Stay away from inline heaters b/c of failure rates?

Your only choice for inline heaters are the hydor's. I've been using mine for a while now, bought it used, so I don't know how old it is. It works like a champ.

I think what a lot of people don't realize is that the heater is the single thing in our setups with the greatest chance for causing carnage. Barring a leaking hose fish will be able to live in unfiltered water until you get home from work. But a stuck on heater will cook them in no time. GET A HEATER CONTROLLER!!!!

I run Hydor ETHs on every canister I set up. I've found them to be the MOST reliable heater I've ever used.

I have also read reviews of high failure rate but I've also noticed that people who own them love them. I plan on using one inline heater although I haven't spent the money yet.

I have however read about the necessity of using a thermostatically controlled shutoff

Been using a Hydor since February; tank is stable at 78 the entire time. I know it's only been a few months but I love it. Also, since it's inline to the canister, heat is dissipated evenly throughout the tank with no variations.

I've had no problems with my Hydor ETH, but I run it with a heater controller just in case. Finnex makes a $30 one, so I got it for peace of mind. It actually saved my fish once when I bumped the knob on the hydor and turned it all the way up to max. It would have cooked my fish since I'm using a 200W heater on a 12 gallon tank.

Also I've been told if I go with one of these Hydor inlines I'll want to use a digital temp controller to guard against overheating. The ReefKeeper Lite Basic setup has been suggested for around $120. If I go this route spending $120 for a temp controller (plus a whole lot of other programmable functions) should I look at any other controller other than this ReefKeeper for around the same price?

you can use a cheaper controller like this,set both of them to your desired temperature. This is sort of a fail safe, if the heater spazes out and stays on, the controller will cut power to it.
Amazon.com : Finnex Temperature Controller Digital Heater : Aquarium Heaters : Pet Supplies

I'm like a couple of other in this thread. I've been using a Hydor with a Finnex Temp Controller since last fall with no issues.

bradleyheathhays said:

Also I've been told if I go with one of these Hydor inlines I'll want to use a digital temp controller to guard against overheating. The ReefKeeper Lite Basic setup has been suggested for around $120. If I go this route spending $120 for a temp controller (plus a whole lot of other programmable functions) should I look at any other controller other than this ReefKeeper for around the same price?

Click to expand...

I guess it depends who is giving you the advice. What do you want the controller to do? A temp controller can be bought for about $30, a timer for the lights way less than that.

Depends how high tech and how much money you want to spend.

Thanks everyone for all the advice. No doubt that at least some sort of thermostatically controlled cut off is a must. After reading some complaints that the Finnex and (I forger which other) controller below $100 let the temp vary too much for comfort I was persuaded to look at the RKL Basic. Along with the idea of more accurate temperature control the idea of future flexibility is appealing. So although I don't want to just throw money at this thing the RKL does seem like a much better controller (with .1 deg F accuracy)(with multiple alarm modes...sound, flashing)(and the potential to be a whole lot more).

If you have a big tank like mine, with two Eheims, you could also run one Hydor for each filter. That way if one fails you still have backup. Of course, with temp controllers this would be pretty expensive....

Ranco heat controller!!!

You can always build your own. There are a few diy articles about it. Not too hard and you can use any heater you like.
I had an out of box failure on a hydor inline. Sent it back, they fixed it, been fine for 6 months or so.

Back when I was using Hydor's on canisters, the issue I found was that the thermostat spins very freely. Based on failure accounts at the time, I deduced that most were do to the thermostat being bumped on accident to a higher setting. I just placed a piece of tape over the knob to hold it in place. Ran 5-6 Hydors simultaneously with no issues.