OrangeCones

What brands are good?

What brands should be avoided?

Any problem with using a higher watt heater in a smaller tank? (Some say it will overheat the tank, some say it will not).

TAB

The long and short of it is... no heater can be trusted.

Always use a good quality controler.

Ranco or digtail aquatics are both good choices.

a over sized heater can cuase the temp to change very quickly, it can also over heat a tank if it malfunctions( why you have a controller)

gheitman

What size tank do you have and what kind of filter are you using? Many people, including myself, prefer inline heaters when using canister filters because there is less clutter in the tank (the Hydor inline heaters work well).

As far as regular submersible heaters go the Visi-Therm Stealth is pretty reliable and I use it in 8 of my tanks. What size heater are you planning to use in your tank? A good rule of thumb for smaller tanks is to get a heater that is rated at 5 times the tank capacity (i.e. 50 watts for 10 gallons). With larger tanks (such as 55g or larger) it makes sense to use 2 smaller heaters instead of 1 larger one so that the heat is more evenly distributed and there is less chance of catastrophic failure.

OrangeCones

These are for fry grow-out tanks, ranging from 10 to 20gallons. All use sponge filters with powerheads.

gheitman

Then I would go with the Visi-Therm Stealth 50W for your 10g tanks and 100W for your 20g tanks (that is what I do). The Stealth heaters are very inexpensive and have a lifetime warranty from the manufacturer. The only feature they are lacking is an indicator light showing when they are heating the tank. Their black plastic design means they are less obtrusive and more rugged than glass heaters.

OrangeCones

Checking the thermometer will tell me if its heating the tank properly. I don't need an indicator light to tell me exactly WHEN its on

I have Stealths in my largest two tanks. I've never had any issue with them, but when I bought them, they were the only ones in the size I needed at the mom-pop fish store I was at that day. Good to know they are considered a quality product.

Seattle_Aquarist

Hi Orangecones,

I use the Visi-Therm Deluxe Submersible Aquarium Heaters for my tanks. They are reliable, don't put interference on the electrical circuits, and were relatively inexpensive. They also shut off automatically if I forget to unplug them.

oakleyhoma

I like the Stealth and if you happen to have a Rena XP canister - the rena smart heater seems to work well on my 30g.