# Two Cheap Heaters Or One Good One?



## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

I have a failing heater in my 75G tank and I am looking at getting a new one. Right now I am looking at these Aquatop heaters at kensfish:

http://www.kensfish.com/aquarium-suppli ... aters.html

There you will see that there are three levels of heaters with three different price ranges. After imputing my aquariums parameters into the online aquarium calculator it said that I need 122W to bring the temp up from 66 to 78 degrees. Since there is no such thing as a 122W heater I was thinking of going with 200W. So would I be better off to buy two of the mid-range 100W GH series heaters or one of the most expensive 200W D2 digital heaters?


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

You need a 150 - 200w heater, just one of them. I personally only use Jagr heaters.


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

Yes, I realize that, but I have read about a lot of folks on this site who use two heaters in case one fails. I have also heard that Jagar heaters aren't what they used to be. Have you had success with them?


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## oyster dog (Jul 2, 2013)

My Jager is dead-on accurate and completely reliable. I wouldn't have any other brand.


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## notchback65 (Apr 3, 2013)

I use the Eheim Jager 250 watt...$32

Great and accurate heater :thumb:


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## smitty814 (Sep 27, 2012)

I use the Aquatop 300 digital. I like being able to see the water temp. at a glance.
So yeah I would get the 200 dual digital. :thumb:


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## nodima (Oct 3, 2002)

There are two types of aquarists who use cheap heaters. Those who have had a tank overheat, and those who will have a tank overheat. Heed what others say, and buy an ebo-jager. You may cry once when you buy it, but with cheap ones, you will cry every time they fail and you need a new one. E-J's may not have all the digital bells and whistles of other brands, but they just plain work.


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

All good to know. Think I will either get the nice AT heater or the jagar. I had a Jagar many years ago and it work great for a long time. I bet if hadn't sold it it would still be working.


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## walzon1 (Jun 17, 2013)

I use cheap heaters all the time mainly the visi-therm but currently using aqueon and never had any problems, that being said I would never get some JEBO or AQUATOP one, just too risky. As long as it's name brand and well known company you should be fine using 2 100w of the cheaper ones.


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

walzon1 said:


> I use cheap heaters all the time mainly the visi-therm but currently using aqueon and never had any problems, that being said I would never get some JEBO or AQUATOP one, just too risky. As long as it's name brand and well known company you should be fine using 2 100w of the cheaper ones.


Ya, I really like the idea of two heaters in case on fails.


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## SOU812 (Jun 11, 2013)

My 150 watt jager heater failed in the "off" position three weeks ago in the 75,I put in a 100 watt aqueon pro that I had in storage, its maintaining 78 degrees,which I'm a little surprised about,I'm going to leave it as is,and keep an eye on it
Point is though all heaters are prone to failure,but you stand a better chance with "big names",I've been a big fan of the aqueon pros and the hydor in-line heaters,what ever your choice,just don't over size the heater


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## smitty814 (Sep 27, 2012)

clhinds78 said:


> walzon1 said:
> 
> 
> > I use cheap heaters all the time mainly the visi-therm but currently using aqueon and never had any problems, that being said I would never get some JEBO or AQUATOP one, just too risky. As long as it's name brand and well known company you should be fine using 2 100w of the cheaper ones.
> ...


Why not 3 or 4 heaters. You can never be tooooooo cautious. :drooling:


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

The point of two heaters is not to keep the tank warm when one fails, but to keep the fish from being cooked if the one heater fails, which usually happens in the on position.


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## smitty814 (Sep 27, 2012)

BillD said:


> The point of two heaters is not to keep the tank warm when one fails, but to keep the fish from being cooked if the one heater fails, which usually happens in the on position.


If the heater fails in the on position. How will another heater keep your fish from getting cooked? opcorn:


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## walzon1 (Jun 17, 2013)

Actually the point of two heaters is to spread heat more evenly across the aquarium keeping the temp more stable, also you get the extra benefit if one fails the temperature won't plummet. I suppose that using lower wattage would also help if one was stuck on it would take much longer to cook your fish.

