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	Best Heater Brand?
bywayofmedia Small Fry Posts: 5 Kudos: 2 Votes: 0 Registered: 02-Jan-2007	hello! i havea 25 gallon tall tank ( 24 by 12, by 20 inches high), and i need to get a heater. I was told to get a 100 W heater, since I will not fill it up to the top, but I was wondering what is the best brand (that i could buy at PetCo, Petsmart, or walmart) ? I dont really understand what is best.. i am like "ooh that one at petsmart is blue! i like blue!" .. that is my logic.. but i want a nice one... any suggestions? thanks!
Posted 02-Jan-2007 23:05
sham Ultimate Fish Guru Posts: 3369 Kudos: 2782 Votes: 98 Registered: 21-Apr-2004	Visi-therm and ebo jager usually come out the top 2 favorite brands in heater discussions. I like the visi-therm stealth heaters. They are pretty close to indestructible. When the guy at the store first showed them to me he said they tested them by slamming them against the floor and using the larger ones to play baseball and then set them in tanks with thermometers. They all tested accurate. So far I haven't had any of them die and they all still seem to be completely accurate. My boyfriend even ran over the end of a 75w one with his car and since then I've had it running in my saltwater tank for the past year. The ebo jagers have been popular for awhile but I've killed one before so my 2nd choice would be via aqua titanium heaters. These aren't really worth the money though. Although accurate and sturdy. The external temperature control has led to the death of some of my fish though. It hangs outside the tank and got bumped from 78 to nearly 90F and I didn't realize it for a week. I lost all my cooler water fish like a royal pleco and dojo loaches. The difference between the above heaters and ones you often get at Walmart is that first they can read the temp of your tank and shut off when it's too warm. Whereas those cheaper ones just run a certain temp irregardless of water temp and require alot of fiddling to get them just right. The tank will also experienced temperature swings easily. 2nd thing is that those heaters might last you a year or 2. They are either inaccurate or completely not working after that time. My via aqua and stealth heaters have been running since I setup my first tank years ago and aren't off by a single degree. I know some people have had the same heater for 5+ years. Last cheaper heaters are more likely to not only die but get stuck on or just heat the water as high as they can ignoring what the dial is set for. That leads to cooked dead fish. Never skimp on the heater. It can be one of your most important pieces of equipment and is one of the biggest causes of fish lost to equipment failure.
Posted 02-Jan-2007 23:59
Garofoli Big Fish Posts: 337 Kudos: 143 Votes: 27 Registered: 12-Apr-2006	I agree with Sham completely. But Sham why did you have a heater on the road or driveway? Chris
Posted 03-Jan-2007 05:19
Cup_of_Lifenoodles Fish Guru Posts: 2755 Kudos: 1957 Votes: 30 Registered: 09-Sep-2004	Ha, I was just about to come in and say that ebos and stealths are all I use.
Posted 03-Jan-2007 05:42
sham Ultimate Fish Guru Posts: 3369 Kudos: 2782 Votes: 98 Registered: 21-Apr-2004	I was moving tanks from my mom's house to my boyfriend's apartment and trying to carry all the filters, heaters, etc at the same time.
Posted 03-Jan-2007 06:25
So_Very_Sneaky Ultimate Fish Guru Posts: 3238 Kudos: 2272 Votes: 201 Registered: 10-Mar-2004	Rena Cal, in my opinion the best darn heater out there, and worth every single penny. Come Play Yahtzee With Me! http://games.atari.com Http://www.myleague.com/yahtgames
Posted 03-Jan-2007 09:25
bywayofmedia Small Fry Posts: 5 Kudos: 2 Votes: 0 Registered: 02-Jan-2007	is ebo jager the same as eheim jager?
Posted 04-Jan-2007 01:06
sham Ultimate Fish Guru Posts: 3369 Kudos: 2782 Votes: 98 Registered: 21-Apr-2004	Most likely. Awhile back eheim took over the ebo jager company. They were using the same name on the heaters last time I saw them but might be changing them over now.
Posted 04-Jan-2007 02:16
Babelfish Administrator Small Fry with Ketchup Posts: 6833 Kudos: 8324 Votes: 1570 Registered: 17-Apr-2003	My jager reads about 4-5 F off from it's intended setting. I wonder if I'd set it at it's highest temp if my fish would have fried I honestly had expected more from that heater...even at it's lowest temp it's higher than I would have liked. I've had good luck with a few just plain cheap heaters. Whatever heater you decide on, I'd suggest that it's more important to spend the little bit of extra money and make sure you get a fully submersible heater . ^_^
Posted 05-Jan-2007 03:00


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