Neptune Aquatics

Heater Recommendations

mray2660

mray2660

Supporting Member
BARcard
We seem to be having problems with our heaters not lasting more than 24 months as they loose their ablity to control the temperature or just fail period. On our main tank a few months ago when it was cold 60° in the house I came home and chiller was running. I traced it down it down to the heater failure. This past weekend we lost some fish in our nano the corals look okay as of last night ( mushrooms are hurting) when the temperature went too high 85+. Unfortunitely we do not have a chiller on that tank.

Suggestion on maintainance, best brands to stick with etc. We have had Titanium ones, marineland, etc.

Mike
 
ebo jager

can also use a dual stage temperature controller to some extent if you're having heat issues and don't want or can't have a chiller
 
The newer Eheim Ebo's are just a shell of what the old Ebo owned Ebos were :(

Do not trust any heaters internal thermostat. Get a external controller, like a Ranco. LIke Icon said, if you get a dual stage you can hook a fan up to it to help cool it off when it's too hot.
 
GreshamH said:
The newer Eheim Ebo's are just a shell of what the old Ebo owned Ebos were :(

Do not trust any heaters internal thermostat. Get a external controller, like a Ranco. LIke Icon said, if you get a dual stage you can hook a fan up to it to help cool it off when it's too hot.
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+1
Internal thermostats have always been a predictable catastrophic failure for most heaters. It's not a matter of "if" it's a matter of "when". One needs to think about the back up plan and monitor the temp throughout the day. Apex graph tells a real tail about tempature as ambient temp plus the increase as your lights come on. Over the years, I've seen them stick "on" more often than fail to heat. One of the highest risk components in our entire systems. I like Gresh's suggestion of an external controller. Would save most of us $Thousands following failure mode.

My heater is a Teco option and resides in my chiller. I "think" it is externally controlled by the thermostat in the chiller. (I hope, I hope, I hope)
 
An industry insider once told me... nearly all the submersible heaters have the same $0.13 thermostat. If they'd spend oh, $0.25, I hear the problem would be far less :(
 
+2 on the additional thermostat, whether it's an aquarium controller or off brand that extra layer of security can make all the world.

Never had the issue of heaters malfunctioning and staying on mind you (always off), *knocks on wood*, but I suspect that could save your tanks a bit. I would also suggest multiple heaters each of which is smaller than what would be sufficient to keep your tank warm, that way if one fails it most likely won't overly cook your tank.
 
Dunno which is why I still am on old Ebos :) I stocked up on them when i got wind of Eheim buying them. A friend of a friend designed them so I had ample time to stock up prior to the buy out.

I'll probably go with a Ti one once mine all fizz out. Could be years though as I have a 10 year old Ebo still kicking in a tank :) If you never submerse the heater all the way and don't adjust the dial, they last a long time.
 
GreshamH said:
I've always run multiple smaller heaters :D
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+1
Using the Chiller w/integral heater is the first time I've "chanced" not using multiple heaters. Ebo's were my most common choice and if I needed 150 watts, I simply put in a couple 75 watters in the sump.
 
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