I just realized this is for your 75, usually a 250 watt is minimum for a 75g are you sure you did the calculations right? That would mean 2x150w instead of 2 x 100w


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

walzon1 said:


> Actually the point of two heaters is to spread heat more evenly across the aquarium keeping the temp more stable, also you get the extra benefit if one fails the temperature won't plummet. I suppose that using lower wattage would also help if one was stuck on it would take much longer to cook your fish.
> 
> I just realized this is for your 75, usually a 250 watt is minimum for a 75g are you sure you did the calculations right? That would mean 2x150w instead of 2 x 100w


I'm pretty sure I did. I wasn't sure on wall thickness so I put .75. That might be a bit of an over-estimate. Seems like so many over watt their heaters and when they stick on the tank gets cooked. We don't really need as many watts as we've been told in the past.

With two smaller heaters when one sticks in the the on position it won't cook the fish and the other one should pretty much stay off.


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

smitty814 said:


> BillD said:
> 
> 
> > The point of two heaters is not to keep the tank warm when one fails, but to keep the fish from being cooked if the one heater fails, which usually happens in the on position.
> ...


Two heaters of lower wattage but equal to the total required, will not cook the fish if one fails in the on position. So, for example. two 150s instead of one 300W.


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## tranced (Jan 11, 2006)

BillD said:


> smitty814 said:
> 
> 
> > BillD said:
> ...


exactly... you would have 150W of heating stuck in the on position instead of 300W. so it would cook you fish in over twice the amount of time, if at all.


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## POPSS (Aug 24, 2013)

2 good reasons for 2 heaters, if one goes out you still having heating in the tank, second they do not have to stay on as long there by giving them a longer service life. I would not get one that does not have degree settings rather than a low med high setting.


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

Actually, a heater that never turned off would likely last longer than one that runs with short cycles. The cycling on and off is usually what eventually kills the heater, not the element failing.


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

BillD said:


> Actually, a heater that never turned off would likely last longer than one that runs with short cycles. The cycling on and off is usually what eventually kills the heater, not the element failing.


I think it would be difficult to get a heater that never shut off in a tank. There are just too many environmental variables for that. This is why it's recommended to get slighter smaller heaters than you need for your tanks, that way they stick on longer and aren't constantly turning on and off.


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## shelbynjakesdad (Mar 13, 2013)

Both of my tanks have "undersized" heaters according to the documents I have read. My 55g has a 100W and my 29g has a 50W. Both of them stay at exactly 79 degrees - no problems at all. My room temps are 67-72 degrees pretty much year around.

If you are worried about overheating, the best thing would be to get an external controller / thermostat for extra safety.


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## Tyler_James_L (Jun 19, 2013)

I would highly recommend with no question about it a good QUALITY one. Do it right the first time. I went cheap (not super cheap though) and got a ViaAqua heater but it started reading the temp wrong (68 degrees was the new 80). I believe I got a lemon, but I don't want to put multiple hundreds of dollars of fish lives on the line.

I got the Finnex Memory controller and heater and I am very happy with that now.


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

Tyler_James_L said:


> I would highly recommend with no question about it a good QUALITY one. Do it right the first time. I went cheap (not super cheap though) and got a ViaAqua heater but it started reading the temp wrong (68 degrees was the new 80). I believe I got a lemon, but I don't want to put multiple hundreds of dollars of fish lives on the line.
> 
> I got the Finnex Memory controller and heater and I am very happy with that now.


I hada ViaAqua and that is what I am replacing. How much was the Finnex system?


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## Tyler_James_L (Jun 19, 2013)

I had a 300 watt ViaAqua in my 60 gallon. I bought the Finnex off of Amazon from about $100. It is a 500 watt. This is exactly what I got [link removed]

I got the 500 watt because I am getting around a 100 gallon soon and I built a 37 gallon sump 

Like I said, I am very happy with what I got. Although not cheap, I feel that it will last for years on end with no problems. There is a safety shutoff on the control unit which overrides itself if it does get too hot and doesn't auto shut off.


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