- This one right here is actually the first heater
I ever owned.
This one right here is my first titanium heater.
This one right here is by far the most expensive heater
I've ever owned at over $200.
I like 'em all for different reasons
but this is the one I would recommend for beginners.
Oh, sorry.
It's a little blurry.
I'll fix that later.
In the salt water aquarium hobby,
you really only see two types of heaters,
glass and titanium.
Glass heaters are the most common and affordable
but they're also the longest and most breakable option.
They utilize an internal or external temperature probe
and they're either digitally programmed
or require some sort of manual control.
Titanium heaters are quickly becoming the more
popular option because of their smaller form factor
in a ruggedness.
While a 200 Watt glass heater is almost 16 inches long,
a 200 Watt titanium heater is just over 10 inches.
Titanium heaters don't contain any sort
of internal thermometer or thermostat,
so you do have to use an external temperature controller
to turn them on a and off.
But wait, there is actually a third type of heater, plastic.
Well, the heater is not plastic, It's just the housing.
These new heaters, like the Ultra from Aqua L
have really slim profiles and are digitally controlled,
which make them ideal for fitting into tight places
and ease of use.
You don't necessarily need a controller with this one,
but I'd still recommend it.
Most glass heaters like this Eheim Jager do it all.
Once you set the temperature,
the mechanical bi metal thermostat will open and close
and control the temperature for you.
When it's turned on, all of the interior coils will heat up
and turn red, then all of that heat will dissipate
through the glass into the aquarium water column.
And once that desired temperature is reached,
that mechanical part will open up,
break the connection and thus turn off the heater.
Titanium heaters are much simpler
because there is no internal thermostat.
They're either on or they're off, period.
That is why you need some sort of controller
to operate them.
Otherwise you would just plug it in
and it would never turn off.
There are titanium heaters that come
with a controller like this one by Finnex.
And there are other ones like this one here from BRS
which require a separate controller
like this one from Ink Bird.
Not only is a titanium heater super strong
and virtually unbreakable,
It is also more efficient at transferring heat
from the heater to the water column.
The plastic heaters like this one from Aqua L
work in a similar way to glass heaters
with an interior thermostat to control the temperature.
Heaters are gonna break, period.
It's just a reality in this hobby that you need to accept.
If a heater fails in the on position and you bought a heater
that's just a bit too powerful for your system,
your tank will become a steamy cold in
of fish and invertebrate death.
But if it fails in the off position, you might be okay
if the ambient temperature in your room
is 75 degrees or warmer.
But if the ambient temperature is 65 or cooler,
you're probably in trouble.
And since we know all heaters will eventually break,
how do we prevent disaster?
We build in redundancy.
If our heater fails in the on position,
we need something to alert us of the high temperature.
This could be as simple as one of those temperature stickers
you place on the outside of your aquarium
or it could be as fancy as a text message sent
to your phone from your Apex controller.
But if it fails in the off position,
then all you need is a second heater
that is set to kick on before the water gets too cold.
For example, your primary heater could be set to 78 degrees.
If that one breaks, set your secondary heater
to 74 or 75 degrees,
so your water temperature doesn't get too cold.
Using a controller
with your heater is absolutely best practice
and it has so many benefits.
First up by using a controller,
it increases the heater's lifespan.
It might help us to think about the lifespan of a heater
just like the lifespan of a light bulb and switch.
If you were to just sit there and flip the light switch on
and off, that light bulb or light switch
would quickly break.
They are mechanical things and the wear and tear
is worse at the on/off point.
The same is true of heaters,
the more it turns on and off, the quicker it's gonna fail.
Using a controller,
you can set the temperature at a wider variation level.
So rather than the heater turning off
every plus or minus one degree,
maybe set it to every plus or minus two degrees
and you likely just doubled the lifespan of your heater.
The second benefit of a heater,
you get realtime temperatures.
Controllers show you the realtime temperature
of your aquarium and without it,
you have to rely on some sort of handheld thermometer
and occasional testing.
With a temperature controller,
just look at the digital readout every time you walk by
for a quick check-in on your tank.
The third benefit of a controller,
external temperature probes.
With a standard glass or plastic heater,
the temperature is determined by a thermometer
that's actually inside the unit itself.
This means if you don't have a lot of flow over that heater,
you could just be heating up the small portion of water
around your heater and the actual will tank temperature
could be a lot less.
With a temperature controller that comes
with an external probe,
you can place that probe upstream of your heater,
or even in your display tank to give you a much more
accurate reading of the tank temperature.
