Heathers for big tanks

[Becca]

(was worried that the younger folks wouldn't get my reference; I feel old...)

Which of us did you think was younger? I feel like we're all near 40 and upwards... except for Viktor, of course, he's very obviously 19.

[Linus_Cello]

Oase anyone?

[ddavila06]

Thanks for all the replies, and for the correction to my horrible spelling! LOL
I will look into inline, never done anything like that

[JLW]

Wait, Damian rejoined the club, and COVID happened. I knew it was all fake, but I didn't realise it was all fake to avoid Damian. For anyone else, it would seem a bit extreme, but ... for Damian, this is an appropriate response.

I would second anyone who says get a redundant controller. I don't know why, but all heaters' thermostats SUCK, and will eventually fail. (Has anyone ever, ever had a home thermostat stick on? I actually called HVAC companies and asked... of those that didn't hang up on me, none had ever heard of it happening, even with the old fashioned thermostats that are mechanically identical to aquarium ones.) When most parts of your fish tank fail, you don't lose your tank ... heaters, are the exception. They can, and will, kill your entire tank. Adding a $30-40 piece of backup equipment is worth it.

I use Inkbirds, which are on sale on BRS (http://www.bulkreefsupply.com) right now, but there are a lot of alternatives, too. Having an audible alarm is also a great idea.
For some of my larger tanks with more expensive loads, I easily justify the costs of APEX or similar units.

[DonkeyFish]

Oase filters are great. I've been running a 350 and 600, with internal heaters, and LOOOVE the prefiilter design feature. I will note that if you slack on the prefilter cleaning the flow will significantly decrease in time, but same with any clogged foam filter layer. At least with these you don't have to disassemble the entire contraption to get to the mucky foam.

I've found the Oase heaters to be reliable, but I also use Inkbird/generic controllers and haven't had a heater problem in almost 8 years now. Remember, heaters will fail. And when they do it's either innocently to "off", or catastrophically to "broil". I did a quick write-up on the controllers and how I run them if anyone wants to read it... jwdaqua.com/heater-love