Aqua Medic Biotherm Controller

[rbursek]

I have heater control problems, they are the hardest working on/off things in our systems, so I ordered this controller from MD, looking for feed back from who has one/
Bob

 

[Len]

I think I've owned this controller. The reason I say "I think" is because mine looked like the same layout, but different colors and was not branded by Aqua Medic. Anyhow, the controller worked fine without any problems for 5+ years. It was easy to set, and I did not do any maintenance on it in the time I had it.

 

[rbursek]

Thanks Len,
got it and rumming for 3 days now, tank has never run such a cocsistant temp as it does now.
Bob

 

[Anonymous]

I have several of them in use. Can't say I have ever had a problem.

 

[phillips]

Mines been working very well for several months. So far, it's the best heater I've found.

 

[rbursek]

This controller rocks, should have gotten one years ago. tank temp is a constant 78* now.

 

[leftovers]

This controller rocks, should have gotten one years ago. tank temp is a constant 78* now.

i have both the controller and the 1000W element and i don't miss my 3x300 glass pos heaters one bit...

Not only is it more accurate but its also more efficient and i use significantly less electricity since i don't have dualing elements or just plain bad elements.

I expect to replace the titanium probe hopefully after about 3-5 years which would be significantly longer than any one glass element.

 

[S!mon]

Just ordered mine last night. I have a 46 gal bow with a twenty gallon sump, so I ordered the controller with a 500w heater...too much for my tank? My house gets down to 58F at night this time of year but I keep it at 80F during the day in summer. I hope a fan will be enough!

 

[leftovers]

Just ordered mine last night. I have a 46 gal bow with a twenty gallon sump, so I ordered the controller with a 500w heater...too much for my tank? My house gets down to 58F at night this time of year but I keep it at 80F during the day in summer. I hope a fan will be enough!

well if you plan on cooking the fish then yes 500w should be good to go on that 4gl. At most you would have needed 150w. That heater will run very short times to keep tank warm. If you keep it covered at night that too will reduce any heaters need to run as well as covering your sump.

A small fan will be more than ample to cool that tank during the summer months.

 

[S!mon]

Wow, I've alaws ran my heaters at about 5 watts/gal. This would put me at 320 watts give or take. Is this too high?

 

[leftovers]

Wow, I've alaws ran my heaters at about 5 watts/gal. This would put me at 320 watts give or take. Is this too high?

Typically yes. 3W would be more appropriate. Based on your 5W per gal approach i would need 1500W of heaters at least to keep my tank warm. It has to maintain 77 in a 1st floor thats set for 63F during the day and night with some peaks to 68. The sump is actually under the house and exposed to 50's continuously but its insulated and covered.

I have used 900w for the better part of a decade with no issues. This new single element 1000W and controller though will actually reduce my electrical bill and more evenly heat my tank. In my case i had multiple large 300w elements each with its own internal controller.

This though did reduce danger of runaway elements as any one running away would typically halt the other 2. With the element and external controller setting this danger is significantly reduced.

For a 46Gl tank with your 56 deg temp a 150-200w would have been more than adequate, but hey you are set now to supersize to that 75bow front you have always wanted.

 

[phillips]

I spoke up too soon. My 500 watt Aqua Medic heating element died after only 8 months. The controller still works though.