# Aquarium heater survey



## t2000kw (Jul 29, 2006)

I'd like to know what you know about these brands of aquarium heaters AND what brand(s) you use and why. I need to buy one for my future discus tank (should I buy two?) and am considering these:

Visi-Therm
Rena
Weipro (the lowest cost, and I'd like to know if they're problematic)
Theo
Wal-Mart's offering (worked well for us but no exact pre-setting of the temperature)

What can you tell me about these three brands? I want one that has a direct temperature setting instead of just a variable knob that you need to play with until you get the temperature right.

Thanks!!!

Donald


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## molurus73 (Apr 15, 2005)

I have used both Rena and Visitherm. Visitherm is my favorite and usually what I will buy. I bought the Renas because they were on closeout on Petsmarts website and the store here matches website prices. Both work well. The Renas have discolored on the end where you can see the elements, but that is the only negative I can say. They hold temp well.

I would put 2 heaters in there. Add up suggested wattage for the size tank and divide that in half. Round up one wattage rating. That way you get more even heat throughout the tank and just in case a heater fails, the other is still working. When you get into more expensive fish (discus) a little security blanket never hurts.


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## iceblue (Dec 2, 2005)

Of the ones you listed, the only one I have used is the Visi-Therm Dual Temp. Been using it for about 4 years now. I like it quite alot. I have it set at the lowest preset temp. which I think is 76 degrees and have not had to mess with it since. Seems to maintain the temp. well. And yes, if you have a larger sized tank it would be best to run 2 heaters in case 1 sticks in the on position you won't end up cooking the tank.


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## Simpte 27 (Jul 16, 2004)

I use visitherm heaters out of the ones you listed. I like them. I also use WON bros. titanium heaters. I absolutely love them. Really not much more expensive per watt. And they have a probe you can move around the tank to get better temp readings. External temp adjustment is very nice also. I won't buy anything else for my tanks now.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Visitherm is the only brand on your list that I have used. They are OK but I find them tedious to adjust...might be my fat fingers 

I have replaced my Visitherms with Ebo-Jagers and find they are working very well and are much easier to adjust, at least for me.


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## CincyCichlids (Oct 14, 2005)

I'll 2nd Matt's opinion with the visitherms. However, years ago (when they first came out) I had a bunch that eventually burnt out. Although I hear they have come a long way since then.

I'm an Ebo Jager man. I still have some of the OLD green Ebo Jagers that work great. It's a brand that I definitely use the most of. The way I look at it, out of everything in that tank.. when you have heat-sensitive fish (such as discus) that are high-dollar (especially discus) what's a few extra dollars when your heater went out just after you went to bed and either the water is 71 and they all die of Ick or 95 and you just boiled them.

I recommend spending the little extra money, picking up two (in case you drop one or whatever) and rest assure. Besides other than the tank itself, it ***should*** be an item that you should never have to replace.


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## t2000kw (Jul 29, 2006)

I bought two of the RENA Excel heaters. They're a little pricey but they have silver plated contacts on the bimetal thermostat. The dial on top is lighted, at least when the element is on, so you can see the temp from the top or the side. When it's not lit the red mark shows pretty well with little light. It's supposed to be accurate to 1 degree F. In our smaller tanks the preset seems to read lower than it actually gets, but I expect at least part of that to be because it probably heats faster than it senses in such small tanks (10 and 20 gallons). 

I got two 150W heaters for the angelfish tank (or discus, may be both) figuring that if one broke in the off position the other one would keep the temp from dropping too fast and if one broke in the on position the other one would probably still be OK and would turn off when the temp got above the preset, making it more difficult for the other unit to overheat the tank, buying some time before I might see it.

Actually, a 150W heater might be fine by itself, though, except in the winter when we don't heat the house to normal room temperature. 

The "Theo" I mentioned previously is actually a Hydor product. Theo must be the line or model. We have one and it is working fine. The Visitherm also seems to be a good product. Both are presettable. The Whisper brand we got from Wal-Mart has worked well in the 20 gallon tanks for several years so we have a few of those for the small tanks. They are not presettable and take some adjustment before you get it right where you want it to be.


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