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Heater Recommendation?

JimmyR1rider

JimmyR1rider

Advanced Reefer
Manhattan Reefs
Location
East Stroudsburg, PA
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Sev I know the chances of redundant failures are not at all likely, especially if using a controller in conjunction with them, but my luck proceeds me in almost everything lol was just saying if I need a 300W heater I would use 2 150's not have 2 300's for one backing up the other in case of failure in the off position. Wouldnt want to take that totally unlikely chance that I would have 600W baking my tank. But yes the likelihood is probably nill.
 
DREUTZ

DREUTZ

Reefs R Madness!
Manhattan Reefs
Location
LONG ISLAND NEW YORK
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10   0   0
Ok I'm kind of confused. I'm getting different feedback regarding the dual heaters. Both will be linked to the temp probe on the reefkeeper. Should I:

A. Get 2 heaters of enough wattage each to heat my tank? Set both at the same temperature.

B. Get 2 heaters of enough wattage each to heat my tank? Set one at desired temp and the other a few degrees lower.

C. Get 2 heaters of half the wattage to heat my tank, but combined equals enough wattage? Set both at the same temperature.

Haha, i think those were all of the suggested options.

It seems like titanium is the way to go, however reviews on marinedepot were mixed for most of them. this review especially caught my attention for the viaaqua titanium:

0 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1stars.gif
Unsatisfactory DO NOT BUY!! by Adamr927 Experience Level: Expert Posted on 1/10/2010 from EAST MEADOW, NY UNITED STATES
Comments: I work for a fish store and a customer came in and told me that he bought a ViaAqua titanium heater and the controller sparked and set fire to his house! I strongly urge anyone looking into this product. Look into something else.
I would not recommend this product to my friends.
 
motortrendz

motortrendz

Mainland Aquatics
Vendor
Manhattan Reefs
Location
Forked River, New Jersey
Rating - 100%
82   0   0
its really up to you.. and as a fireman i cant see a heater setting fire to a house.. we actually ive seen more stupid things.. but thats y everything should be pluged into a powerstrip surge protector..and also one mans mistake upon a million sold shouldnt keep you from using a titanium heater... like ive mentioned earlier i use a 300w heater and a 150 backup.. alot of people use 2 heaters with a total of the wattage needed to heat the tank.. i also know somepeople that use 2 at the wattage needed to heat the tank with 1 but set one at a lower temp so they both dont fire up at the same time..the second will only fire if the temp goes below the threshold u set.. if your using a controller like an RKL go with 2 of the same heaters where the sum of them equals the total wattage needed to heat the tank...hows that??
 
K

Killerdrgn

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Location
Park Ridge, NJ
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22   0   0
Wow I'm surprised how many people like the visi-therm stealth here. I bought a couple and they keep failing on me. It's great that they have a lifetime warranty, but even the ones i've sent out for the warranty have come back and failed on me. I've sent out and received at least 8 heaters in the past 4 years for the visi-therms, and I only have 3 physical stealth heaters.
I like the Eheim heaters, I have 4 of them and not a single one has failed on me yet.
 
DREUTZ

DREUTZ

Reefs R Madness!
Manhattan Reefs
Location
LONG ISLAND NEW YORK
Rating - 100%
10   0   0
motortrendz said:
its really up to you.. and as a fireman i cant see a heater setting fire to a house.. we actually ive seen more stupid things.. but thats y everything should be pluged into a powerstrip surge protector..and also one mans mistake upon a million sold shouldnt keep you from using a titanium heater... like ive mentioned earlier i use a 300w heater and a 150 backup.. alot of people use 2 heaters with a total of the wattage needed to heat the tank.. i also know somepeople that use 2 at the wattage needed to heat the tank with 1 but set one at a lower temp so they both dont fire up at the same time..the second will only fire if the temp goes below the threshold u set.. if your using a controller like an RKL go with 2 of the same heaters where the sum of them equals the total wattage needed to heat the tank...hows that??
Click to expand...

