Heaters

nine28girl

Member
Can someone recommend a good heater? Are the Won Brothers any good? What size would you recommend on a 240 that has exposure to the unheated garage?
Thanks in advance!
Sam
 

grumpygils

Active Member
Originally Posted by Nine28girl
Can someone recommend a good heater? Are the Won Brothers any good? What size would you recommend on a 240 that has exposure to the unheated garage?
Thanks in advance!
Sam
I have (among others) a wons brothers 1,000 W with a digital controller and it works good. Whatever you get, I would use a controller for them. You will need 5 w per gallon for a 10 degree pull up. I would get 2 X 500W heaters and hook them to a controller. My heating element went out on the Wons and they replaced it immediatley.
Mc
 

nine28girl

Member
Originally Posted by grumpygils
I have (among others) a wons brothers 1,000 W with a digital controller and it works good. Whatever you get, I would use a controller for them. You will need 5 w per gallon for a 10 degree pull up. I would get 2 X 500W heaters and hook them to a controller. My heating element went out on the Wons and they replaced it immediatley.
Mc
Thanks MC! Now you say hook both to one controller or get seperate controllers... but they already come with controllers? And rather than getting one Won Pro-Heat Titanium II - Digital 1000 watt get a 2x 500 watt?
Sam
 

grumpygils

Active Member
Originally Posted by Nine28girl
Thanks MC! Now you say hook both to one controller or get seperate controllers... but they already come with controllers? And rather than getting one Won Pro-Heat Titanium II - Digital 1000 watt get a 2x 500 watt?
Sam
That's what I have but many people like two incase of a problem? I think the won is nice.
Mc
 

nine28girl

Member
Originally Posted by grumpygils
That's what I have but many people like two incase of a problem? I think the won is nice.
Mc
Ok, but the controllers that come with them are ok right? I was trying to read the archives before I posted and someone mentioned something about not using the electronic ones like Won Brothers and said use something called Stealth which I have never heard of?? If it is not electronic what is it- sorry if stupid question.
Sam
 

scsinet

Active Member
Originally Posted by Nine28girl
Ok, but the controllers that come with them are ok right? I was trying to read the archives before I posted and someone mentioned something about not using the electronic ones like Won Brothers and said use something called Stealth which I have never heard of?? If it is not electronic what is it- sorry if stupid question.
Sam
I have about 5 Won heaters. 1 is still in operation on my FOWLR system, but all of my other Wons have been replaced with Jager heaters. The reason why is that of the 5 I had, 3 have failed. Won replaced one, but it took almost two weeks for the complete RMA process to go through. I'd have been hosed if I didn't have a spare heater.
Stories abound these boards about these heaters cooking tanks because the controller fails and sticks "ON." I've never had that, mine have always failed "OFF."
The problem comes in with bigger tanks. Most heaters simply don't go as large as you need, about the biggest normally available heater is 250w, so we are forced to turn to Won, which is one of the few manufacturers that make them >500w. Personally, I wouldn't run one on a tank that big without a second controller due to the risk of failure.
Back in the day, Aquanetics (now called Aqua Logic) made an inline heater called a Fireplug. These came in up to 1000w, and they were AWESOME. Unfortunately they stopped making them even though they had a niche market.

For my 180g reef, I'm using (4) Jager 250w heaters. If you don't have room for that many heaters, here's SCSI's super duper heater setup:
(2) Won Bros 500w heaters
(1) Ranco Single Stage Controller
Assuming you want your tank at 77 degrees, set it up like this:
Plug both heaters into the controller. Set your heaters for 77 and 75 degrees. Set the controller for 80.
It'll work like this:
If your tank's temperature drops to 76 degrees, the first Won will kick in. If this heater keeps up, great. If the tank requires extra heat or the first heater fails, the second one will kick in to pick up the slack. If either heater fails "ON" and the tank reaches 80 degrees, the Ranco controller will kick out as a "safety mechanism."
This way you don't have to worry about a controller on a heater failing off or on, nor do you have to worry about a total failure of a heater, as you'll have two for protection. Call me paranoid, but $100 on a Ranco controller is worth it to protect how ever many thousands in livestock you'll have.
 

