Product Review: Visi Therm steath heater

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Mgamer20o0

BobsTropicalPlants.com
Staff member
Jun 4, 2003
31,221
19
89
www.bobstropicalplants.com
[FONT=&quot]Company[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
Marineland
Model
Visis Therm Stealth heater
Link to product description
http://www.marineland.com/sites/Marineland/products/productdetail.aspx?id=2054&cid=1223&mid=3226
Price range
$18-$22 25w-250w
Pros
Unlike other heaters built with glass that can shatter stealth heaters are built with plastic. This makes them very durable and hard to break. The plastic also makes it easy to hide since its all black. If you have any problems with the heater they also offer a life time warranty.
Cons
No light indicator to let you know if it’s on or still working.
Star rating (1-5 with 5 being the best)
*****
How long have you used the product?
5+ years
Build quality and value for your money.
Worth every penny.
Other comments [/FONT]
I will not buy any other brand of heaters. Once had one burn though the plastic and they replaced it right away. If the temperature starts to get off you can unplug it for 10-15 mins and it then resets. I shoot for 3-5 watts per gallon when heating a tank. I also try to keep two heaters in a tank for back up.
 

jpappy789

Plants need meat too
Feb 18, 2007
26,364
5
89
33
Gainesville, FL
Real Name
Josh
Company
Marineland
Model
Visis Therm Stealth heater
Link to product description
http://www.marineland.com/sites/Mari...=1223&mid=3226
Price range
$18-$22 25w-250w
Pros
I like the durability. Specific temp settings are alwaysa plus, and the thermostat can easily be recalibrated if it gets off
Cons
No light indicator to let you know if it’s on or still working would be my only complaint
Star rating (1-5 with 5 being the best)
*****
How long have you used the product?
3 years
Build quality and value for your money.
Definitely high quality
Other comments
Unlike other heaters that have gone haywire or shattered on me, the stealth heaters are top notch.
 

Squawkbert

Senior padder
Oct 3, 2006
3,417
2
38
60
ST.L area
www.aquaticplantcentral.com
Company
Marineland
Model
Visis Therm Stealth heater
Link to product description
http://www.marineland.com/sites/Mari...=1223&mid=3226
Price range
$18-$22 25w-250w


MG - do we need to repeat ^ just to add to existing threads?

Pros
Most reliable option I've found since Ebo's slim, all green models went away.

Cons
n/a

Star rating (1-5 with 5 being the best)
*****
How long have you used the product?
2-3 years (a 250 for 3 yrs, 2x25W ones for ~2 years)

Build quality and value for your money.
All great so far.

Other comments
Auto-off when dry feature is an often overlooked but important safety feature.
 

tcarswell

Bichir guy
Jan 7, 2009
476
0
0
37
Sacramento California
Company
Marineland
[FONT=&quot]Model[/FONT]
visi therm stealth 25 watt , 200 watt , 250 watt (I own 5)
[FONT=&quot]Link to product description [/FONT]
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12060
[FONT=&quot]Price range[/FONT]
Much cheaper online 20-45 $ US
[FONT=&quot]Pros[/FONT]
Fairly accurate temperature dial , Very durable , submersible , easy to hide , wont crack when exposed to temp changes, much safer for you to work on the tank. I had one of my stealths go out on me and marineland sent me another with no questions asked and they did not request the old one to be sent back.
[FONT=&quot]Cons[/FONT]
No on light indicator! I had one of 5 fail to turn on after it had been dropped on tile (oops)
[FONT=&quot]Star rating (1-5 with 5 being the best)[/FONT]
5
[FONT=&quot]How long have you used the product?[/FONT]
4 years
[FONT=&quot]Build quality and value for your money. [/FONT]
excellent build quality very durable. Online prices make this excellent heater very affordable.
[FONT=&quot]Other comments
I would highly reccomend buying this heater from Drfosterssmith (No i don't work for them but they have the lowest prices on them) Petsmart a 200 watt is around 43 dollars plus tax. Online you pay half of that .
Excellent customer service!
[/FONT]
 

tekonus

...meh?
Nov 20, 2008
471
1
16
Long Island, NY
Pros
The casing is a great idea... I don't know why everybody doesn't make their heater bodies like these.
Cons
No light indicator, the temperature dial doesn't seem accurate enough (for my tastes at least), the only way to know its working is if you can hear it clicking on or off... but you'll have no idea whether its on or off.
Star rating (1-5 with 5 being the best)
**
How long have you used the product?
Approximately 6 months... then it malfunctioned.
Build quality and value for your money.
Casing seemed high quality. The sensors and such inside, I guess not. Due to the experience I had, I definitely cannot recommend this heater.
Other comments
I had a tank catastrophe due to a malfunction in my 150w model in my 33g. I can only assume the temperature sensor inside of this thing broke.... it sat in the same spot in the tank for 6 months. Never touched, never moved... never even changed the temperature on it once it was initially set. The only thing ever done to it was unplugging it during water changes. I left the house early morning for school/work and everything was fine, temperature was at 78°F. I came home 8 hours later and 95% of my fish were dead, the room smelled of boiled fish, and the tank was a tad over 100°F. It felt like a hot tub. After hours of clean up, there is nothing VISUALLY wrong with the heater. Being that there is no indicator light or really... anything that you can see about it from the outside there is no way of knowing what went wrong with it after such a short time.
 
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