Best Saltwater Aquarium Heater? You choose!

miyags · Dec 15, 2013

And I use via aqua titanium set at 78

Engloid · Dec 15, 2013

Fin said:
I have a couple of Mag drive pumps in my sump and I don't really need a heater. Seriously though, I have a ViaAqua Titanium heater and use a separate Ranco controller. I am not sure it ever comes on though.

Ranco sucks. Crappy customer service. And the owner is a *****. A major design flaw is that if power goes out, it goes back to C1...cooling mode, which will stop your heater from working.

Fin · Dec 15, 2013

Engloid said:
Ranco sucks. Crappy customer service. And the owner is a *****. A major design flaw is that if power goes out, it goes back to C1...cooling mode, which will stop your heater from working.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I know people have different experiences with equipment, but I have had no problems with the controller and it works just fine. Been in service on my tank for 7 years now. The only time I have reset it, is when I adjusted the tank temp down one degree. Haven't touched it in years.

trido · Dec 15, 2013

Engloid said:
Ranco sucks. Crappy customer service. And the owner is a *****. A major design flaw is that if power goes out, it goes back to C1...cooling mode, which will stop your heater from working.

I haven't had to reprogram my ranco controller unless I've wanted to for eight years now. My power has gone out plenty of times.

Anyhow, I've been using three eheim 250's for eight years also. I recently took one off line after noticing some moisture inside of it although it was still working fine.

backpack · Dec 22, 2013

Any of the aluminum ones that don't have glass to break. Having a controller is almost a given as well

michaellee64 · Dec 23, 2013

Engloid said:
Ranco sucks. Crappy customer service. And the owner is a *****. A major design flaw is that if power goes out, it goes back to C1...cooling mode, which will stop your heater from working.

Well I'm a Supermarket Refrigeration Tech. and we literally have hundreds of these Ranco controls in our stores running self contained cases. I might replace on average, one every couple of years. I have used these on my tanks for a lot of years without a single failure. I am now running a controller, but always recommend these to people that are not. I'm sorry to hear that you had a problem? but this is in no way, typical of these controls. They have a non-volatile memory which will return to it's previous setpoint when the power is restored.

nanoreef1 · Dec 23, 2013

blue.flyzz said:
Eheim Jagers, a little work is needed in getting them calibrated, but once done they are spot on and long lasting

Yeap used them for years. Spot on! Eheim

Engloid · Dec 23, 2013

michaellee64 said:
Well I'm a Supermarket Refrigeration Tech. and we literally have hundreds of these Ranco controls in our stores running self contained cases. I might replace on average, one every couple of years. I have used these on my tanks for a lot of years without a single failure. I am now running a controller, but always recommend these to people that are not. I'm sorry to hear that you had a problem? but this is in no way, typical of these controls. They have a non-volatile memory which will return to it's previous setpoint when the power is restored.

its a major flaw. If power goes out it keeps setpont....but reverts to a default of cooling mode. So, in the winter, set it in heat mode at 78....power goes out and back on. It now will be in heat mode and turn your heaters on if you ger OVER 78. You may not have a problem because your refridgerators arent supposed to heat.....so staying in cooling mode is what you want. Btw...ranco is a ripoff on thermocouples. You can get them much cheaper elsewhere.

Engloid · Dec 23, 2013

And yes....it is typical. I spoke to them about it. They confirmed it.

michaellee64 · Dec 24, 2013

Well I happen to have an ETC-111000 that hasn't been used in at least a couple of years, and I just plugged it back in...... and guess what? Still set at 78 degrees on the heating mode!

Engloid · Dec 29, 2013

It's not an opinion. It's fact...they said that the controllers default to cooling, after a power outage. Perhaps yours are not working like they should for some reason. I wish mine would do that. If you doubt what I'm saying, I can make a video and show you that it does this. I called them to ask them if I could change it and they said there was no way, and that's what they all did. Maybe they make an inconsistent product.

It's also fact that their customer support was very rude when I called. They (including the owner) were so rude that I had decided if I couldn't buy a thermocouple from another company, I would throw this controller away.

What I did find out is tht RANCO DOES NOT MAKE THESE CONTROLLERS. They simply buy them, hook up the power cable and thermocouple, and make up the price....quite a bit. I was able to find the thermocouple for about $13 from somebody else.