A quality heater is not something you want to skip on. I recommend fully submersible heaters as you have more options of where to place them. A malfunctioning heater can kill your entire tank, and their are many reports of heaters that break inexplicabaly.
Big Als Heaters. These are non-submersible, and fairly cheap price. The construction is ok I suppose for the price. After 1.5 years mine still seemed to be working, but condensation was starting to appear on the inside near the thermostat. So I pulled the heater as I didn't want the heater to get stuck in the on position.
Ebo-Jagers. These are one of my favorite heaters. They are larger than others. But that is because of a MASSIVE heating coil. I believe the large coil distributes heat around better than other coils. They are also accurate to within .5 F and fully submersible. The suction cups that these things come with is also of very high quality. They are definately worth the money.
Marineland Dual Temps. These heaters look very good. They are greyish silver, and relatively small. Thats what I like most about them, the size is less intrusive, especialy in smaller tanks. This is the heater I currently use on my nano. The only disadvantage with these heaters is that there is only 2 temperature settings. I believe the normal setting is 76, and their is a setting for treating sick fish which I believe is 81 F. I normally keep my tanks at 79-80, so I settled for the higher setting. Otherwise these are great heaters.
Rena Cal Toplight. I just recently got one of these. The temperature control knob is very clear. The heater is fully submersible, and is the only CSA approved submersible heater. It seems to hold the temperature well, but mine holds the temperature a few degrees below what its set at. Although it holds it there very well. I also dont like the spray on coating they use. It partially blocks the heater status light, and makes it harder to clean. |
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