you failed the multiple choice test :lol_large jk it was good haha

thanks for the input everyone... I am leaning towards getting 2 heaters (C) like JR said. It seems like it might decrease the likelihood of the tank getting fried. Now I just need more outlets for the RKL! :link:
 
R

Reef Greek

Active Reefer
Manhattan Reefs
Location
Long Island
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Gonna chime in with my 2cents worth. I assume the tank is in your house and that you have some form of heating and cooling for the people who live there. If this is true in most cases your heater should only need to add 6-8 degrees maximum to your tank temp. If your ambient temp is set for 65 to save on heating costs its fairly safe to assume that pumps and lights etc add another 3-4 degrees to your water temp or 69 degrees total add 6-7 more degrees and you're in business. IMO 300 watts is overkill and you would do better off with 2 100 watt heaters for a tank your size if and only if you feel the need for backup . I'm running a 30 gallon reef in my kitchen with a 150 watt visitherm (I had a spare) and the only time I ever see it go on is in the dead of winter if someone turns the thermostat down too far or the boiler is malfunctioning. The tank runs at about 76 degrees from Oct. to May and 78-80 June through Sept. BTW I keep reading references to cheap heaters and controllers. Some of the best advice I ever got was always buy the best you can it will save you the trouble of buying it twice. In the case of a reef tank I wonder if saving a few dollars on a cheap controller is worth losing a few hundred or in many cases thousands when a cheap controller or heater fails.
 
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Awibrandy

Awibrandy

Old School Reefer
Location
Far Rockaway
Rating - 100%
182   0   0
I have always used 2 heaters in all of my tanks for the past 38 years. Yep, I'm showing my age.LOL

I never had problems with the old hang on tank glass heaters when they were they only ones out there. Worse thing that ever happened was that they stuck on off. No biggies as my tanks have always been in my living rooms.;)

First heater to go bad on me was a Won Brothers Titanium heater with external thermostat. Stuck on ON, and boiled my show size fish! Water was as hot as a hot tub!:(
Second heater to fail on me was last spring. It leaked God only knows what through a tiny pinhole in to my 155 Bow Front reef poisoning 90% of my fish. That one was a Visitherm Stealth Heater.
Third heater to fail was just 2 days ago in my fowlr! Another Visitherm Stealth Heater. I just found it today in pieces. I went to take it out of my sump, and almost fried myself while looking for the cord to it.;( Lost about 30 tiny brittle star fish, lg. serpent star fish, 2 chocolate chip starfish, baby Majestic angelfish. The 5 anemones looked like they would all die, the Blue Hex palys all drooping, leathers sliming like crazy, skimmer going nuts. Hoping all turns ok now that I found the culprit, and it is out.

I now run Ebo Jagers in my reef on the RK2. And I don't trust those either........
 

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Awibrandy

Awibrandy

Old School Reefer
Location
Far Rockaway
Rating - 100%
182   0   0
motortrendz said:
man thats tough to hear awib....
Click to expand...


I hate heaters!!!!!!!!!!

Mike what hurt the most was the loss of the Majestic because I finally found the reason why I couldn't keep one. I remedied the situation, and he was doing good. And the serpent star fish because it originally belonged to a great reefer/friend. Yes, I am very sentimental.:eek:
 
knockout

knockout

Advanced Reefer
Location
Poconos, PA
Rating - 100%
54   0   0
I purchased 3 Marineland Stealth heaters in December, 4 months later and two of them have already bursted, one was in the water when it did, found out when stuck my hand in the tank and got a nice 110v shock, the second one bursted when I drained the sump half way, the heater was not completely out of the water, these are supposed to auto-shut when out of the water... the whole house filled with smoke coming out of the tank, glad both happen while we were in the house... will not buy again, and will try to get my money back from the company instead of replacement heaters... so now I am looking myself.
 
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DREUTZ

DREUTZ

Reefs R Madness!
Manhattan Reefs
Location
LONG ISLAND NEW YORK
Rating - 100%
10   0   0
would it be an option to take some sort of stainless steal vessil (envisioning restaurant silverware organizers, cylindrical with one open top) filled with water that is isolated from the rest of the water in the system to prevent a leakage into the system from a busted heater?
 
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