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bfessler 
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Joined: March 13 2009
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 Posted: March 06 2011 at 8:06am |
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Heater issues are probably the biggest issue in the hobby. Just look at how many have responded to this post. I agree with Steve that even if your not a big controller person and love the old school methods of reefkeeping a controller just for your heater is money well spent. In most cases the thermal switch inside the heater sticks in the on position. as the contacts ware out from repeated on off cycles they heat up and weld themselves together preventing the heater from shutting off. A controller doesn't rely on these switches and shuts off power directly to the outlet. $100 might seem like a lot of money to shut off a $35 heater but when you consider the value of the livestock in your tank and how often heaters fail it's cheap insurance.
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Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected]
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Mark Peterson
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Joined: June 19 2002
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Posted: March 06 2011 at 8:16am |
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There seem to be less problems with older Ebo Jaeger heaters than with any other kind of heater. Unfortunately, Eheim now makes them and the problems are the same as other heaters.
I believe the key is to do one of two things:
1. buy undersize heaters and train yourself to check the thermometer and tank appearance daily
2. use a controller
As far as I'm concerned, controllers and temp probes can also fail. I'd rather trust my own judgment and since I am already so accustomed to checking the tank's appearance daily, I go with #1.
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jmw
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Joined: February 12 2009
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Posted: March 06 2011 at 9:48am |
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Why buy an undersized heater? If I were to go out today and buy a heater I would probably lean toward an oversized heater. Nevermind I just read your other post!
Edited by jmw - March 06 2011 at 9:51am
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jcoulter17
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Joined: September 09 2009
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Posted: March 06 2011 at 10:00am |
spend the money and get a JBJ TrueTemp Aquarium Heater. It has a Digital
temperature controller with LCD temperature display. It has a separate
temperature probe you can put up to 10 feet away from the heater. I have
this heater hooked up to my apex controller too. As a back up to shut it
off if need to and the apex tells me how much power is being used too. As you can see in this picture under the tank, you can see one of the controllers. 
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BnK
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Joined: February 05 2011
Location: Layton,Ut
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Posted: March 06 2011 at 11:36am |
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what are some good contollers? I know apex is but I dont have 400 bucks lol. So what are some other brands that are cheaper?
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bfessler
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Posted: March 06 2011 at 11:37am |
 Mark Peterson wrote:
There seem to be less problems with older Ebo Jaeger heaters than with any other kind of heater. Unfortunately, Eheim now makes them and the problems are the same as other heaters.
I believe the key is to do one of two things:
1. buy undersize heaters and train yourself to check the thermometer and tank appearance daily
2. use a controller
As far as I'm concerned, controllers and temp probes can also fail. I'd rather trust my own judgment and since I am already so accustomed to checking the tank's appearance daily, I go with #1.
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IMO it's not an question of choosing between choosing to check the tank temp daily or using a controller. Any piece of equipment can fail including a controller but having making your system as failsafe as possible within my budget is what I shoot for and a controller can help in many areas not just temperature control.
I opted for the RKL when setting up my first system and have stuck with it because it has worked almost flawlessly for the 2 years I have been using it. Actually I have two of these controllers and guess what, The temp probe failed on one of them about a year ago. My tank temp was fine when it failed and it put up an error message alerting me of the problem. I simply set the outlet that controlled my heater to on and ordered another probe which Digital Aquatics sent me free of charge because it failed within the 1 year warranty. So I didn't have to wait for the tank temp to drop before finding the problem and was able to resolve it without any issues.
For temperature issues a controller is great because it adds stability and reduces the power needed to run your system. Why turn on your fans as soon as the lights come on? with a controller your fans stay off until the tank starts to heat up. Then come on until it cools off without any input from the hobbyist. If the tank gets too hot it will even shut off the lights to help cool the tank. Like most people I can't be in front of my tank 24 hours a day and particularly for temperature control it is nice to know that the controller will help me keep my temp in check.
If I were in the market for a controller today I would spend the extra $ on an apex because in addition to the ability to control my tank the Apex will send me alerts when a parameter is out of range and I could check on the tank via an iphone or web browser and make make changes in the controllers settings as needed. This would be particularly helpful for someone who travels as frequently as I do.
