# Heater Comparison



## Pac-Man

Lets use this thread to discuss the different brands of heaters used in aquaria. I for one, use visitherm heaters, as they maintain a steady temperature with little to no fluctuations of temperature (to my experience anyway). would anyone else like to comment on what type of heaters thay like best, which to stay away from, etc.


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## fishfreaks

stay away from penn plax, i went through 4 in 3 months, faulty on their part


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## Ownager2004

My bedroom, i mean sauna lol, keeps my fish tank at around 80 degrees. I have no idea why my room stays so hot, but im glad im moving soon. Im thinking there must not be any insulation between the roof and my room, lol.

Anyway... ill probably have to pick up a heater at some point. Any reccomendations for a 10 gallon?


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## Pac-Man

maybe a visitherm 100 watt. that would be good for a 10 gallon. any1 else want to add something about good (or bad) heaters?


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## sumpthinfishy

My Jager 250 or 300 W(can't remember) does a really nice job of keeping the temp steady in my 46 gallon. Other tanks have whatever the Wal-Mart special is and much more fluctuation.


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## Pac-Man

yah, ive heard good things about jagers. i just purchased a marineland neptune 50 watt heater for my 5 gallon tank. any1 had experience with these? so far it seems to be doing a good job.


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## osteoporoosi

Jägers are the best, and their guarantees are good.


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## Pac-Man

yup, ive never tried jagers though. ive always heard good things about them though. my visitherm heater works great too, and it has a life time warranty.


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## hail_sniper

yep jagers the best, they should be... they are the first to make a submersible heater, they should be reliable (im not sure, but i think its german engineering, you can always trust german engineering)


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## shev

I killed 3 heaters in my 55 gallon. one of them was a 300 watt.

but now I have a 250-ish watt ebo jager thats been doin good for about a year.


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## Damon

Ebo-Jagers USED to be the best. Now they are made by another manufacturer and the newer models aren't what they should be. WON brothers make the best heaters by far. But you will pay a penny for them.


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## ALFA WOLF

Very pretty penny Ill have to stop buying groceries for a while if i want one before i die.


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## Pac-Man

how expensive are the won bros. simpte?


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## euRasian32

PacMan= I agree, I stand by visitherm. I've had one in each of my old tanks. Only one got broken (2 oscars) and they sent me a new one.

FishFreaks: I agree totally. (PennPlax = junk) I had 4 of these, they break on their own and the temp dial had a mind of its own.

Sniper: German engineering. Nuff Said. I probably can't afford one of those heaters though... I'm curious to see how much.
I got a limited edition VW last year (R32 - makes my username look like YOU'RE RAISIN32), made in Wolfsburg Germany, not Mexico. Yup, you heard correctly, assembled in Mexico. No offense to the Latino community, but there aren't any Germans down there...

...back on topic. Visitherm is a good mediocre budget heater. I can get the 300 watts for less that 20 beans and it has a lifetime warranty. German or not, can't beat that with a stick.


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## ALFA WOLF

dream heater. would it not be nice to have a heater were u can put in the fish u have and quantity and it will put it at a perfect temperature for all the fish. and it will move on its own while the summer and winter passes.


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## Damon

About $25.00 for a 100 watt non digital. $35.00 150watt for digital readout. These prices are internet so factor in shipping and you get the idea...........  But they are the best.
I also use visitherm heaters for the reasons mentioned. 3+ years with 2 of them and no problems so far. (*knock on wood*)


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## ALFA WOLF

To The Internet......again.


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## Pac-Man

yup, i love visitherm....i got my 150 watt for 14.99, pretty cheap for such a good value, if i may say so myself. I'm quite the bargain hunter.


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## Guest

I recommend the Hydor ETH external heater. I've had it for over a year and it's been awesome.


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## euRasian32

I recently got a 250w Jager, and it's running my 125 by itself. I've got it right next to an intake though.

I have to say i'm slightly disappointed. There are no performance issues, just design. The unit I have isn't submersible, it has a "water line" yet it totally looks like a completely submersible unit. I'm not sure if they have 2 types of unit's submersible and non... but I'm getting another completely submersible VisiTherm 300 and the Jager will be my back up (the other thing i have will go in the trash)

C


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## Orbital

I use mostly Ebo-Jagers, probably have around 6-8 of them and they work great. I also have two 300 watt Rena Cal Top heaters that are nice IMO.

For heaters that I don't care so much for, the tetratech type work but aren't the greatest for steady temp.


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## Guest

AVoid Penn-Plax Like the plague unless you want to cook your fish. Not only do they break easy and fast but when mine broke it stayed on but never shut off and boiled my aquarium overnight! I woke up the next morning to a steaming hot tank of boiled fish and water. It was so hot that I had to remove the heater and wait an hour or 2 before I could touch the water without getting burnt. ALthough It is in good use now as I use it to cure my driftwood that I find. I can Keep the driftwood water boiling for days as long as I refill it!


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## IloveCichlids

I so believe that Visi-Therm has water lines on them but they are for water not to go below this point. I have two in my 120 and 1 in my 55. I have never had a problem with any of them. Although they are coming out with non breakable (non glass) submersibles that are just a fraction higher, and by fraction I mean a buck or two. I would like to purchase the non breakable ones when I get some "extra" cash. When I started in this hobby I had H.O.B. heaters, none of them ever kept the water at a stable temp.


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## Georgia Peach

IM pretty sure mine is a visitherm - cant remember the wattage though - its not quite big enough for my 55 gal but it was all Walmart had at the time and I need it right then!


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## goodie

I use Visithem here. Wanted to try Ebo-Jagers. Run away screaming from Whisper heaters, I'm cool with their filters(I own eight of them for seven years and never a prob.), but the heaters take out after a few months.


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## IloveCichlids

IMO, when buying heaters, try and stay away from breakable (glass) ones. There are stainless steel, and the Visi-therm stealth heater. I have had one break on me (glass) and it is not a whole lot of fun. 

On the other hand I still have two glass ones that are working great, Accura, and have not had one problem with either.


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## Lydia

Crap. I read through this whole thread and every thing people said about penn plax is that they are junk. I have one I bought from a guy that has probably had it in his shop for a long time. It had dust on it. Maybe the older ones are more dependable, because, even though it took me a while to get it set right, for a few months now it has kept my temperature at a steady 78. Should I replace it anyways?


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## Pac-Man

Keep an eye on it, I guess. If it doesn't seem to have any problems than I wouldn't mess with it. Then again Iv'e never owned a penn plax, so I really can't comment on their reliability. Although with some of the stories I'm reading on this thread...


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## Guest

IloveCichlids said:


> IMO, when buying heaters, try and stay away from breakable (glass) ones. There are stainless steel, and the Visi-therm stealth heater. I have had one break on me (glass) and it is not a whole lot of fun.
> 
> On the other hand I still have two glass ones that are working great, Accura, and have not had one problem with either.


This happened to my 40 gallon saltwater tank. sent electricity through the water and zapped me. not fun. 
amazingly, the one damselfish in the tank survived it...


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## Pac-Man

I just got a stealth like a week ago for my new 10 gallon that I set up with some cherry barbs. Seems to be doing good so far. Steady temp and such.


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## Sly Guy

is anybody currently using a won brothers pro heat 2 of any size and how good is it
i am thinking of switching all my heaters to won brothers probably the regular pro heat on smaller tanks but i want the pro heat 2 for larger tanks


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