Heater help

[DCS]

I was using one of those preset heaters thag just recently died. I was never totally happy with it and was thinking I would see if there was something better. I recently made a fuge out of a aqua clear 70 and would love to hide a heater in it if able. My tank is a 12 gallon 9x9x36 with the ac70. Was thinking a 50watt heater. The preset seem to be the only ones less then 9”. I’m using a finnex heater controller as well. 

since I had no heater I grabbed a preset 50w tetra from local pet store to get me by. House is 71°. Tank won’t get any higher then 76° and would like to get to 78. 
 

Any good ideas? 
TIA 

[WV Reefer]

16 minutes ago, DCS said:

I was using one of those preset heaters thag just recently died. I was never totally happy with it and was thinking I would see if there was something better. I recently made a fuge out of a aqua clear 70 and would love to hide a heater in it if able. My tank is a 12 gallon 9x9x36 with the ac70. Was thinking a 50watt heater. The preset seem to be the only ones less then 9”. I’m using a finnex heater controller as well. 

since I had no heater I grabbed a preset 50w tetra from local pet store to get me by. House is 71°. Tank won’t get any higher then 76° and would like to get to 78. 
 

Any good ideas? 
TIA 

In my 12 long I usually just buy the cheap preset ones because of the size. Heaters are usually the weakest link in the equipment chain so I don’t mind replacing it periodically so it doesn’t fry my tank.  

[Chris's Fishes]

The Tetra presets run a lot of my tanks. They're cheap, and while not all of them get the tank quite 78, 76 is close enough. I think it's more that the internal thermostats aren't calibrated correctly for it to reach 78. They're reliable (IME), and I've never had one stick on. They always seem to last a long time and then die when they're not heating, so they don't fry everything in the tank.

 

If you just really wanted something else, I've had good luck with the Fluval presets and the Aqueon Pro adjustable heaters.

[DCS]

I started with the tetra in the ac hob but the temp was not rising. I don’t know if I was just impatient or ?. So I moved into the tank and eventually got to that 76°. I guess 76° Is close but is it close enough??  I’m so used to running at 78° on my old tank that anything less or more seems wrong to me 🤣.  Guess I’ll just keep watching it and see what it does.  I have the 50 watt jaeger In my Amazon cart and was going to pull the trigger on that. Won’t fit in hob but does fit in the tank and doesn’t stick up higher then the side of the tank and through the screen top. That was my next choice. 

28 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

In my 12 long I usually just buy the cheap preset ones because of the size. Heaters are usually the weakest link in the equipment chain so I don’t mind replacing it periodically so it doesn’t fry my tank.  

Agree I don’t mind replacing. Just was having a hard time finding something that is either in stock or will fit and bonus fit into hob. 
 

 

27 minutes ago, Chris's Fishes said:

The Tetra presets run a lot of my tanks. They're cheap, and while not all of them get the tank quite 78, 76 is close enough. I think it's more that the internal thermostats aren't calibrated correctly for it to reach 78. They're reliable (IME), and I've never had one stick on. They always seem to last a long time and then die when they're not heating, so they don't fry everything in the tank.

 

If you just really wanted something else, I've had good luck with the Fluval presets and the Aqueon Pro adjustable heaters.

Thanks. Aqueon preset was the one I was using but died. It kept the tank and 77.7° until I added the fuge then it dropped to 73° overnight. Thought maybe it was because I had the more water volume that it put me over what it could handle. 

[Chris's Fishes]

1 minute ago, DCS said:

I started with the tetra in the ac hob but the temp was not rising. I don’t know if I was just impatient or ?. So I moved into the tank and eventually got to that 76°. I guess 76° Is close but is it close enough??  I’m so used to running at 78° on my old tank that anything less or more seems wrong to me 🤣.  Guess I’ll just keep watching it and see what it does.  I have the 50 watt jaeger In my Amazon cart and was going to pull the trigger on that. Won’t fit in hob but does fit in the tank and doesn’t stick up higher then the side of the tank and through the screen top. That was my next choice. 

Agree I don’t mind replacing. Just was having a hard time finding something that is either in stock or will fit and bonus fit into hob. 
 

 

Thanks. Aqueon preset was the one I was using but died. It kept the tank and 77.7° until I added the fuge then it dropped to 73° overnight. Thought maybe it was because I had the more water volume that it put me over what it could handle. 

76 is perfectly fine, I'd say. A couple degrees here and there isn't likely to cause issues, unless it's swinging back and forth like crazy.

[DCS]

8 hours ago, Chris's Fishes said:

76 is perfectly fine, I'd say. A couple degrees here and there isn't likely to cause issues, unless it's swinging back and forth like crazy.

Thanks, Looks to be only a 1/2 degree swing between day and night. Woke this am to a 76.4 and 77.4 during the day. 

[Nixperience]

All heaters will fail and a lot of time, they fail in the on position. Get an inkbird WiFi heat controller (I think around $60) and it will keep your tank safe no matter what heater you use. Hydor Theo 100w is 9” and the 50w is 7”. 

[DCS]

21 minutes ago, Nixperience said:

All heaters will fail and a lot of time, they fail in the on position. Get an inkbird WiFi heat controller (I think around $60) and it will keep your tank safe no matter what heater you use. Hydor Theo 100w is 9” and the 50w is 7”. 

Thanks for the heater recommendation. I’m currently using the finexx heater controller already for protecting against the above.  I’ve poked at both those heaters and I think the 7” would work just can’t find it. Seems all the controllable 50watt heaters are just gone at this time.