What heater do you use and how stable is it?

[musaabi]

Hey guys,

I’m curious what heaters you guys use and how accurate and stable it is. Also what do you consider “stable”? +-2 degrees? Here’s my apex reading for the past week. I’d like to keep it a lot more stable than this but wondering I’m looking into too much.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Ehiem jaeger 300w with a finnex 800 analog dial controller.
Id say my tank stays 76-78F
I dont have a fancy chart read out like you though.
D

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

160g volume

 

[t5Nitro]

Eheim Jager a 150W and 200W connected to an inkbird. Fluctuates between set point 25.4C and 27s in the summer (I run a fan to try to keep the upper end 26s).

Still looking at the new innovative marine heaters. See how they are after they've been out a while.

 

[musaabi]

Also any issues putting a heater in the overflow box? Looking to save room

 

[DivingTheWorld]

I use dual Eheim Jager 150s swapped out every 2 years.

 

[Stones-Reef]

I got the BRS titanium heater with the controller: personally I think it runs like a beast and the controller is very convenient: would definitely recommend

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Also any issues putting a heater in the overflow box? Looking to save room

Turn off all your pumps and let the water settle in your overflow. If you can then fit your heater in there underwater, you should be good to go. You don't want the heater running dry.

 

[Pistondog]

Hey guys,

I’m curious what heaters you guys use and how accurate and stable it is. Also what do you consider “stable”? +-2 degrees? Here’s my apex reading for the past week. I’d like to keep it a lot more stable than this but wondering I’m looking into too much.

I use one of these to control a 200w ehiem.

Most controllers turn on at 1 temp, say 1 degree below set point and off at another, say 1 deg above set point. This gives the classic sawtooth pattern on an apex.
Some controllers, like the one above and Cobalt, use an algorithm that tries to maintain setpoint. The heater is on for say 10 secs out of 30. If temp drops the controller goes to 11 secs, if temp rises 9 secs. Repeat until stable.
I think a 2 deg swing is more than stable enough.

 

[musaabi]

Turn off all your pumps and let the water settle in your overflow. If you can then fit your heater in there underwater, you should be good to go. You don't want the heater running dry.

The drain is the only thing I can think of that would be a negative but I can program the heater to turn off when the return pump is off.

 

[musaabi]

I use dual Eheim Jager 150s swapped out every 2 years.

Any controller or just the built in temp controller?

 

[Ocean’s Piece]

Like others have said, I have an Eheim Jager 100W in my 32 Gallon Biocube. I'd say it fluctuates within half a degree if the AC or other cooling devices in the room/tank is always at the same temperature and consistent. I don't worry too much about fluctuations if they just stay in the 75-80 range. I keep mine on 78. For fluctuations, I just think about how the temperature fluctuates at corals reefs, and it's a dumb idea for some people to chase numbers for temperature within .1 of a degree. It's just setting your tank up for a problem when something does go wrong.

 

[homer1475]

500W finnex titanium heating tube, coupled with a ranco temperature controller all plugged into an apex as backup.

80G tank

I've replaced it once in 5 years. They just plain work.

 

[Water Dog]

BRS titanium heating element controlled by a Ranco with the Apex as backup. Can’t beat a Ranco for consistent and reliable temperature control IMO.

 

[PeterC99]

Very happy with Helio-400-Watt-PTC-Smart-Heater-2-x-200W. Keeps temps really steady.

 

[driftin]

Very happy with Helio-400-Watt-PTC-Smart-Heater-2-x-200W. Keeps temps really steady.

What is your water volume?

 

[PeterC99]

90 gallons (RSR 425 XL)

 

[Billldg]

I initially used Finnex Titanium heaters with my Apex controlling them initially with the Finnex t-stats controlling 2nd, and I was not very impressed with the t-stats of the Finnex heaters. On my upgrade I am going with BRS titanium heaters and their controller along with my Apex. I will use the BRS controller to control the heaters with the Apex as back up this time to keep the relays on the EB832 from wearing out.

 

[Dbichler]

Ehiem jaeger 300 watt on my 210 with 40 sump on inkbird controller stable at 77.6

 

[ca1ore]

Ok, I’m confused ..... apex temp chart shows 3 degree swing .... how are you programming the heaters? If you’ve got them programmed that way then just tighten the range. Has nothing to do with the actual heaters. If you’re just using apex just to monitor temp, then 3 degrees is a large range, even for most internal heater thermostats. Easy answer there too .... just start using apex to control them.

FWIW, apex runs my tank plus/minus half a degree F. In the Summer, chiller controller (a Ranco) has a slightly larger setback, so probably around one degree.