I have a used 100w that is making a strange clicking noise once in a while. I'm afraid that it may break and kill my fish one day. I'm looking at eBay for a new 100w heater. There's one made by Jebo for 17 bucks. Is this a good brand? I've come across this brand, but I have not seen it in stores around here. Any other recommendations (less than $30)?
Cheap 100w heater recommendation
- Thread starter lake_tuna
- Start date
I've seen a lot of heater failures lately, I found the Hydor inline to be very reliable, the visi stealth was good too but I would turn it off during water changes as mine developed swelling on the plastic outer shell.
My penn plax has been runnin steady for a while now too.
My penn plax has been runnin steady for a while now too.
I have three 100W heaters running currently. The oldest has been used off and on for two years. The newest has only been in service for about a week. From oldest to newest, they are Visitherm Stealth, Visitherm, and Aqueon. So far, no complaints with any of them.
Did you mean to post a link?
Visitherm and Visitherm Stealth are different models by the same company. The regular Visitherms have an easy-to-read temperature setting and an indicator light. The Stealths have an all black plastic case with except for the small dial at one end, and no indicator light. (The idea being that they don't stand out as much in the tank.)
There has been a lot of noise lately about problems with certain heater brands that used to be good but have changed their manufacturing and are now less reliable, so the performance of other people's old heaters is not necessarily a good guide.
You can mount heaters at an angle or horizontally. They don't have to be straight up and down, so height should not be too much of an issue.
That is a Visitherm (regular, not Stealth). I can't tell you whether it would be a good heater for you, though. You might want to read through these threads regarding problems people have had with Visitherms and Stealths:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224795
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224792
I just double-checked and I actually don't have any regular Visitherm 100W heaters. I have some larger Visitherms, and I do have a 100W Stealth. Like I said, I've had no problems with any of my heaters, but many others have.
Most of the problems seem to be with recently purchased heaters. My Visitherms were purchased in October of 2009, so I'm not sure if they count as "old" or "new" in that regard.
No heater is going to be perfectly reliable and you just have to keep an eye on your tank temperature. One recommendation I have read is to not use large wattage heaters, but instead use multiple smaller heaters if you have a large tank. That way, if any one of them fails (on or off) it will take a long time for the tank temperature to get dangerously high or low.
Jebo, IMO is a Chinese knock-off brand. Some chinese aquarium accessories can be just as good as name brand, others not so much.
I haven't read a lot on Jebo, good or bad.
I just bought a SunSun filter, and its a decent buy...
I think you could find a better deal though.
Stay away from Marineland stealth heaters.
I haven't read a lot on Jebo, good or bad.
I just bought a SunSun filter, and its a decent buy...
I think you could find a better deal though.
Stay away from Marineland stealth heaters.