So IMO it is important to do the daily checks and maintenance on our systems and to know what to do in the event of a failure or problem but adding a controller gives you an added level of protection that you just can't get in any other way. A controller is much more than a temperature control device but it does make temperature control much safer.
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Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected]
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bfessler
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Posted: March 06 2011 at 11:41am |
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If your just needing basic control the Digital Aquatics RKL is a hard controller to beat. It's $99 and comes with a temp probe and 4 outlet power strip. This is what I still use though as soon as I can afford it I will be picking up an Apex.
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Burt An equal opportunity reefer, I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping. [email protected]
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BnK
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Posted: March 06 2011 at 12:17pm |
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k do you need a controller for each tank? or can you run two tanks off of one? Just not sure exactly how they work so asking here. and do the tanks have to be next to each other to run them off of one?
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tileman
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Posted: March 06 2011 at 12:24pm |
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I unplugged my heater a couple of months ago. I decided like Mark, that a heater was more of a worry , and in the most part never came on. With all the pumps I have going my temp never goes below 74. Plus I have a fan on my sump that is running 24/7 and another fan that comes on around 4 pm untill midnite. I just felt with my temps staying between 74 and 78, a heater wasn't critical.
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335G Reef
TOTM.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2015/2/aquarium
ReefKeepers TOTM Feb. 2012
http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index....k-of-the-month
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Jeremyw
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Posted: March 06 2011 at 12:43pm |
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I do have a heater running on my work tank. It gets way to cold. After reading this I unplugged it... came in the next morning.... tank was at 69 degrees. I felt it and man it was cold. I plugged the heater back in!
My home tank I have unplugged it because I dont need it there. Temp stays ok without it.
Funny thing though. I woke up this morning and my lights were on. They never turn on till 1045. I checked the temp it was 82.9 I turned them off opened the hood and the doors to the sump. And with in about 5 min the tank dropped 1 degree. Now an hour later its down to 80.7 and still going down. Everything is fine. I wasnt to worried. Just a little shocked that my lights were on! (It was my fault I new better than to leave them on)
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EvanB756
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Posted: March 06 2011 at 1:13pm |
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I too have no heater on my tank, had bad luck with 3 heaters in the past. Ever since my last one fried itself about a year ago I haven't bothered. 87 degrees because the heater got stuck "on"!! talk about panic...
But my temp stays pretty constant usually between 73-78 during a full 24hour cycle so i don't really have to worry about having one.
On a side note I do have a fan blowing over my water during the summer because the water can get a bit above 80 if I don't.
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90gal display w/ 30gal sump.
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Davidwillis
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Posted: March 06 2011 at 11:42pm |
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After reading this, I feel lucky. I have been using the same heater for ever... I used it for about 9 years, then I was out of the hobby for about 7, and now am using it again. It is an older Ebo Jaeger though.
Edited by Davidwillis - March 06 2011 at 11:42pm
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Davidwillis
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Posted: March 07 2011 at 12:11am |
Would something like this work?
I can't find the Digital Aquatics RKL for $99. I can find it for $115 though.
Edited by Davidwillis - March 07 2011 at 12:12am
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Flashlin
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Posted: March 07 2011 at 2:17am |
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I am keeping my temp in 0.5 range (78.5-79). Just a regular fan and heater connected to the controller are capable of keeping temp so stable. I was considering chiller but fan works like magic. I believe it depends a lot on how you place your fan. Just try to achieve maximum evaporation. Basically fan should be pointed to the water but air must cover as much surface as possible. I've pointed fan on the wall in a sump compartment. The layer of water flowing down the wall is very thin what I believe makes cooling here much more efficient.
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FlooringGuy
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Posted: March 07 2011 at 8:29am |
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I dont use a heater either. I keep my office between 69 & 70 degrees year around.
With my pumps & other Equipment my tank stays between 75 &76 degrees. My heat has stayed very consistant since I have used my Reef Keeper Elite.
If you ever want to come see my controller functions you are welcome to.
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