Loaches Online Forum

Hi Everyone,

I was wondering what brand of heater everyone is using in their tank. I read about the exploding marineland heaters and am wondering what everyone else is using?

The standard Visitherm seem by far the best heaters around here. They came out way ahead in the Practical Fishkeeping reader poll.

I was sceptical at first, but can confirm they are easily the best I've tried and I won't buy anything else now.

That may not help you over there though, sorry!

The Marineland Visi-therms don't have very good reviews on Amazon.

Aqueon Pros have great reviews and that's what I use. It's all black plastic, so it's easy to hide and I don't have to worry about it like I do with glass heaters. The glass heaters make me really anxious.

Yes, I have heard about problems with US Marineland Visitherms. Thanks for pointing this out.

Best not to confuse with our Visitherm which is made by, I believe, Underworld and which is widely considered the most reliable on the market.

I've not had an issue with the toughened glass that these heaters are made of. What could be of concern?

Another heater I've had recommended is one by Jager (also glass) but I haven't used it myself. I've had plenty of other heaters that let me down far too early including glass and plastic ones and mechanical and electronic ones too. I guess all heaters will stop eventually and they should probably be replaced at regular intervals if heaters stopping would be a problem.

I'm happy to replace when they expire.

I generally use two heaters, one at each end of the aquarium, with a wattage chosen so that if one stops working the other can keep the fish alive until replacement.

I'd recommend doing this if you would have an issue if your single heater stopped.

I figured that it was a difference between UK and US manufacturers.

Never tried a Jager!

As for the glass heaters tweaking me out... I'm not sure. I've just heard so many horror stories regarding glass heaters cracking, exploding, leaking...

I'm sure very little of my fears are grounding in reality.

Well I think that many glass heaters will crack if operated out of the water, including the Visi-therm.

There are some makes that will not operate out of water, but I forget which ones.

Eheim Jager. Is my suggestion for a heater.

I dumped all of my Mairneland due to the issues mentioned. Have since been using Ehiem/jager and love them.

I'm actually partial to Fluval E-Series heaters. While they can be a bit finicky at times, they work well overall. One of the biggest reasons I went with them is the built-in fish guard. With catfish and/or loaches in every tank, I wanted a heater that wouldn't injure the fish who seem to have an uncanny knack for sitting in places they shouldn't be.