# 300 watt heater broke



## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

the glass of my 300 watt fluval heater broke. I have had a couple heaters break and I'd like to avoid glass if I could. Any recommendations? need about 300 watts as it is for a 90 gallon. I'm in Kingston so local stores are a little bit limited, I try to buy most of my stuff from MOPS. Petsmart has the eheim heaters but online only and only go up to 250 watts, not sure how protected the glass is on them. I won't buy another topfin product so those are out and the only one left is the same as the broken one. There is also a marina heater but it's confusing, it says pre-set in the info but also says adjustable and no idea how good they are, the price is cheap but is the quality good?

Ok, just checked MOPS, the only 300 watt is visi therm and the 300 watt model says "DUE TO QUALITY CONTROL ISSUES, PLEASE ORDER THE 250W OR THE 400W"

I have tossed in a spare 200 watt I have for now which just might have to do for quite a while, if it has trouble keeping up, I have another 200 watt I can add.

Finding the broken heater was a shocking experience every time my hand was in the water and touched the hanging light above the tank.

So the best heater I can see right now is the 250 watt eheim which is on the lower power side I believe for a 90 gallon. Looked closer to info on this heater and one site says the 200 watt is ok for a 90, so maybe the 250 would be fine. Started to check out on petsmart.ca and turns out it would be $15 just for shipping and the whole thing would be over $70, no thanks!

4 am and a little frustrated. Maybe I should try a $10 ebay heater?


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## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

DO NOT BUY THE CHEAP EBAY HEATERS. I have three of them here. Two did not work on arrival and one of the replacements did not work either. The cord is only about 30 cm and the plugs are so narrow and small they do not stay plugged in.


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## Dis (Apr 16, 2010)

pretty sure you cant go wrong with the eheim jager heaters, some people have had them for a very long time. mine are going on about a year with no issues


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## Chromey (Sep 25, 2010)

All heaters are hit and miss.
I have bad luck, My titanium heaters always stopped after 3-4 months.

My eheim's seem too last a bit longer, 6-8 months.

I had a Old school Eheim that lasted 3 years, Then my daughter dropped it.

Heaters come and go, Buy 2, 1 for now, One for when it stops working.


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## Tbird (Oct 5, 2009)

Sorry to hear about that. At least you didn't boil any fish. Been there done that a few times. You can go titanium with a separate controller. But that is not cheap. Some people on here swear by them. Mops carries those. You can also check out AngelFins. I believe they carry jäger heaters for $28 for a 300w. There are the flu all advanced heaters which are supposed to be good but they are pricey. AngelFins only has the 200w one. Pjs carries them but I think a 300w one is around $70+. There are also inline heaters. 

I think for the price the jäger are a good bet though. 

Good luck


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## TorontoBoy (Mar 14, 2013)

Maybe you could try buying 2 smaller heaters, so that if one breaks the other is still functioning. As well, there are more options with 2 heaters rather than a single 300w. They must sell more of the lower wattage heaters, so their prices should be lower due to increased volume.


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## darkangel66n (May 15, 2013)

TorontoBoy said:


> Maybe you could try buying 2 smaller heaters, so that if one breaks the other is still functioning. As well, there are more options with 2 heaters rather than a single 300w. They must sell more of the lower wattage heaters, so their prices should be lower due to increased volume.


That is how I like to do it.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

Going to see how the single 200 watt works for now, if it has to work hard, I have another 200 watt I can add. I actually would like to down size this 90 to either a 75 or a 36 x 18 50 gallon. The height of the 90 just doesn't feel right for this setup for me.

I also want to upgrade my other 90 to a 180, but this all takes what I don't have, money


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

A heater doesn't "work hard" . It is either on or off. The fewer times it cycles on and off the longer it will likely last. The ideal heater would be one that never turned off, but was just the right wattage to keep the tank at the correct temp.


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## alreu (Aug 30, 2012)

Have you considered a Hydor in-line heater. A little more costly but they are a terrific product - heat effectively, are out of the tank so you don't have to worry about breakage of glass and also get rid of the unsightly heater inside the aquarium. I now use them exclusively on all tanks - and on larger tanks where I run 2 at a time I will run them on a Ranco temperature controller which adds some further safety and keeps the heaters heating cycle the same.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I would love to run inline heaters but they aren't available in my area, also the online store I use, MOPS doesn't seem to have them. It is something I would like to get in the future when it's in the budget.

I can't wait until I have a few hundred extra bucks and can take the two hour drive to the closest big als. But then I'll wish I had a few thousand bucks extra.


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## alreu (Aug 30, 2012)

The hydors are a lot cheaper on-line than at BA If you need a trusted supplier that carries them drop me a pm I buy mine on-line


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

pm sent, thanks


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## shotokan (Sep 21, 2013)

pyrrolin said:


> pm sent, thanks


best heater i used that are accurate then most off maybe by 1 degree, is the *top fin,* at pet smart , yes again, *top fin,* life time waranty, return it anytime with the package even with out a reciept, jager, heaters are way off, last a long time, but dial hard to turn after awhile, only thing with top fin, is that they don't make them for really big tanks, i think 80 gallons being the biggest


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

first time I have seen someone recommend topfin anything, I know their filters are total crap


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## shotokan (Sep 21, 2013)

pyrrolin said:


> first time I have seen someone recommend topfin anything, I know their filters are total crap


 your right the filters aren't very good, but its more about efficency, the heaters, are a different story, i own several of them, i find them more acurate and easier to use.


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