New style of aqueon heaters, any experience with them?

[DDK]

Just wondering if anyone has used these newer aqueon heaters? I had the older style ones and they've been good to me for +5 years but I decided to change them out and get heater controllers as well. With the heater controller it actually records the stats in an app so I can see the temps throughout the day and see how long the heater was on for with a built in alarm feature which is making me question these new heaters. Its really dirt cheap on amazon for the 300w which is weird.



I bought two last month and they seem very weak? One for each 75 gal. Room temps are 60-65 degrees and all im asking from this heater is to keep the tank around 72 degrees and its struggling to even break the 70's usually hovering around 68 degrees. I set the "continuous alarm" setting for 24 hours and its been triggered multiple times. Why is this heater on for 24 hours and cant even break 70 degrees with a differential of +/-10 degrees difference in the room. Are they 10 dollars cause there straight trash? lmao..

 

[Rocksor]

The requirements to maintain 10 degree above room temperature, per their table ,is that the lowest the room temperature is 68F. Your room temperature goes below their recommended threshold.

Do you have water flow going across the heater?

 

[xraycer]

For the size of your tanks, and the ambient temperature, you will need to have 2 of those heaters in each tank, to maintain water temps in the upper 70's. I would actually go far as recommending 3 of those heaters in each tank, because I think while 2 would work, they would be very overworked, and wear out and fail much quicker.

 

[DDK]

The requirements to maintain 10 degree above room temperature, per their table ,is that the lowest the room temperature is 68F. Your room temperature goes below their recommended threshold.

Do you have water flow going across the heater?

the lowest the room temp drops to is 60 degrees and i want the water to be heated to 72 degrees. This heaters cant even go above 68 degrees when the room is at 65 degrees. Their chart recommends a 300 watt heater. 72 degrees - 60 degrees is 12 degrees above room temp at the coldest part of the day. Which they recommend the 300w from the chart.

For the size of your tanks, and the ambient temperature, you will need to have 2 of those heaters in each tank, to maintain water temps in the upper 70's. I would actually go far as recommending 3 of those heaters in each tank, because I think while 2 would work, they would be very overworked, and wear out and fail much quicker.

I want it to be the lower 70’s, 72 degrees actually which is a differential of 7-12 degrees. My old style 300w held tank temps just find its these new ones that just seem weak. I always followed the 3-5 watts per gallon and its never lead me wrong till i started to use these heaters

 

[Rocksor]

the lowest the room temp drops to is 60 degrees and i want the water to be heated to 72 degrees. This heaters cant even go above 68 degrees when the room is at 65 degrees. Their chart recommends a 300 watt heater. 72 degrees - 60 degrees is 12 degrees above room temp at the coldest part of the day. Which they recommend the 300w from the chart.



I want it to be the lower 70’s, 72 degrees actually which is a differential of 7-12 degrees. My old style 300w held tank temps just find its these new ones that just seem weak. I always followed the 3-5 watts per gallon and its never lead me wrong till i started to use these heaters

Read above the heater guidelines chart, there's a caveat, it says based on standard room temperature 68-72F. This means that if you go below 68 room temperatureF, they cannot guarantee (nor are they responsible) for the heater not being able to maintain your desired temperature.

The 3-5 watts per gallon rule is always trumped by the manufacturer's recommendations.

 

[xraycer]

My 75g is heated with a no name 300w I got from Amazon for about $15. Had for over a year and it keeps the tank at 78F even when the house is at 66F during the winter time when no one's home.
Don't put too much stock in the product name. A lot of times it's just a rebrand. So, a $50 well known brand probably came out of the same factory that is being sold on eBay for $15 under another name.

 

[DDK]

Read above the heater guidelines chart, there's a caveat, it says based on standard room temperature 68-72F. This means that if you go below 68 room temperatureF, they cannot guarantee (nor are they responsible) for the heater not being able to maintain your desired temperature.

The 3-5 watts per gallon rule is always trumped by the manufacturer's recommendations.

That is not logical to me what so ever, energy is energy and its the displacement of the energy put into the tank must overcome to the energy leaving the tank to heat the water. Warmer waters gives off more of this energy due to the fact warmer waters evaporate exponentially quicker and not linearly. A difference of 10 degrees ex. 72 degrees and 82 degrees is drastic, youll notice it if you have two tanks one cold water or room temp and one at +80 degrees, you have to top off the +80 degree tank weekly while the room temp doesnt even evaporate a fraction of the amount due to less energy in the water. This is the reason why you need more wattage than the typical 3-5 watts per gallon to go to higher temps, just because the heat leaving the tank due to evaporation becomes greater and greater. Just because the room temp is their recommended or suggested 68-72 degrees its not like this heater will magically start working to allow a +15 degree heating differential to ambient temps.

There is only one variable that changed which is this new 10 dollar heater. The fact that is my room temperature is 60-65 degrees and the goal of the water is 72 degrees is in fact helping the heater. Colder waters are drastically less susceptible to energy loss by evaporation which is the main way tanks loose their heat. Your suggestion of using 3 heaters is illogical to me as well, if all three heaters came on at the same time with filters, power heads, and air pumps the breaker is at risk of tripping.The heaters alone are 900w and 600w remaining for all the other fish tank goodies and whatever is used in the room such as lights or tv's computers etc. A typical outlet is 15 amps which generally holds 1500w, there is a risk that the breaker will trip as heaters are high demand on wattage which leads to high amperage pull at a instantiations moment. I dont like to overload circuits, only asking for trouble.

My 75g is heated with a no name 300w I got from Amazon for about $15. Had for over a year and it keeps the tank at 78F even when the house is at 66F during the winter time when no one's home.
Don't put too much stock in the product name. A lot of times it's just a rebrand. So, a $50 well known brand probably came out of the same factory that is being sold on eBay for $15 under another name.

I actually just replaced the "new" heater with the old 5 year old one and tanks at a solid 72 now when the new one couldnt hold 68 degrees with ambient temps being 65 degrees. So much for the aqueon brand name as you mentioned, theres a reason why this 300w is 10 dollars and the 100w they offer side by side is more expensive. Practically is a 100w heater.

 

[xraycer]

Actually, it was me that recommended using 3 heaters. I live in NH, which is ski country, so it gets cold here. My 180 is in an unheated basement. Winter time temps avg about 60F. The tank is heated using three 300w heaters hooked up to an Inkbird controller. So, when the controller kicks on, all 3 heaters are on at the same time. Also running at the same time are 3 large canister filters and LED Lights. This entire setup goes into one 110v outlet.
This setup had been running now for 6 years, and neither the gcfi outlet nor the breaker had ever been tripped.

 

[xraycer]

As I already mentioned, I've been running a $15 no name brand heater on my 75, and it's holding 78F just fine.

Perhaps those heaters are not actually 300w, and perhaps they're counterfeit just using the Aqeoun name workout authorization. I've learned that Amazon has plenty of counterfeit and copy right infringement products.

 

[DDK]

As I already mentioned, I've been running a $15 no name brand heater on my 75, and it's holding 78F just fine.

Perhaps those heaters are not actually 300w, and perhaps they're counterfeit just using the Aqeoun name workout authorization. I've learned that Amazon has plenty of counterfeit and copy right infringement products.

Im debating buying a wattage meter to actually test the wattage pull and see if it is actually 300 watts. I wouldnt be surprised if these "300 watt" heaters are actually 100-150 watts.