Best Saltwater Aquarium Heater? You choose!

[Aikidoka]

Eheim Jäger all the way

 

[Engloid]

Eheim Jäger all the way

I won't buy another one, for one reason only....
It takes too long to replace one if it fails. No LFS's in my area will take them back in under warranty, so if it's winter time you can wind up having temp drop and lose livestock before Eheim will ship a replacement.

 

[Jstan84]

Finnex titanium heating element (requires a controller) and the cobalt visitherm is a great option with some built in safeties and is very accurate.

 

[Railcar79]

Only problem with titanium tubes is the controller. If you don't set the outlet to normaly off, and your controller has a hiccup, you fry your tank, since they don't have that redundant thermostat built in. My buddys tank got to 101 and cooked because of it.

 

[stylaster]

Ive always used ebo jager heaters for over 20 years and have never had one fail

 

[Jstan84]

Only problem with titanium tubes is the controller. If you don't set the outlet to normaly off, and your controller has a hiccup, you fry your tank, since they don't have that redundant thermostat built in. My buddys tank got to 101 and cooked because of it.

The point of going to the titanium tube on a controller is that a quality controller has a far smaller chance of failing than the controls inside a $30 heater. How often do you hear stories of an apex or ranco or reefkeeper failing on vs an AIO glass heater (or titanium heater) getting stuck in on and wiping out a tank?

 

[Railcar79]

I am running my jager through my RKL, his titanium heater was also run through his controler. I just prefer having a thermostar in the heater as well as the controller. You can't be too redundant

 

[SeymourDuncan]

I've mastered an equilibrium of temps between my basement and my fish room to require no Heater/cooler, though there are 2 glass heaters for safety and a fan if it really bakes

 

[DO NOT PM]

Eheim Jager for me, no questions about it. +1 for additional controller regardless of brand.

 

[Dustin1300]

3 X 300 Watt Eheim Jagers. Run the controller on the heater at 80 and the Apex at 79. Should one fail, I've got a backup and like running multiple smaller heaters rather than one sized for the tank. Had one tank boil in the freshwater days, that's enough for me!

 

[erndog]

2- 800W Finnex w/ HC800U controllers for a 400 gal Keeps the temp within .5F of what I set it at love them.

 

[mcarroll]

IME titanium heaters and the typical controllers people pair with them are junk. The problem is always leaking current. While I'm sure there are some I haven't tried, I have yet to run into one that lasts anywhere near as long as a classic glass Jäger or Visitherm. Both have been bullet-proof for me.

If you take care of your heaters, they should never fail IMO. But...all it takes is a very short spell out of water while on to cook the internal circuitry.

And BTW my impression was that titanium heaters were "intended" for tanks where glass is likely to be broken. They do also come in much higher wattages than glass heaters, but I'm not sure how I'd ever trust a 1000-watt Ti heater. LOL

-Matt

 

[SeymourDuncan]

I used a glass heater in a tank and it rusted. I have noticed stray current in titanium ones.
Ahhhhhh lol. Perfection is not a human capability haha...just pretty goodness

 

[jimmybling31]

I feel like the eheim is the best that has it's own controller. Other than that I like anything titanium without a controller built in. I like to use my reefkeeper to maintain temp.

 

[numsie]

Hello all , just came across this thread and here is some good info. I got my first Coralvue controller and titanium heater in May, lasted two weeks before the fuse blew, went to 3 big box stores to get a fuse, good luck. I contacted Coralvue and they sent me 1 fuse that lasted a few months and blew again. This time I demanded a new unit and extra fuses which they sent me. Last Sunday I get up and do what I usually do in the morning and check my equipment and the heat controller is telling me it's 98 degrees in the tank. I keep a thermometer in the sump just in case and it says 78 thank the lord! Now the unit is showing 102 degrees and climbing, I contacted Coralvue again and demand a refund which is in process now. I am going to look into an Apex but please stay away from this controller, I was lucky this time. Can I use the 500W titanium heater with an Apex Jr which I am looking into?

 

[drewsteriam5]

I'm actually using an Eheim Jäger now after having problems with my ViaAqua Titanium. Somehow the display mounted outside the tank and the thermometer got out of sync so now the heater thinks it is 34 degrees cooler than it is. This results in it heating nonstop which ended up killing a bunch of coral and the ones that survived are just now recovering (This happened in June). I contacted their support today since I'm well inside of the one year warranty. I suppose I'll see what they say.

 

[mrs.nanoreef]

For nanos my fav is a cobalt neotherm. My temp is very stable.

 

[GHill762]

I've been using Fluval heaters for the last 1.5 years or so.. gotta say, best heaters I've owned to-date.. very reliable, slim, and I kinda like the mirror finish on them.. I have used several different brands of heaters in FW over the years, and a couple different in SW.. my least favorite is the tetra heaters, I've owned about three of those and they all crap out within months. they fail to heat the tank.

 

[TruRacr314x]

Eheim Jagers for me as well...as already stated, they are much longer than others of the same wattage...

 

[TonapahNorth]

I really enjoy using the Cobalt Neo Therm. I'm using the 150W in my 38g tank. Works great so far. It's slim form and short length make it easier to fit.