visi therm heater?

[Nautilus29]

I was wondering if anyone has tried the visi-therm heaters? If so do you like them, and im not talking about the stealth. I dont feel like ordering off the internet and no stores around have the stealth unless i ask the stores if they will order it in for me. Do stores actually do that?

Sorry i was rambling on ok now for my next question wattage for a 55g tank. I was reading the visi therm label and they said for a 50 gallon you should get 2 200 watt heaters. Is this right? the store had a 300 watt for like 40 dollars would that be enough wattage?

[jman]

i know fish stores do except requests around hear.

[Nautilus29]

cool i will have to look into that.

[Fishguy2727]

I won't buy anything except stealths anymore. They are shatterproof, automatically shutoff when out of water, are very accurate, and I think look much better. If they can get some in for you I would definitely go with that. I think the 200 watt is enough. It really depends on how much it is raising the temp, but in general 200 watts is enough for a 55.

[jman]

did you go ask for any requests yet. If they said no it is probably because of there source of fish and where they are buying from. If they are like the one hear our fish come either straight from the lakes, good breeders, or other store in Florida and such that are getting them faster.

[Nautilus29]

I got 2 stealth 100w heaters. They just stocked them today i think since i went in there yesterday and they didnt have them. They didnt even have price tags on them yet.

They said they would order things, but i would never buy fish from this store Pets supplies plus. There fish all are overstocked. They also had a 12" pleco in a 20g tank. I feel sorry for all of them fish. You should see the color of the blue gouramis they look grey. You cant see any blue in them at all.

[jeffs99dime]

yeah. you know i have them. they're awesome heaters. 2x200 watts is exactly what you need. what worked best for me is to place one heater on one side and the other on the opposite side at the bottom on the back wall. you will have the least fluctuations (degrees) this way. also, make sure you get the intakes of whatever fiters you are using as close to the heaters as possible without them actually touching. my water temp. saty a constant 78degrees this way.

[Fishguy2727]

If you are going to use two heaters they each need to be half the actual needed wattage to allow one to be stuck on while the other shuts off, but that is not even really needed any more because newer heaters use different thermostat control that the old ones that could get stuck on. 2x200 is 400 watts, way too much for a 55. 200-250 watts total is all you need and if you are going with high quality heaters you only need one, not two.

[jeffs99dime]

yeah. don't take my advice i guess. when one heater fails to function, the other will turn on (200 watts) i haven't had a casualty yet or any sickness yet.

[jeffs99dime]

yeah thanks

[Nautilus29]

I was going to go with more wattage but they only had up to 100 watts since they just started stocking them the day i went in. i guess its good that i didnt get more although jeff if your tank is working fine then i guess your not doing anything wrong.

[Fishguy2727]

The stealths should not get stuck on. They use an electronic thermostat. Older and lower quality heaters use a bimetallic thermostat that can get stuck in one position because there was an actual moving part.

[Nautilus29]

Ya i noticed that with my whisper heater. :(.

[Lady Hobbs]

I have 150 watt in my 55 gallon and had to add another 100 watt just to get it up to 78. Since I would like to have it warmer for the treatment of fish, 250 won't do it for me and I have to add a higher wattage to replace that 100. I will probably get another 150 or 200.

I would think it would make a difference, too, if your tank was sitting near a heat source and the temp you keep your home, as well, or if there are overhead fans or drafts from nearby windows.

[Nautilus29]

I am going to put mine in a pretty good position. I have a corner in my room that doesnt have any windows by it and there is only one heater vent in my room that isnt too close too it, so it should keep the fluctuations down. I am hoping that since i got a stealth 200w will do. everyone talks so good about them and how they dont need as much wattage to heat there tank. I guess i will have to do. if worst comes to worst i wil buy another heater. Its going to be awhile before i put fish in this tank anyways so i can experiment.

[Lady Hobbs]

I might also need to add that my heaters are not the good heaters so that would make a difference for me, too. As always, you get what you pay for. When the dial goes to 86 and your heater will only reach 78 tops, then it's not calibrated correctly or has too low of wattage.

I was not aware the Sleath heaters shut off when there's no water on them. This is a huge plus feature. I never unplug mine during water changes and that could break them if they over-heated.

[Nautilus29]

I wasnt going to get one at first but then everyone said its the only way to go so i gave in.

[jeffs99dime]

excellent choice bro!