and Stealth ones. No more - the old ones were great, but I have had nothing but problems with these newly "redesigned" ones. I currently have these in my tank...

Jager Model TS Submersible Heaters

... and love them. Unlike the earlier Ebo/Jager models, these are fully submersible. In addition, you can recalibrate the temperature dial on it so that your thermostat dial is dead on to the water temperature. None of the heaters out there really do a good job of equating the "marked" temperature on the dial to real life. Use a good thermometer to set the tank temperature and don't rely on the markings on the heater.

 

[aquachris]

Thanks every one... Kurt, I was looking at the Eheim Jager TS heaters, and others also say they're great. I'd like to get two of them. Question is.. Should I get two 250 watt, or two 300 watts? It's for a 55 gal tank (48 inch long). They do shut off when the desired temp is reached right? I couldn't find that easy bit of info out on the few sites I've been too. I know we could do with just using one. But seems a lot of people swear by having two, just in case.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Just about all modern submersible heaters have a built in thermostat that will turn them off when they reach the set temperature, so no worries there. The only worry is that the built-in thermostat can be a little on the not-so-accurate side. If you want bullet proof, a heater that is plugged in to a separate temperature controller is a pretty rock solid way of keeping stable temps. But I'm not sure if stability is critical for you.

As far as how many, I'm a big fan of having 2 heaters in a tank. I size them so that the TOTAL Wattage of the two heaters is just a bit higher than the Wattage of a single heater that you'd put in there. So if you determine you need a 250W heater, I'd put in two 150W heaters. The thinking is that if one of the heater's thermostats sticks in the "on" position (which they normally do when they fail), with two smaller heaters it will take longer for the tank to get to dangerous temperatures and you'll have a better chance of noticing it before it does. With a single big heater, if it sticks on, your tank will be boiling before you know it. Same thinking goes for if the heater stops working - at least you have another one in there that will provide *some* heat.

Just for reference, in my 46g tank, I run 2x 100W heaters. Tank is kept at 79F, and the room gets around 64F at night. So I'm thinking 2x 250W is a little overkill for you, but it all depends on your room temperature.

 

[aquachris]

thanks a lot Kurt! We'll be buying two 150 watt Jager heaters real soon, for the 55 gal tank. I'm glad I joined this forum! You guys have already been there, done that, so I can learn a lot from you all