Heater boiled my fish!

Any heater can malfunction, and it will. The Stealth, Ebo Jaegers and Hyadors all work fine but alll need to be checked.

Having a very inexpensive Thermometer on or in a tank is just smart. Check the Thermometer a couple of times a day.

Your hand is very sensitive to correct temps so at least once a day check your tanks temp and do something about it if it is off one way or another.

Two Heaters in a tank is better than one. Smaller Heaters take longer to get Temps to dangerous levels, which give you time to react, and it is very unlikely that two heaters will go bad at the same time. One heater should be set at just below the other. The submersible Heaters are the only way to go. I have had very bad luck with the bolt ons, in fact the only way they get sold at Auctions is if they are boxed with something else. The main way they get into the Hobby is via kits but those inexpensive Heaters can be very costly.
 
:iagree: I have tried to go the cheaper route and get a store brand heater or just use one heater on my tanks. While it does work, I've found that I need to adjust my heaters more often with using either a cheaper heater or using just one heater. On my tanks with better heaters and using 2 smaller heaters, I don't have to adjust the temp as much, and they seem to last longer.
 
Always have a thermometer on or in your tank. A look at it every day will stop this from happening..
 
When you suggest running two heaters, is there a tank size limit to this suggestion? Would you do this on a 10 gallon? If so, what heater would you suggest.
 
PuppyFluffer: A heater size depends on how many degrees the tank temp need to be raised. If you have the tank in a room that stays at 68 degrees and you want to keep the tank at 78 the increase only needs to be 10 degrees.

Use the recommendation on the heater box for sizing.

A couple of 50 or 75W heaters would probably be OK in a ten. One heater set at 78 and the second one at 76 would be about right. A couple of larger heaters, if that is what you have would be OK too but remember that larger heaters can increase the temp quickly so extra vigilance would be required. Last year I bought a 25W at Wal*Mart for a small plastic tank of Shrimp and it worked fine. A couple of 25W in a 10 might be OK but it seems as if it would be a bit small.

I have not had too many problems over the years with heaters but I do not trust them. Check the Thermometers frequently. The darn things can be sneaky so do not ever trust them without checking.
 
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