Heater too small? Need a bigger one? Jeremy Gay takes a first look at the biggest aquarium heaters on the market.
I can picture the scene, you've got a 5x2x2' tank with a mixture of medium to large tropical fish and stocking is heavy.
You're filtering with an Fluval FX5, the big tank, big fish industry standard filter, but up until now you've had to use two heater thermostats when you really just want to use one.
What's stopped you up until now of course is that almost all heaters only go up to 300 watts in power consumption, and with the PFK recommendation of roughly 1 watt of heater power per litre of water, your big tank needs two.
Until now that is.
As far as looks go, the new Superfish LED heater with Digital Control is the FX5 of the heater world, being large, tough and looking rugged.
It has the useful digital display that a few other heaters come with, touch button control and automatic shut-off to prevent over heating if it runs dry, but most importantly for me, the range includes 1-300 watt models, but then 400 and 500 watt models too. So only one heater, and one socket, is necessary if you want to heat a 500 litre tank.
Why no one has done this before I just don't know. Hydor made a 400 watt model years ago then stopped, and up until now, if you wanted larger wattage you had to go down the dedicated titanium heater and separate, external thermostat route. Well not anymore.
We received the 400 watt model here in the office for review and it's a beast, measuring 20" long and looking like a weapon.
Part of the rugged look is down to the integrated heater guard which will again be welcomed by those who keep large, boisterous fish, and if it's reliable, we think it will be a winner.
They're good value too, with the 500 watt model selling for £39.99 on the Maidenhead Aquatics website.