Equipment Review and Discussion :: Which aquarium heater is most reliable?

[RESCHIU]

Hi, it's near end of summer and I may be traveling for about a week or two near Thanksgiving, I'm beginning to concern about aquarium heater, I got myself a RENACAL fully submerge heater, 100W for my 20L gallon tank, anyone has the same heater? is it pretty reliable? because I read from some other forum that some heaters aren't reliable and the water ended up over heated

[powerofvoodoo]

What seems to be the most recommended heater on the board (and what I'm currently waiting to get in the mail) is a Visi-Therm Stealth Heater.
I've never heard of the heater you have though so i'll leave that answer to someone else.

[SpotsMama]

I use two Visi-therm stealths in my hundred gallon tank and love them.

[marisa]

You have a RENA Cal Top Light submersible heater? I've not heard anything negative about them, I've see them sold in Petsmart, I think. They aren't as popular as some of the other brands, including Stealths, but that doesn't mean they're not any good. I read a description of the heater at www.bigalsonline.com and it doesn't sound bad to me.

Since you won't be traveling for a few months, use it and see how well it works. Check the temp of the water with a thermometer and see if it's the same as what you've set it for on the heater. Some heaters have an automatic shutoff if the heater isn't fully submerged, some don't. To be safe, keep the heater submerged.

If you just bought it, if you have doubts, you could take it back. Or, you could see how the heater works. If you really don't like it, you have time to get a different one.

[RESCHIU]

I started to use my RenaCal submerge heater for about 3 days now and it seems that it's having problem with water temperature accuracy, so for example if I set the heater temperture to be 74F, water temperature would always stay on 80F, I'm a bit disappoint with it, I guess I'll have to set my heater temperature to be 68F in order for water temperature to be 74F, but I'm just glad it doesn't over heat or anything, anyone know if Petsmart accept return with no receipt?

[marisa]

Sorry to hear this. What kind of thermometer are you using to compare the temp with?

Do you have the original box? The Petsmart near me used to take back things without a problem, but they became more strict and now require the original receipt. You could try returning it. If they say you do need a receipt, you might have more luck getting around that if you purchased a different heater or something else.

[RESCHIU]

I have a little thermomater sticker on the tank, I didn't use the real thermomater to measure the water temperature though, but still, 74 and 80 is quite a big change don't you think? I think I will try other ways to adjust the temperature I want, I wouldn't blame petsmart for not letting me return, it's my fault to loose my receipt anyway.

[marisa]

If you're really dissatisfied, you could still try to return it...All they can say is no.

I have to say that I'm not a fan of those thermometers that stick to the tank, though. I've not found them to be very accurate. It might be good to try checking the water temp with a different kind of aquarium thermometer just to see...

You don't by chance have a heater guard on the heater do you? It can affect the accuracy a bit as well...

BTW, didn't your turtle have MBD a while ago? How is your turtle doing?

[steve]

Unless that 20L is filled to the top, I think you might have a heater thats a bit too strong. Granted it should have a better thermostat but most of the heaters I have lose some accuracy (including Stealths), except for my Ebo Jager.

[Daniel3507]

i have a visi-therm stealth heater in my 55 gal tank. it isnt filled all the way up though so i have the temp control on the heater set lower than what i really want. after some fine tuning my temp is always perfec now.