finley Posted February 21, 2009 Report Posted February 21, 2009 Hi I need to replace my old Visi-Therm heater a.s.a.p. because its thermostatic control has become very poor - way too much swing. Which heaters currently on the Australian market are good - i.e. precise stable temperature, safe, reliable, etc? Which are dodgy - i.e. crack, overheat, fail, etc? Are Orca any good? Thanks, Finley
Chuckie Posted February 21, 2009 Report Posted February 21, 2009 Please don't name the dodgy brands (potential defamation issue) . Feel free to wax lyrical about the good ones though!
Chuckie Posted February 22, 2009 Report Posted February 22, 2009 I should add - I don't use heaters in my fishroom so couldn't add anything useful in response to the actual question - but would love to know the answer.
Ghengis Posted February 22, 2009 Report Posted February 22, 2009 I have always liked the AquaOne/AquaWorld units. Cheap and effective. Never had a problem...
lpiasente Posted February 22, 2009 Report Posted February 22, 2009 Sera and jager. I have had a cooked fish with the cheaper brands and find too many temp fluctuations. Sera have a 5 year warranty.
Anasfire Posted February 22, 2009 Report Posted February 22, 2009 I use aqua one heaters, and I have an orca and vita pet one too. I haven't found anything wrong with any of them. I suppose when they get old enough they just die. Doesn't matter the brand
Callatya Posted February 22, 2009 Report Posted February 22, 2009 I use Rena Cal, Sicce and AquaOne, and have not had a problem with any of them so far. I know of people that have had issues with all those brands, but so far mine have been fine. The Rena is about 9 years old and the Sicce are about 8, and the AquaOne would be close on 4 I think. I don't have them in constant use at the moment, but they are pretty reliable. Jager are the most commonly recommended brand that I know of, but there are not that many stockists over here. The main issue with heater failure is that the heaters stick ON rather than fail completely and die, so it is a good idea to get two separate heaters of a lower wattage rather than one of the higher wattage if your tank is big enough, just as a safety measure. Because of the thermostat in them, if one sticks on the other should not come on to heat at all, so one low powered heater stuck on is going to heat the water slower than one high powered heater stuck on. It doesn't solve the problem, but it does give you more time to notice the problem and correct it. :)
reserverat Posted February 23, 2009 Report Posted February 23, 2009 Jager are supposed to be more efficient than most other heaters - they are also a lot more expensive & longer. I've had a Fluval Tronic heater about 1 1/2 yrs and found it reliable & accurate (as in not much variation in tank temp). Another Tronic I had stopped working but I got it secendhand & it did stop by not heating which is better then overheatiing! Particularly if you're only heating a smaller tank with 1 heater then don't go for a cheap heater as small tanks can fluctuate in temp faster than large tanks so the heater is stressed more by switching on & off more often.
killimike Posted February 23, 2009 Report Posted February 23, 2009 Heaters can be dangerous things because as said they stick on. Happens very rarely, only once to me and luckily I found it before it got to too much over 30. But there is the element of risk, how much of one are you willing to take. That said, the fanciest heaters I have ever owned are Sera, which addicted2cichlids had at bargain basement prices, so I have a pile. But others are all AquaOne or whatever it's called, came with a six month warranty :-) I prefer the Sera, but have really only had the one problem all this time.
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