Lesson learned: You get what you pay for. The Aqueon 06106 Pro Heaters Submersible Aquarium Heater, 100-Watt works better (it was recommended to me) but it's almost twice the price on Amazon and even more at the pet store so I got this. I bought it the last week of June to treat ick in a tank. It was always about 3 degrees off but I dealt with it. I used it occasionally, I'd say I used this heater for a total of 15 days before it malfunctioned. I decided about a week ago to buy some tropical fish and I tried to get this to heat to a constant 77 degrees. Worked fine before bed, but I woke up the next morning to dead fish and a tank temperature of 86 to 88 degrees! It was HOT in there! I call the company and what do I hear?
"Maybe your thermometers are inaccurate." BOTH OF THEM?
"Is it hot outside your house?" Does it matter? The tank is INSIDE my house, and my room temperature is a steady 68 degrees. I live in the Arctic. No, it is not hot outside my house.
I don't know about you, but when I get asked stupid questions like that by people blaming everything but their product for a malfunction, I get kind of annoyed. I was promised a refund by the guy I called for support, then their returns department denied it because I've had the unit for almost 3 months. They said they do not issue refunds after 14 days, and if I want to use the warranty I have to pay to ship the item to them! For a $16 heater, that is not even worth my time or money paying to ship it back, let alone the cost of gas to drive to the post office! What kind of "customer service" is that? I'm sure they bet on people not bothering to pay return shipping for the warranty and instead buy a new one!
This heater was not accurate from the start. If it's going to kill my fish and I have to "re-calibrate it" (their suggestion) over and over again to get it to work temporarily, I am not going to use it and risk a repeat of fish casualties. I unplugged it, pulled it out of the water 10 minutes later and it burnt my hand it was so hot. It smelled strongly of burnt rubber. Unsafe. Do not buy Aquatop!!! Spend a few bucks more on a quality product.
Last time I am buying an Aquatop product of any kind!
I'm enjoying this heater so far.
I have a 20 gallon tall aquarium, it was a kit purchased from Petsmart that included a filter and heater. However, starting with the first day I was having problems with the included heater. No mater how many times I nudged the temperature nob down, it always found its way back to 82 degrees which is 4 degrees warmer than I wanted. Eventually I decided enough was enough and bought this 100W heater as a replacement.
So far everything works perfectly. I left it running for a day and saw that it too had the water at 82 degrees with the nob set at 78. Ugh, not again! However, this heater allows you to 'calibrate' the dial by lifting the red peg on top, and rotating the dial to the temperature your tank is at. I did so, changing it 82, then pushed the red peg back in, and turned the dial down to 78. Day 2 comes around, and all three thermometers agree the tank is now at 78! Perfect =)
Two weeks later, the temperature has been rock solid. It's February so the house is the coldest it will usually be throughout the year and it's performing perfectly, we keep the house at 65 during the night.
This heater is all black in color, and has an orange LED that turns on whenever the heater is on. The top features a dial with actual temperature numbers and not arbitrary numbers (for example 1-10). As mentioned above, if it is keeping a temperature other than what it says, you can adjust the dial and recalibrate it. Chances are you'll never change the dial again, but is useful in any case if you have the misfortune of getting sick fish, for example ich where treatment requires a rise in temperature.
This heater is fully submersible, even though it does have a max water line on it (I think this is for Canada regulations).
I will update this review if I ever have a problem with it, no updates means it is still working perfectly.
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Bought this for my 30gal tank and its worked out great. Heat my tank up in less than an hour. No issues whatsoever. Great product.
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I will never again purchase any AquaTop (TruAqua) product.
I purchased the 100w heater with digital display over a year ago. Just past the one year mark, the heater stopped functioning properly. The thermostat got stuck on 90 degrees (normally 74). I sent the heater back to AquaTop with a letter documenting what had happened and requesting a replacement. Surely a company that warranties a product for 12 mos would not want a disatisfied customer with a useless heater that only lasted 14 mos. An email conversation began between Albert in the Returns Dept and myself. He stated he was unable to be of assistance. I responded requesting a new heater or a credit toward a heater purchase. No dice. I requested a supervisor and was refused one. Finally Albert conceeded by offering me half off the same model ($39.99 regular price, $20 for me). I agreed. When the new heater arrived, there was condensation inside the glass tube and the box was marked with a special sticker (possibly a return from another customer or a "refurbished" unit). I tried the heater out anyway. It did not even last a week before the display went to all 8's and the thermostat got stuck on an undesired temperature. I again emailed Albert for resolution. He asked me to send him evidence (photos) of the issues. I complied. He sent me an RMA number and UPS label and I returned the unit. I went online immediately to purchase a new heater. The exact same model on Amazon and on the TruAqua website was $14.99. He gave me a "deal" by charging me $20? Weeks later, after emailing Albert again, I received my $20 back. TruAqua aka AquaTop is difficult to do business with, rude to their customers (and I have been a loyal customer for YEARS), and they intentionally overcharged me for the item. No thank you!
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This sucker cracked the first night I tried to use it. Maybe giving it 20 mins submerged in my tank wasn't enough time for the glass to adjust, but I maintain a half dozen tanks with 2 heaters each and this is the 1st time I've ever had one fail like this. It wasn't a spectacular fail that lit up the tank or killed all my fish (thank god) but a cracked glass shell and a failed unit none the less. And no, before you comment or ask if I just chucked it in the tank and fired it off, I didn't. Like I said, it was unplugged and submerged for a full 20 mins before I tried it. Then I plugged it in and approximately 30 to 45 sec later it cracked and I could see a faint trail of "tiny little bubbles" comeing from said crack. Unplugged and pulled the thing out and sure enough "done". I won't slam or badmouth Aquatop over this, I own plenty of their other products and am quite pleased with them(tank heaters included), just had a bad experience with this one.
nice for the price but they don't really stand up straight in the tank so if they are bent or folded during shipping or packing that is how they stay
