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VioletThePurple

Fish Crazy
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I heard that heaters could break easily, but mine has a 15-year guarantee so I'm not too worried about it. It has the temperature on it but that can be a little hard to read, so I have a stick-on external temperature marker. Idk what else I'd use. The heater lights up when warming up the water.
 
Sounds good, as long as its accurate 👌
 
Many heaters, even the very best makes, are not exactly calibrated so when you set the heater to say 25C it might heat the water to 21C, or the opposite 28C, or whatever. Use a floating thermometer like the one in CaptainBarnicles post to accurately tell the temperature of the water, and when the heater is keeping it at this temperature, you're good.

Keep in mind that increased air temperatures in summer will obviously increase the water temperature because the water will adjust to the same temperature as the air.
 
I have one of these in each tank, plus another I use when mixing water during water changes to make sure the temp matches the tank temp
thermometer.jpg


I don't like the strips that stick to the tank mainly because I don't like the look of them, they block the view when on the front, too easy not to check them if they're on one of the sides.

No heater is 100% trustworthy. The warranty just means you'll get you'll money back if it stops working, but that doesn't mean it'll save or pay for your fish if it gets stuck in the on position and they boil (has happened to way too many hobbyists for me to get complacent about that) or if it stops working and the temp drops too far for them. Gotta be able to check the water temp for yourself.
 
When it comes to heating a tank the only thing I have founf that is less reliable than any brand of heater is almost any brand of thermometer. I finally reached the point where I buy the least expensive heaters and thermometers and then I spend up for digital heater controllers. These help protect against over heating and as a failsafe I set the heater temp a degree or two above the temp. I have set on the controller.

The nice thing about the controllers I use is they display the tank temp. However, the brand I chose use C not F. But that is actually an advantage for me. Fish do not requite and exact temp. they can be fine in a range. If I set a heater at 28C that targets the temp. to 82.4 F. If the unit worked on F, I would not have much leeway on the range if the heater will go on if the water temp is 1 degree warmer or cooler than the device is set. The only way to expand this is to buy a more complex to set controller. That is more work that I want.

But If I set at 28 and the heater will turn on or off at 1 Degree C above or below that means the range in F will be 80.6 to 84.2. This is the sort of range in F I actually want. My controllers are simple. Press a button and the setting goes up by 1 degree C. It cycles around 20 to 34C which is 68 to 93.3F. I do sometimes need low 90s F and 93.3 is fine for such a need.

I trust my controllers more than my heaters. But as an offshoot of wearing a belt and suspenders I have thermometers on tanks with heater controller. The biggest downside is the controller can protect against a tank getting over heated by cutting the power to the heaters, it cannot helf if a heater fails and the water temp drops.

I use this controller https://sevenports.com/product/micro-temperature-lcd-controller-1000w-celsius/ the downside it this is the only place I can find that still sells them. My initial few cost me about $22. Then when FosterSmith was sold to LiveAquaria, this new owner put them on sale for $12 and I bought 5. A week later I realized I should have bought 10, but they were sold out and I was forced to look elsewhere. I tend to standardize equipment in my tanks as much as possible, so I have grudgingly paid up for the controllers for the last 4 I bought. I own 12 of these.

I began buying and using heater controllers after I had two catastrophic heater failures. the first took a tank to 105F and killed a wild discus pair and turned the rummynose tetras into mush balls. My Hypancistrus L450s survived and they spawned about 6 weeks later. In the second my RB line 236 breeding tank went up to 118F. The adults mostly exploded at their bellies and the 25 -30 fry were just dead. Fortunatley, I had enough offspring from them to create a new breeding group. It was also the last straw and i began getting the controllers.

One other piece of advice on thermometers. If you can, buy them at a retail store. When you look at them you will see they acan show a range of temps. I assume that the average temp for them is likely the actual temp. Otherwise i tend to assume that the temp level shown by the most of them is likely the actual temp. I have dgital thermometers on some thins but they are only as accurate as the quality of the temp. sensor allows.
 
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I have one of these in each tank, plus another I use when mixing water during water changes to make sure the temp matches the tank temp
View attachment 165579

I don't like the strips that stick to the tank mainly because I don't like the look of them, they block the view when on the front, too easy not to check them if they're on one of the sides.

No heater is 100% trustworthy. The warranty just means you'll get you'll money back if it stops working, but that doesn't mean it'll save or pay for your fish if it gets stuck in the on position and they boil (has happened to way too many hobbyists for me to get complacent about that) or if it stops working and the temp drops too far for them. Gotta be able to check the water temp for yourself.
Mine is on the very far side of the front, it doesn't really block anything but algae. I can check the temp with the degrees on the heater itself or the temp stick on. I used to have cold-water fish, so back then I didn't need to worry about the risk of heaters. When I moved to tropical fish, I thought at first the water could be warm by just adding warmer water but then was convinced to add a heater despite the risk of spontaneous death.
 
I use a floating/suction cup thermometer mounted on the upper back right side of the tank and an external strip on the lower left front side of the tank.
 
I have an infra-red temperature 'gun'. It cost me somewhere between 30 and 40 CAD, but since I have many tanks, I just walk along, aim at the surface, and get accurate readings. I check it against a quality digital and a reasonably good floating thermometre on a regular basis, and it's accurate.
 
I think it's a good idea to have more than one thermometer. I have the one built into the heater and a regular thermometer as far from the heater as I can get it. I used to have a digital but that broke on me. But since I had a backup thermometer, I was able to know what the accurate temperature was.
 

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