what about the fluval heaters with digital readout? i'm considering getting one. anyone ever used one? they also have a casing to prevent fish from touching the heating element.
what is the most reliable and longest lasting heater?
- Thread starter cichlidcichlid
- Start date
I like stealths. I can tell if they are working by watching the thermometer....or reaching in and touching it...only one part of my 250w one really gets hot. I like the way they look, and I personally dont like the red indicator light of glass ones. Any tank Ive had with aggressive fish always attack the light. Esp the Oscars, they broke alot of heaters till I got a stealth.
My oscar got pi$$ed and destroyed his Visi-Therm Deluxe Heater yesterday. Glass all over the tank... He cut himself, but not too bad. 
Getting the Visi-Therm Stealth now.
Getting the Visi-Therm Stealth now.
I use Visi Therm Stealth heaters exclusively…
I like their black / non glass design. Easy to hide, hard to break…
I like to glance at a heater and know if it turns on/off… but I hate having a little orange glowing dot in the tank when lights are out…
I do not use / trust the auto shut off feature… I have all the heaters & filters for each tank plugged into a common strip… so I can turn the heaters & filters for each tank off with the push of one button while doing maintenance…
I feel many heaters fail due to user error, and then the heater is blamed for the failure. I find 2 W per gallon is plenty big enough when the desired tank temp is 15*F or less higher than the room temperature. Using “more heater’ than this causes the heater to turn itself on/off more often, thus wearing out the feature that turns itself on/off, thus overheating the tank…
“more is better” isn’t always true…
I like their black / non glass design. Easy to hide, hard to break…
I like to glance at a heater and know if it turns on/off… but I hate having a little orange glowing dot in the tank when lights are out…
I do not use / trust the auto shut off feature… I have all the heaters & filters for each tank plugged into a common strip… so I can turn the heaters & filters for each tank off with the push of one button while doing maintenance…
I feel many heaters fail due to user error, and then the heater is blamed for the failure. I find 2 W per gallon is plenty big enough when the desired tank temp is 15*F or less higher than the room temperature. Using “more heater’ than this causes the heater to turn itself on/off more often, thus wearing out the feature that turns itself on/off, thus overheating the tank…
“more is better” isn’t always true…
I use a heater guard on my ebo's to eliminate the glass breaking problem.
I use the hagen tronic heater guards, they fit the Ebo's perfectly, and are black to boot.
I use the hagen tronic heater guards, they fit the Ebo's perfectly, and are black to boot.
wow! I never heard fish attacking heaters! here we have 2 cases where oscars gone wild! I have the regular visi-therm deluxe heaters (300w) & they reach the accurate temp setting pretty quickly & yes the red light comes on, but not so often. I don't mind the light & my fish don't either. strange!
I had no problems for over a year. Then... OSCAR ATTACK! 
250W Stealth was "on sale" for $33, reg $41, at my local Petsmart today. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754055
250W Stealth was "on sale" for $33, reg $41, at my local Petsmart today. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754055
