# Hydro Eth Inline vs 2x submersible heaters?



## PalermoPenano (Jul 17, 2007)

I'm thinking about upgrading my heater for my tank before winter sets in. I have a 300w Hagen Aquaclear at the moment and it's struggling to maintain constant temperature. I can spare 80 - 90$ for my heating but Ihave little experience with this product. Which one would you guys recommend, One 300 hydor inline or 2 x 150w (ebo jager, visi stealth or tronic) submersible heater? I'm leaning more towards the hydor inline but I would like to see what your opinions are based on your experience.

Thanks


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

No man. You never get 2 heaters. Then youll never have even temp. You have uneven temp because Hagen heaters are trash. That's all.

Just go get a good JAGER. 250 or 300W. It'll keep your tank at 80F through the winter I promise.

Make sure you get a digital thermometer too.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

I also wanted to add- if your canister filter ever jams or whatever- that inline heater's not going to be much fun.

Honestly, in my experience, the Jager heaters are still the best ones out there. They really are really really good. Once you get one going it holds temp really well. Just put the AC one in the trash and get a good one.


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## PalermoPenano (Jul 17, 2007)

What about the tendency of submersible heaters sticking? How can i avoid that problem?


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## PPulcher (Nov 17, 2006)

I don't have any experience with the inline heaters, but if you want to reduce tank clutter, I say go for it. Sure you run the risk of the canister filter shutting down, but if that happens you have lots of problems anyway.

Going with two in-tank heaters where you split the wattage is a good idea. This means that if you have a heater that fails in the on position, you should be able to detect the heat rise before the tank becomes too hot. Conversely, if you have one that fails in the off position, you won't get a drastic drop in temperature and it will give you some time to replace the faulty one.


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## PPulcher (Nov 17, 2006)

In addition, you can probably find a third party thermostat/controller unit for your heaters, but I don't have experience with them.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Its just stupid to go inline. Buy a Jager and lay it horizontally behind your plants 1" Off the bottom and run the cord up the corner youll never see it


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## dr_sudz (Sep 12, 2007)

You can go with 2 sub heaters, I have done this often. Just don't cheap out spend the extra couple of bucks and get a good jager heater, set one slightly lower then the other that way they both don't work as hard to bring up the temp of the water. Keeping the temp even in the tank is not that hard with two heaters if you use the one lower then the other method.


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## Katalyst (Jul 29, 2007)

I have stealth, Jager's and Hydor's. I'd stick with the Jager/Hydor's, the stealths aren't on the same par imo.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

My experience with the hydor was that it was a vastly inferior product and got too hot for contact with some fish like plecos etc. I find the Eheim Jager has the best heating coil and thermostat.

I dont like using two heaters because they rarely work perfectly in tandem and you tend to get a slightly less even temperature ime


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

I have to disagree with Kat on the stealth heaters. They are a great product and I don't have to worry about any fish damaging themselves on the heater itself as they don't get hot enough to burn the mouths of the sucker type fish.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Neither does a JAGER though... I've used the visitherms... meh... they're definitely acceptable- I'll give them that. Its my second choice. You still cant match the JAGER though.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

In the end it really does come down to which heater you want. I know the visitherms and jagers dont burn fish mouths- but the stealth IS even cooler to the touch. I believe jager has the best thermostat, but you can still buy an extermal thermostat for any kind of heater. 

At the end of the day which ever heater you choose as long as it is expensive and good quality will do the job for you. Nobodys opinion is cast in stone we all just have different beliefs.

If you wanted to go with the inline for example, that's fine. Some of us just wouldn't- mainly for aesthetic and lazy reasons... Its just personal choice- hence the 10 000 practically redundant products on the market


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## Coyote24 (Jan 26, 2007)

*heaters*

Hi,

Personally I klike the redundancy of multiple heaters, same with filters lights etc.
I have one hydor 300w at the moment and one Jebo 250W for a 120g discus tank.
I want to swap the Jebo for a second hydor.
I like that the water coming out of the filter is warm and that there is no chance of having one area warm and another cold in the tank like could happen with in tank heater if the current is not strong or???
So one Hydor on one filter and one hydor on the second filter the Jebo is for the water change or eventually would live in the sump if I ever get to do that project.
My 2ø


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## dr_sudz (Sep 12, 2007)

All I really know is that you DON'T want to get yourself All Glass heaters, they suck large. Everytime I have installed them I have had the first two fail in every tank I have put them into. Yes they will replace them right away but could do damage before you catch the problem.

I use heater guards on my heaters where there is the possiblity of fish burning themselfs on the heaters. But most fish are not going to let themselfs get burned.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

dr_sudz said:


> All I really know is that you DON'T want to get yourself All Glass heaters, they suck large. Everytime I have installed them I have had the first two fail in every tank I have put them into. Yes they will replace them right away but could do damage before you catch the problem.
> 
> I use heater guards on my heaters where there is the possiblity of fish burning themselfs on the heaters. But most fish are not going to let themselfs get burned.


Yep. Unfortunately some heater makes do not have heater guards  which is silly- they should.

I agree regarding the all glass. These heaters for the uninitiated use a heating pad similar to what you use to heat reptiles, coil it up, and stick it in a tube. There is a model of Hydor heater, "Theo" which works on a similar principle. Not only do these heaters get too hot to the touch (they have short 'on' cycles with high heat, versus a JAGER which is a long on cycle with low heat) they also have poor thermostats- especially the all glass.


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## dr_sudz (Sep 12, 2007)

for sure, but you can make your own heater gaurds pretty easily. Or you can buy them for not too expensive. If you have some spare piping laying around you can just cut/drill holes into the pipe then fix it around the heater to prevent burns to your fish.


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

All Glass Aquarium heaters are private labled Hydor THEO heaters.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)




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## dr_sudz (Sep 12, 2007)

wtac said:


> All Glass Aquarium heaters are private labled Hydor THEO heaters.


If that is the case then I would stroke them off the list as well. Unless they are just cheaply made for all glass on purpose. Ether way it doesn't look good on ether company.


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## twice_bitten1 (Sep 29, 2009)

*Hydor = CRAP!*

I've returned my second Hydor heater. They both fused ON (300W) and both times I was lucky enough to catch them before my fish boiled!! Stay clear of these, they leak easily too!!

Kev


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