Stealth heaters

[plecomanpat]

Hi all, just piping in about the Stealth(by marineland) heaters th at have been pulled off the shelves due to malfunction.If you have purchased one in the last couple of months you might want to keep an eye on it. In no way am I bashing the company for I have always had Stealths in all my tanks and have swore by them for many years. I recently set 2 more tanks and purchased new stealth heaters for both. In the last week both had malfunctioned, the first quit working entirely(which wasn't so bad for the tank was in my rack of tanks and the temp did not get below 74), the 2nd unfortunately had kept running all day, to my surprise I came home from work and the tank was 96 degrees farenheit. Needless to say that I lost 6 Loxazonus cory's and 7 San Juan cory's. My (2) Peckoltias and (4) L10a Red Lizard cats were a little lathargic but none worse for wear after a water change. So heads up out there, these were the models with the indicator lights(red light on,green light off). Is was given equally priced heaters via lifetime guarantee but that doesn't cover my fish losses.

[vanillarum]

I recently had the same result - came home to my community tank at 94°, and 2 pleco tanks at 90° and the heater still heating. Luckily, I caught it in time and had 0 losses. All 3 heaters were the above mentioned stealths. I have since switched to the Aqueon Pro, and so far they seem to be working normally. Good luck.

[plecomanpat]

Aqueon pro ironically is the brand I replaced the stealths with, thnx for the input

[PlecoCrazy]

Aqueon pro ironically is the brand I replaced the stealths with, thnx for the input

Ironically the same here as well. Obviously only time will tell how well of a replacement they are. Fingers Crossed.

[naturalart]

I went from Stealth Pro 250w to Fluval M300 (300w) non shatterproof. Anybody have experience with these?

[joefish72b]

Aqueon pro ironically is the brand I replaced the stealths with, thnx for the input

Same here, I returned mine to my local big box store and they only had the Aqueon as a replacement. Luckily my tanks only need heat for about a month in winter.

[Taratron]

I picked up some Catalina heaters a while back---has anyone had issue with them before?

[Suckermouth]

Tetra, Marineland, Eheim, Fluval, and such have been perennial names in the aquarium fish industry, but Aqueon seems to be a recent new player that seems to be gaining traction. I've never heard of this brand until recently, but their website suggests they are a relatively recent player and an off-shoot of All-Glass; I'm sure the virtual monopoly All-Glass has in the aquarium industry has allowed this fast penetration of the market, especially as they offer rebates when you purchase an aquarium. I avoided their products before since I thought that they would be "cheap" versions of other brands since I mostly found them at Petco and with these offers, however it wasn't until recently I found out some of their products are actually priced more expensively than Marineland. I have recently purchased an Aqueon filter and it seems to be decent, although it remains to be seen whether it is actually better. However, this thread proves I think that Aqueon isn't going anywhere and definitely presents a threat to industry leaders such as Marineland.

[andywoolloo]

I haven't had any problems with my original visi therm stealths and have some new in packaging still.
Unknown what I'll go to next.

p.s. I love the tapatalk app and can't wait to see it on the ipad2. Thanks for adding it guys!!

[joefish72b]

I think the issue was isolated to the stealth "pro" series and only the newer models with higher watts. I know mine was black with red graphics and was rated for a 75 gallon tank.

[2wheelsx2]

I don't trust any of the standard thermostats with the heaters. I have 2 Ebo jager 300w, a Fluval M 100w and a Hydor ETH 300w. I had the Stealths which I traded in for credit with the recall and previous to that I had Visitherms. I run the Ebo's on a Ranco temp controller, and the Hydor on a Digital Aquatics controller. The Fluval is on a 20 gallon quarantine for which I have not run a controller, but I will eventually get one for it too. The weakest link, IMO and that of many others, in these heaters, are the thermostats. Remove that from the equation and you'll sleep much better at night.

[bsmith]

Pretty much every heater I have had (aqueon, hydor in tank, all glass, marineland) have been junk. The best heater I have had thus far is the Hydor ETH inline. I have had it on my discus tank for a few years and is at a rock steady 82 degrees even after many, many, many 50% WC's with water that was 70 degrees or even colder. I recently traded foe some rena smart heaters and have been impressed with them but its only been a couple of month. Only time will tell.

Here is a long thread from over at TPT that anyone with a newer (especially) stealth should take a good long look at.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/equip ... eater.html

[plecomanpat]

The latest info I've heard is your LFS has been told by the reps is to not issue anymore refunds or exchanges. Have the customers deal directly with Marineland and make sure you have your receipt.Good luck

[YSR50]

Stealth heaters always gave me the most consistent temps. Unfortunately they have also "cooked" a few tanks. First time was with an original Stealth heater, second time was with the newer Pro version. Because of this I've been using digital thermometers with alarms.

If you no longer have a receipt or don't mind using Marinelands other heater line, call Marineland Customer Service (United Pet Group 800-338-4896) and they'll issue you replacements.

[plecomanpat]

Thanks for the info,I will.At my LFS yesterday there was a woman there(not employee) that was telling me she made a claim with Marineland over a heater and livestock and they issued her a check for $250 dollars.Personally that sounds a little far fetched to me but you never know

[Maccus]

I was confused about this issue as I wasn't sure if there was a bad batch or all of them were at risk.
Marineland told me to return them if I want to.
Dr Foster and Smith encouraged me to return them so that's what I'm doing now. Mine have been running without any problems since they first came on to the market. Duel 300 watts on a 150 gal.

I guess in the end I'd rather play it safe with my older fish and largest aquarium (150). So if it's encouraged to return them, that's what I'm doing.

[apistomaster]

I just sent in 18 100 watt and 1 250 watt heaters of the original Stealth design. Just after packing them up I discovered the 250 watt I use on my 125 gal I am refurbishing as a low tech, planted community fish tank was also dead.
When I receive the replacements I still have 2 250 watt and about 12 more 100 watt heaters to replace. Some are still working so I had to continue using them.
Once I have exchanged all my old Stealths I will have one new heater per tank, 1 replacement for those, plus a few more spares. My fish are in an area which rarely is cooler than 75*F so I use 100 watt heaters on every sized tank I have from my 4-1/2 gal spawning tanks to 40 gal breeders. Everything larger than 40 gallons I use a 250 watt.
I try to standardize as much of my equipment as I can.
Most died after just one year while others continued to work after 5 years. Some don't heat at all, some heat only to 74*F and some are stuck in the always on mode. I already had bought many of the newly designed Pro Stealths as replacements and as long as they work I like them much better as the old design lacked a pilot light which always drove me crazy.
I knew in the back of my mind that Marineland would replace any of their defective products but I still ended up with a large collection of defective old design heaters. I will be very relieved and grateful to have them all replaced and plenty of back up replacements. Should last me for an indefinite period of time but I came close to throwing away all the defective heaters until I got the recall notice and that gave me the impetus to replace all old design stealth heaters. I just like their sturdy construction and I have always found other brands of submersible heaters to be little more reliable and certainly easier to break. The only heater I would buy if I were starting over would be IboJaeger's. Those seem to be among the best engineered heaters but since they are glass, they are more fragile than a Stealth.
I am glad marineland is standing by their guarantee. I have a small fortune tied up in Stealth heaters.