Best Heater For Tropical Aquarium

[blendingshadow]

Hey,

Bought a second hand tank and the heater came with it but it's been a bit fiddly. Started it on 24*C, the temp I wanted and the thermometer said it was 27. Was told to either get a new one or try calibrating the heater to match the temp I wanted (24*C). So I dialed the temp back to 20*C on the heater and it sat there for a few days. Woke up this morning and it has dropped to 21*C. Not critical for the fish yet but I have tried turning it up quite a bit and waited all day and the heater hasn't changed.

I have a feeling I should definitely spring for a new heater. Would that be right?

Also I have a 100L and was wondering if people could recommend the best internal heater for a reasonable price? New to this and wondering what is reliable and what others are using.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Nick217]

Found the Fluval E range the best by far.
Try searching Fluval E100

 

[Cazgar]

I was told that generally 1 watt per litre so in theory you'd need a 100w, but I've found to keep the temperature more accurate in my tanks to add a slightly higher watt heater.
I have a couple of different makes, a couple of elites & a Fluval

 

[blendingshadow]

Probably a stupid question....Can you put Fluval Heaters in a Juwel tank?

 

[Cazgar]

You can put any make of heater into any tank, just get a suitable watt one for the size of tank

 

[ian]

best heater IME is the Hydor external heaters. A great bit of kit. Obviously you need an external filter lol!

 

[Nick217]

You could put it into a juwel might not fit into the filter box but can go outside

 

[Ruskull]

Aqueon Pro Series Heaters are the best for the money in my humble opinion. I have 3 of them in 3 tanks & they're very accurate. There's no glass to potentially break either. All flat, black plastic with a red light when it's heating & a green light when it's in standby mode.

Here's a link to some of the better prices online:

http/search.aquariumguys.com/search?query=aqueon+heaters&catalog=yhst-127861755510203

The poster Manofish found this link to the cheapest 100 watt Aqueon Pro:

http/www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003C5TPF6/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1329185584&sr=8-1&tag=vglnk-c852-20

Good luck!

EDIT: Make sure you get the Aqueon "Pro" not their regular ones, not that those are bad but for a few extra bucks you can have the top of the line

 

[FishFanatic04]

best heater IME is the Hydor external heaters. A great bit of kit. Obviously you need an external filter lol!

I second! Best thing I have bought so far.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Visitherm, tend to be well calibrated, giving you a true range of 18-34(?)C plus a guard to help reduce chance of fish getting burnt.

 

[fishprotector]

I like the Fluval E series. They are very robust and have a full digital display which changes colour as a warning if the temperature changes more than +/- 1 degree of the current setting. They are not the most powerful though, so go for the next size up.

 

[Aqua Tom]

best heater IME is the Hydor external heaters. A great bit of kit. Obviously you need an external filter lol!

I second! Best thing I have bought so far.

+2, although I am going to have to go with an internal filter on my 400 litre as it has an FX5 so the flow rate would be a bit much.


Tom

 

[Ludwig Venter]

best heater IME is the Hydor external heaters. A great bit of kit. Obviously you need an external filter lol!

I second! Best thing I have bought so far.

+2, although I am going to have to go with an internal filter on my 400 litre as it has an FX5 so the flow rate would be a bit much.


Tom

Heaters are one of those things where your best option is the price paid..... In SA.... we normally go by (approximately) R1 per watt.... where a 100w heater will cost you around R100 and a 200w heater will be R200.... If I find a 200w heater and the price is R350..... I'd rather go for that one (disregarding brand names).... I will feel more comfortable on reliability.... It may not work that way in your area.... but is a sure guideline in my neck of the woods.... The higher the price of an apple.... the sweeter the taste.... (and this applies to the quality of airpumps as well)

 

[Noahs ark6]

A good heater that i've never seen talked about before is the Fluval Mirrored series. I've got the 150 watt version and i really like it. It's very precise, and as the name suggest, its shiny and metallic so is quite hard to spot especially in a planted tank

 

[pdludbrooke]

Hey,

Bought a second hand tank and the heater came with it but it's been a bit fiddly. Started it on 24*C, the temp I wanted and the thermometer said it was 27. Was told to either get a new one or try calibrating the heater to match the temp I wanted (24*C). So I dialed the temp back to 20*C on the heater and it sat there for a few days. Woke up this morning and it has dropped to 21*C. Not critical for the fish yet but I have tried turning it up quite a bit and waited all day and the heater hasn't changed.

I have a feeling I should definitely spring for a new heater. Would that be right?

Also I have a 100L and was wondering if people could recommend the best internal heater for a reasonable price? New to this and wondering what is reliable and what others are using.

Thanks in advance.

I have a rena smart heater, no complaints with it, reasonably priced (ebay) keeps the temp perfect and very safe.