NEVER use a USED HEATER.....

if you cant afford a new good heater, you dont need one!.... Never use one that you bought used or was given to you!!!!! they are unreliable since you dont know how old they are or how good they are!

Last weekend one of the only heaters i am using right now, acted up.... water got to 95degrees! really suks... because that tank was my NEW RUBY REDS I JUST GOT IN LAST WEEK!... most fish cannt survive in that temperature! all FIVE of them were floaters! but, the 25 ABNs all survived the ordeal....

NEVER USED OLD HEATERS..... THEY SUK!

Ouch

Sorry for the loss.

Sorry to here that CG!!

like i said on a previous post, all my heaters are used when i bought them and i knock on wood again lol, i had no problem yet... maybe i got just lucky.. but there is a high chance to get a bad heater when used before..

Sorry for your loss.

I just learned this lesson also, although without any death luckily.
Mine was used...by me, 5 years ago then somehow found its way into a box of holiday ornaments until a month ago. =/

Yup this is a great point that I think everyone should know. It has just become common place to always have a heater and such when you get a tank but in so many cases you just don't need one. I know my house stays at 72 and when the lights come on in my tank it sticks at between 76-78 The water will hold that temp (slowly falling) for the time the lights are off.

It is also worth mentioning that I have found the Inside of the canister filter stays much warmer and this may help explain why it takes so long to cool down.

All my heaters are used also.I have never had a problem with them either.Hopefully it stays that way.

ive been using the fluval electronic heater they are $$ but with the built in digatal readout they flash blue if tank drops 3 degrees and flashes red if rises 3 degrees been good so far about 2 yrs i guess

I would love to get about 3 of them. but like you said .

brand new heaters seem to be my issue, the used ones work fine lol.

but i think i am going to try out the fluval since my stealth is recalled.

Owy...so sry to hear that.

And I just bought a few of used ones too. Rut Roh!

I gave up on aquariums for over a year after a heater related incident. I had kept two lovely parrot fish for over 4 years and enjoyed them greatly until I killed them on accident.

I noticed my heater not working quite right at one point so I turned it up. Not doing any good I cranked it up again, and probably again.

The fish were still ok and I put off buying a new heater for a bit.

A week or so later I was cleaning the house, vacuuming, when I noticed a plug undone. Without thought, I plugged it back in - and much later that night I found my two fish dead.

That was when I checked to see WHAT I had plugged in, then remembered back to how the heater hadn't been 'working properly'.

Most of my heaters I use now are ones that sat in a box for 3 years while I did not have tanks. They are all working right. *knock on wood*

I don't trust any heater used,new, expensive, cheap... the temp is something I check everyday. Back when I kept discus I had a stealth heater crack and overheat the tank. Good thing the discus could handle the heat but that has kept me on alert since then.

Never. Never. Never.

I'm 50/50 when i had discus i bought the ebo jager - eheims new... but my tanks with just tetras and plants i went cheaper and bought hagen elites or top fins..

i got a 200w with my angels it's a eheim eb jager never did me wrong.

so speaking of heaters in your opinion which brands are good and which ones to stay away from.