nine28girl

Member
Originally Posted by SCSInet
I have about 5 Won heaters. 1 is still in operation on my FOWLR system, but all of my other Wons have been replaced with Jager heaters. The reason why is that of the 5 I had, 3 have failed. Won replaced one, but it took almost two weeks for the complete RMA process to go through. I'd have been hosed if I didn't have a spare heater.
Stories abound these boards about these heaters cooking tanks because the controller fails and sticks "ON." I've never had that, mine have always failed "OFF."
The problem comes in with bigger tanks. Most heaters simply don't go as large as you need, about the biggest normally available heater is 250w, so we are forced to turn to Won, which is one of the few manufacturers that make them >500w. Personally, I wouldn't run one on a tank that big without a second controller due to the risk of failure.
Back in the day, Aquanetics (now called Aqua Logic) made an inline heater called a Fireplug. These came in up to 1000w, and they were AWESOME. Unfortunately they stopped making them even though they had a niche market.

For my 180g reef, I'm using (4) Jager 250w heaters. If you don't have room for that many heaters, here's SCSI's super duper heater setup:
(2) Won Bros 500w heaters
(1) Ranco Single Stage Controller
Assuming you want your tank at 77 degrees, set it up like this:
Plug both heaters into the controller. Set your heaters for 77 and 75 degrees. Set the controller for 80.
It'll work like this:
If your tank's temperature drops to 76 degrees, the first Won will kick in. If this heater keeps up, great. If the tank requires extra heat or the first heater fails, the second one will kick in to pick up the slack. If either heater fails "ON" and the tank reaches 80 degrees, the Ranco controller will kick out as a "safety mechanism."
This way you don't have to worry about a controller on a heater failing off or on, nor do you have to worry about a total failure of a heater, as you'll have two for protection. Call me paranoid, but $100 on a Ranco controller is worth it to protect how ever many thousands in livestock you'll have.
Wow, thanks for all the info! That is exactly what I am finding- nothing for bigger tanks. I am with you I'd rather spend a few extra $$$ than risk losing anything. I didn't realize it was even ok for a saltwater tank to go below 77 degrees??? How low can it safely go?
 

scsinet

Active Member
Well how low it can go is subjective...
I forgot to plug in my heaters last year during the first cold snap (I leave them disconnected during warmer months), and my reef dropped to 65 degrees. No harm done.
I keep my coral propagation tanks at about 75 degrees as it's in the basement and hard to keep any warmer. My reef is at 78 (with the chiller set to 80), my FOWLR at 74, my Chiclid tank at 78, and my discus system is at 82.
My example is purely relative. Basically, in my example, you want your Ranco controller to cut out only at excessive temperature, and leave the day to day thermostat function to the heater's controllers. So set your Ranco at what you want the absolute maximum temperature to be. Then set one heater to what you want your temperature at, and the other a couple degrees lower than that.
Oh, and by the way, the Stealth heaters you weren't sure about are made by MarineLand, in their Visi-Therm line. I don't use them myself (I'm a Jager man), but lots of people here swear by them.
 

nine28girl

Member
Originally Posted by SCSInet
Well how low it can go is subjective...
I forgot to plug in my heaters last year during the first cold snap (I leave them disconnected during warmer months), and my reef dropped to 65 degrees. No harm done.
I keep my coral propagation tanks at about 75 degrees as it's in the basement and hard to keep any warmer. My reef is at 78 (with the chiller set to 80), my FOWLR at 74, my Chiclid tank at 78, and my discus system is at 82.
My example is purely relative. Basically, in my example, you want your Ranco controller to cut out only at excessive temperature, and leave the day to day thermostat function to the heater's controllers. So set your Ranco at what you want the absolute maximum temperature to be. Then set one heater to what you want your temperature at, and the other a couple degrees lower than that.
Oh, and by the way, the Stealth heaters you weren't sure about are made by MarineLand, in their Visi-Therm line. I don't use them myself (I'm a Jager man), but lots of people here swear by them.

Thanks!
 

nine28girl

Member
Originally Posted by dskrezyna
Visi-Therm Stealth user here.

I tried finding one online but I can't find a Stealth that is 500 watts....
I need something at least 500 watts.... anyone?
 
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