Well I guess it could have been worse but major problems this weekend on the Reef. I will start by saying that I am in the processes of moving. This means that I have not spent as much time as I needed on the tank. Well nitrate and ammonia have gotten a little out of hand. I used the Coral vital a few weeks ago and thought that that was the reason for the high readings but I was wrong. Last Thursday the temp in my tank soared to 86 F . This was due to the resetting of the thermostat for my house. I came home and I was sweating within a few minutes. I think that the high temps mixed with the bad water caused a major problem in the tank. Within 24 hours I had lost a yellow tang, mandarin goby, and my hippo tang was on his way out. Also my corals looked awful . Well this has caused me to rethink my whole cooling system and skimmer situation. The skimmer I have figured out but the cooling is another problem. I have added several fans and managed to get the water temp down to 76. but now I need to get a good heater so that I can raise the temp to about 79/80 and keep it steady. Well that leads me to my question. What heater is a good reliable heater? I guess I also need to share my tragedy with some folks who would understand.
It is a 300 watt and you just set it at the temp setting 80 and it stays there I promiss.....Plus if you drain your tank and forget to unplug it, no worries, automatic shut off! It is cheap and works great....
Best one I have had so far....
By the way...It is not digital,
Look at it like this, You can go to walmart and buy a camera one is a throw away, the other is $600 digital, DON'T THEY BOTH JUST TAKE PICTURES?
You just want this thing to keep your water at a constant temp. So save your money get one that works and spend more money on corals!
Save 50 bucks by purchasing a cheap heater and when the thing sticks in the on position and fries your tank then you'll understand why one camera cost 5 dollars and the other one cost 600.
Never, never, never skimp on such a basic item as a heater. Sooner or later that cheap heater will not live up to it's expectations and disaster will set in.
I have a Jalli 300 watt titanium heater w/ a Jalli controller. It has the overheat shutdown circuit, is an electronic remote thermostat but not digital. It was not cheap but it does keep the temp within 1 degree no matter how cold I let the room get. Even in the winter when I blocked the heater vent and left the window open. I really think the heater would keep the temp within 1/2 degree except I have the heater and the temp sensor as far away from each other as possible in my water flow.
The other thing todo it use multiple heaters instead of 1 single heater. That way if one of them sticks open, then you only have a 100 watt heater stuck instead of a 300W heater stuck.
i have7 won pro heaters on 3 tanks. they have all worked flawlessly for close to three years. one thing i have done to all of them is tape the thermostat.
I have to agree with Charles. While none of us certainly wants to throw good hard earned money away, it just doesn't make sense to put at risk the livestock we've bought for hundreds of $s (or more!), in order to save 20 to 50$ on a heater.
Good news folk the Blue Regal tang (Blue Berry) made it. Yahoo!! I was able to get the temp steady and the tank seems to be stabilizing now. Still looking for the best heater solution though. You all should see all the fans I have on the tank. It sounds like I am in a wind storm.
I think everyone sooner or later realizes that to have a reef tank w/ no chiller usually means your a slave to your AC in the sumertime. I don't even think about it anymore -- just turn down the house temp and turn off the noise (fans).
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