Almost had a tank of cooked zebras

[Taratron]

When I worked at the local zoo, we used Ebo Jager heaters everywhere. Fine by me, I never had an issue, but they seemed to burn out fast. After some research for my own fish I picked up Catalina heaters for my zebras. The main heater died a few weeks ago, and I finally got the new one via Amazon. Nice pretty happy Catalina....that didn't shut off when it broke the 82* I had the tank set at. Thank every pisces god alive but I checked the tank and found the heater had zipped from 82 to almost 88 in the space of an hour!

So this heater is garbage. I'm trying to get a refund/return for it and the other Catalina I got. But the main question is, what heater is trustworthy, what do you guys use for your hypans that can't do well with high 70s as room temperature?

[Linus_Cello]

None?
What about a heater controller:
Neo-Stat Heater Controler -- $115.95
This is the controller for a Neo-Therm heater. It has a place to plug in a normal heater, and a probe that goes into the water. Set the heater at maximum, and let this control the temperature. Alternatively, set your heater normally, and set this to 86 degrees. Should your heater fail, this will act as an automatic cut-off. Can be used, with a little ingenuity, on multiple heaters.

[catfishchaos]

My fluval heaters have been very reliable!

[PseudaSmart]

Linus was on the right path but I would suggest a few tweaks.

A separate temperature controller and a high quality heater is the best way. I don't know what it is about our hobby / passion that we buy expensive show pieces and then try and go cheap on their support. It took me a long time to break this habit.

Here is a less expensive temp controller. They are $60 each and I pay an additional $3 to put shrink tubing over the sensor to extend their life. I have used 8 for the past 9 years without a failure until I dropped one on a concrete floor.

Website: honeyrunapiaries.com
Controller Ranco ETC-111000-000 digital temperature controller.
http://www.honeyrunapiaries.com/shop/el ... etc-111000
For a bit more money they have one already wired and ready to go. I buy a power strip with a 6ft cord and cut it somewhere near the middle for the controller. This is good for me because I prefer to run two lower wattage heaters instead of one monster. These are also accurate within 1 deg F not +/- 2 like some others.

The other change I would do is set the heater itself to the hottest temp I plan to use ever instead of MAX. This way you have protection if the temp sensor falls out of the tank.

Jim

[Barbie]

With that said, I've kept H. zebra at 90 degrees for months when I was experimenting with trying to get them to condition and spawn. It didn't stress them at all, but I did make sure to provide adequate surface disturbance. They DO get rotund though!

The cobalt temperature controllers definitely would be a great secondary fix. I also recommend using two heaters, neither one large enough to overheat on their own.

Barbie

[Narwhal72]

I will give a +1 for the Ranco controller. I use one to control my electric space heater in my fish room. I place the probe in one tank of my central system and let the space heater heat the whole room up to the desired temperature. They are very reliable. I only use heaters in a few tanks outside the fish room.


Andy

[vanillarum]

I agree with what Barbie says about 2 heaters. I use 2 heaters on every tank, and have never had an issue. Good luck. When I had my zebras, I kept the temp at 86. I now keep my L400s at 84. No issues.