The fourth benefit of temperature controllers,
annoying audible alarms.
There is nothing safer
than having an obnoxious sound go off
if something's out of whack with your tank temperature.
Most of the time when my alarm goes off,
it's not because the heater has failed,
it's usually because I forgot to turn on the return pump
after a water change
or I pulled the thermometer out of the water column
and I'm just reading the ambient room temperature.
Let's start with the of your tank.
How many gallons of water are you actually trying to heat?
Next, we need to consider the ambient room temperature
in which your tank is located.
A 100 gallon tank in a room that's 75 degrees
will need way less heating power
than that same tank placed in a room at 65 degrees.
Moving on to durability.
If you're placing a heater in a sump with nothing around it,
then a standard glass heater is gonna work fine
but if you're putting it anywhere else where it might break,
consider going with a titanium or plastic heater.
Next up you need to consider redundancy.
Either purchase two of the exact same heater,
making sure they can both fit in your tank
or pick up something like the innovative marine Helio system
or the BRS titanium heater
with Ink Bird controller combo for built in redundancy.
The pen ultimate consideration is length.
Remember that glass heaters can be super long
so make sure that it's gonna fit
in the location you intended for.
And lastly is wattage.
Just follow the manufacturer's recommendation
for the wattage needed for your tank.
But remember, if your tank sits in a room that's 75 degrees
or warmer, you might need one size lower
but if it sits in a room 65 degrees or cooler,
you may have to choose a heater slightly more powerful
than you thought.
There's a good choice, a better choice,
and what we think is the best choice.
The good choice would be two Eheim Jager heaters.
After you've done all your research,
If your tank needs a 100 Watt heater,
then pick up two Eheim Jager 100 Watt heaters.
Set the first one to 78 degrees
and second one to 74 or 75 degrees.
That way you have redundancy
if and when the primary heater fails.
The better option would be to pick up one Ultra heater
from Aqua L and one Eheim Jager glass heater.
If you need a 100 Watt, then pick up 100 wat of each one.
Set the Aqua L Ultra heater to 78 degrees
and set the Eheim Jager to 74 or 75 degrees as backup.
Or if you don't mind spending just a little bit more money,
then just pick up two of the Ultra heaters from Aqua L.
What we think is the best option is one Ultra heater
from Aqua L paired with one Eheim Jager glass heater
and an Ink Bird controller, the ultimate in redundancy.
But if you don't mind spending just a little bit more money
for better redundancy then instead of the Eheim Jager,
just pick up two of the Ultra heaters from Aqua L.
The first step for installing your heater
is deciding where it needs to be.
It needs to be located somewhere that's always wet,
meaning it has zero chance of ever being exposed to air.
For an all in one system,
this would be either in the display itself
which is a bit unsightly or in the rear filtration chamber
but make sure not to put the heaters
in the compartment that contains the return pump
because that could run dry.
For the sump, wherever you decide
just make sure there's a lot
of water movement around the heaters.
Next step is to calibrate your heater
if your heater allows that of course.
For example, the Eheim Jagers are notorious
for not being calibrated upon arrival.
They could be off between three and five degrees,
but they are super easy to calibrate.
If your heater doesn't allow calibration
like the Ultra heaters from Aqua L,
then at least check them against a trustworthy thermometer
just so you know where the starting point is.
Then set your primary heater to 78 degrees
and install it into your tank
being sure to follow the manufacturers instructions.
This could mean installing it horizontally, vertically
or even at an angle.
If your primary heater comes with its own temperature probe,
be sure to place that probe up stream of the heater,
that way you get the most accurate water temp reading.
Next take your secondary heater and also set it to 78
but plug it into your Ink Bird controller.
Set your controller to activate at 75 degrees
with a standard variation of 0.5 degrees.
Then set your alarm to activate at 74.9 degrees.
What this does is if your primary heater fails,
it triggers an audible alarm to go off
once your tank reaches 74.9 degrees
but if you're not around to hear that alarm,
then the Ink Bird temperature controller
will turn on the secondary heater
when it gets to 74.5 degrees thus saving your tank.
A broken or mishandled electric heater
can electrocute all your fish, electrocute you,
burn through an acrylic sump and flood your house,
or worse yet burn your entire house down.
Avoid any of those mistakes
by I watching this video right here
and as always, everyone, thanks for watching.
Happy reefing, be well.
We'll see you next time.