What Heaters are You Running?
 

As I have had a heater fail and somewhat fry my tank I now run multiple smaller heaters on a separate controller to avoid that problem again. Both the controller and heater thermostat would have to fail. With smaller 100 watt heaters one broken heater shouldn't be able to increase the temperature too quick in the tank.

From what I have heard is you should replace heaters once every couple years. I primarily use 100 watt eheim jager heaters and by a bunch of them when they go on sale on Boxing day.

Heaters
 

I went to titanium even though they are more money and occasionally they fail but I have had 2-Pro 250 W bust open and take out almost all of my corals. It could have been a power spike but the titanium 1 I had was fine , so even if they fail they don’t crack open I hope and put what ever that stuff is into my tank.
They all make me nervous a bit like you said

I was leaning toward this idea, I have a 300g so I was thinking of buying maybe the 200w or 250w but a bunch of them with a separate controller. I just look at the price being more then 2x for titanium...ugh.

I agree that the titanium tube itself will stand the test of time, however is it worth the money when they will all fail? I guess maybe I have been lucky but I have never had a glass eheim Jager break on me.

I have 2 X Finnex 500W Titanium heaters, with electronic temp control & Guard. For $56 each, you can't go wrong for the price. Although I have usually used them with apex control, I have also used the 150W version on my nano with just their electronic control, and it stays pretty consistent. I have been running all of these on all my systems now for about 3 years and all of them still work well.

I heard that the Cobalt Neo-Therms are very reliable, however at their price point, you could buy 3-4 of the titaniums for that price.

I really think that the Titanium run by an aquarium controller is the way to go.

I have 1 Finnex 500W Titanium heater, with electronic temp control head. I use it as a complete standalone setup, but plug the head into my apex power bar. I set the outlet so that it will turn off should the water temp rise above 2 degrees. Just a bit of a safety feature.

I have a Finnex controller and it runs 6 degrees off right out of the box. It is great at controlling the temperature steady but don't trust the reading. I currently have it set at 84 degrees. I keep all my tanks at 78. I use a Vee Gee digital thermometer to check the precise temperature in all my tanks twice a week. I have done this after I had false readings from glass thermometers and fried a bunch of acropora and killed some fish (lack of O2).

This is why you can never really trust anything out of the box to be honest. I will always go with the titanium element with an external control source.

BRS Investigates actually just had a great video about this. They investigated a bunch of different options. Their best option was the Aquacontroller with a titanium element. You should check it out, it was a good watch.

was running 2 x 500 W heaters on a DA controller on big tank

now running aqueon preset heater on frag tank with thermometer for reference check

4x300w eheim controlled by apex. old school but I haven't found anything better

Maybe the Aquatop one I had just happened to blow out early. Sounds like titanium heaters is the preferred method. I may have to look in to the Finnex if my other Aquatop goes as I don’t want to replace these every year. I will say these stay pretty consistent but I’m doubting the longevity.

I have 3 Eheim Jager heaters in my sump which are 7 years old. They are 200watts each and I just finished cleaning and testing them. They test just fine.
I bought them new and they have never been submerged past the minimum/maximun line.
I tested them tonight and all are working just fine.

Key to keeping them new is to never submerge them past the min/max line on the head.

I keep my heaters vertical in my sump

https://i749.photobucket.com/albums/...pszikqnwm7.jpg

Did you build that heater holder?

Yes I did
Contact me Glen if you are interested in one

I have seen Greg’s system and if you need to know how things should be set up u should see his

Definitely like the heater holder! I would have to measure my current running water level in my sump. Those larger wattage eheims tend to be really long, especially if they will be mounted vertically.

+ 1 here. I don't use 4 of them, but I use 3 Eheims controlled by Apex as well.

I've been running the same Ebo 300w pair for 6 years. I have 2 backups still in the box and one that is stuck on that I'm not sure why I've kept other than to throw into my water change station every now and then if I'm in a hurry to get new water ready. I have a 100g salt storage barrel and a 100g fresh barrel so it comes in handy every now and then.
The EBO's have been really good.

I've been running two 200watt Aqua Medic Titanium Heaters for a long time now. I programmed one to kick on 0.1 degree before the other to reduce the on/off cycles of one heater.

I've heard stories of heaters failing and many people replace them annually before they fail. Mine have been working like champs for about 5 years now, I do have two spares ready for replacement when they do fail... touch wood! :lol!: