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Aquarium Co-Op 100 Watt Heater


Cory
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I like the guard on it too that will keep my pelco safe  Also like the controller on the cord  not on the part going in he water  ,,, I will add one to the cart I need to order some root tabs  and some Rapashy 

Edited by Bev C
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On 5/3/2022 at 8:26 AM, Cory said:

I don't think most people will experience the burn from a heater. I've seen it happen with stingrays and eels. Mostly fish that like to wedge between stuff. The average community tank doesn't experience this. The next case is for monster fish, where big fish get spooked and slam into it, the guard helps it from breaking and shorting out.

The most likely use for a heater guard for the average community tank owner is dropping it, it's likely to live through the drop. Also it helps during shipping. Often times features like these are like security guards. They perform their job if nothing goes wrong. So by no one breaking in, it proves the security guard is working, not necessarily that a security guard isn't needed.

These are excellent points that I had never even thought about! Somehow I've never dropped a heater... I probably will now. 🤣

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On 4/30/2022 at 11:14 AM, Its Hutch said:

I like the idea of a using a controller so the 10,000 is only accumulated when it is actually on making heat. Anybody have any good temperature controller recommendations?

My favorite (and I have tested many due to microbrewing exes, reptile keeping, *and* aquarium keeping) has been the Pymeter.

I haven't had any fail on me due to power outages causing complications as I have with a few other types. In fact, I haven't had one fail me yet. I like the wider tempterature control options, and I appreciated being able to set an alarm for when I had surgery (alarm let me know when the turtle pond heater faiiled). It protects against rapid toggling, as well.

Lower cost for better reliability and verified accuracy works for me.

Customer support for a not tech savvy person on my first one was also awesome.

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One thing I've noticed that is a decent concern is the lack of UL approval. Is there a reason these heaters didn't go through UL testing? I know this increases product cost, in turn sales, but UL listing actually matter in the case of homeowners insurance if say a fire is caused by the product. Doubt I'll see a catastrophic failure that causes a fire, but knowing that I won't run into issues with Insurance lawyers later down the line is a nice peace of mind.

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On 5/4/2022 at 5:11 PM, Torrey said:

My favorite (and I have tested many due to microbrewing exes, reptile keeping, *and* aquarium keeping) has been the Pymeter.

I haven't had any fail on me due to power outages causing complications as I have with a few other types. In fact, I haven't had one fail me yet. I like the wider tempterature control options, and I appreciated being able to set an alarm for when I had surgery (alarm let me know when the turtle pond heater faiiled). It protects against rapid toggling, as well.

Lower cost for better reliability and verified accuracy works for me.

Customer support for a not tech savvy person on my first one was also awesome.

Thank you for sharing this with me.

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I ordered mine  got it .today … it is In the tank hooked up to my inkbird  controller when i plug it in it came on and heat water back from 76 - to 78  and turn off …I guess it is working my location is  warm today snd my house inside thermometer says 79-80  

so it has turned on only  that one time at first But I think it is working   my inkbird and my  water tester thermometer says the tank water  is 78 .. but i am keeping a eye on it this evening when house gets cooler 

I am loving the heater so far  love the compact size and the cord length  and control location on the cord  I wait and use this  for a while  but might get one for my quarantine tank later  oh by the way it has past the bristolnose pelco test my pelco has been laying on it & sleeping 

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I changed All my heaters today to the Co Op heater.  First impressions I absolutely love this thing.  I can get rid of all my Digital thermometers on my tanks since the heater tells you the temp, it’s compact so I’ll never have to u plug them during water changes and they blend into all my black backgrounds.    This thing is the best ever.   I’ll check back in 6 months form now and tell you if I’m still in love.   I believe I will be.  You can tell they are super high quality.  Like a apple product  from  the packaging and holding it in your hand you know you have a premium product. Also the long cord is a god send.    Thanks @Cory

7C80A38C-DA8A-45DF-90F0-A8847716F45B.jpeg

Edited by GoYankees10
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On 5/4/2022 at 5:11 PM, Torrey said:

My favorite (and I have tested many due to microbrewing exes, reptile keeping, *and* aquarium keeping) has been the Pymeter.

I haven't had any fail on me due to power outages causing complications as I have with a few other types. In fact, I haven't had one fail me yet. I like the wider tempterature control options, and I appreciated being able to set an alarm for when I had surgery (alarm let me know when the turtle pond heater faiiled). It protects against rapid toggling, as well.

Lower cost for better reliability and verified accuracy works for me.

Customer support for a not tech savvy person on my first one was also awesome.

Got my Pymeter in. I'll admit I was a little overwhelmed at first but if you simply follow the directions it's simple to setup. The tank stays warm in the summer so I won't really be able to test until Winter but it's hooked up and operational right now. Thanks for the recommendation.

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On 5/3/2022 at 11:05 AM, Cory said:

The difference is, we try to research a product and improve with something we find is having troubles. Amazon, finds a good selling product and reproduces it. This is why we don't want to sell on Amazon, we'd just be feeding them the information they use to put a company like us out of business.

As someone who would like to actually design products for a living, it's pretty sad given my experience, when I see companies flat out copy/paste a design.  Usually what I see on amazon (and there is A LOT of this culturally from china in general, just ask top gear) with regards to finding something, replicating it poorly, and selling it using worse materials. On amazon, photos sell. I've even had conversations with their support team regarding an item I wanted to purchase and it said one thing in the description, had a photo saying another, and the description said something else.  Which one was right?  They said they don't know but I would "receive the item as it was described and shown".

It's pretty bad when there is no quality control and when major corporations don't understand that selling bad products hurts *their brand* more than anything else.  I could start with a list of 50+ things I've purchased from amazon, because they don't sell it in a store anymore locally, and absolutely refuse to do so.  The biggest one is electronics of any kind.

 

 

On 5/3/2022 at 11:26 AM, Cory said:

I don't think most people will experience the burn from a heater. I've seen it happen with stingrays and eels. Mostly fish that like to wedge between stuff. The average community tank doesn't experience this. The next case is for monster fish, where big fish get spooked and slam into it, the guard helps it from breaking and shorting out.

True story, I had an amano get "cooked" from a fluval e-series.  I don't know if it died from my moving the rock, or it just got too hot one day and passed in the area where the heater was located.  I definitely prefer to have the guards on things now.  Generally, the biggest deal for me as a customer is to have it be precise, and work when I need it to. Even if I had to replace it yearly, having a good controller in there to keep the temp monitoring on par, is what I care about.

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 I still love it so far I  have mine in my 55 gallon hooked to my ink bird .at first I tried it by  itself  I think I need to run 2 heaters the ACO heater stayed on when it kicked on all the time  and never got to 78.   (that is not AOC  fault,  it was  mine) I thought I read them saying  1 would handle a 55 gallon with a closed glass lid 

 So I re-added my original heater along with the new one and both heaters are in tank hooked to  ink bird .. I am thinking  of next pay to order another one  and have two ... and get my big long  bad boy  Ehiem  out of the tank (good heater but too large) … so my pelco has his bed temporary  still till next month .  I am looking forward to getting another one, I love this design, and it blends in well with my black background 

Edited by Bev C
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On 5/18/2022 at 11:05 AM, Bev C said:

 I still love it so far I  have mine in my 55 gallon hooked to my ink bird .at first I tried it by  itself  I think I need to run 2 heaters the ACO heater stayed on when it kicked on all the time  and never got to 78.   (that is not AOC  fault,  it was  mine) I thought I read them saying  1 would handle a 55 gallon with a closed glass lid 

 So I re-added my original heater along with the new one and both heaters are in tank hooked to  ink bird .. I am thinking  of next pay to order another one  and have two ... and get my big long  bad boy  Ehiem  out of the tank (good heater but too large) … so my pelco has his bed temporary  still till next month .  I am looking forward to getting another one, I love this design, and it blends in well with my black background 

Whats the room temperature where the tank is? Also how long did you let it go "on all the time".

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@CoryI keep my house around 74-75 all year heat or air condition and the tank is in my living room.I keep my tank on 78 -79  When I had the heater in the tank   by itself  it was cold here that weekendnight  with frost, but the house  heater was on, and I had the AOC heater on the tank for about  2 days I had to wait awhile  to see if it would kick on when it kicked on   it stayed on overnight and the next morning 

 Temperature on  the heater  & inkbird  said 73 and my water  meter I  use to check temperature said the water was 74 it never got to78  and kept running  it reached the house temp but not what I set it for the tank 

 I know it is not my inkbird It works fine with the old heater and with both heaters together 

on it  own it does not reach 78 I just thought I might need 2 for 55 gallon tank

I even read the directions again  to be sure I  had the  heater set right 

 

PS I forgot to say I had the AOC heather set 78 and the inkbird I had it set to 78 too if that matters

Edited by Bev C
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On 5/4/2022 at 10:01 PM, Tihshho said:

One thing I've noticed that is a decent concern is the lack of UL approval. Is there a reason these heaters didn't go through UL testing? I know this increases product cost, in turn sales, but UL listing actually matter in the case of homeowners insurance if say a fire is caused by the product. Doubt I'll see a catastrophic failure that causes a fire, but knowing that I won't run into issues with Insurance lawyers later down the line is a nice peace of mind.

Cory has talked through this point in a members stream and a public one last weekend - considerable expense for the UL rating, which includes flying inspectors to the point of manufacture on a recurrent basis, not just an initial approval. 

Insurance coverage is always worth considering, and so I can understand why some may not opt to get these. I chose to get one for my 55 and my two 75s that are about to be set up. It's working perfectly and my only concern is that day when the flashing EL arrives since I can see the readout in bed at night, at least until the water sprite obscures it 🙂 the ability to adjust temp outside of the tank is a big winner for me, as is the compact size and cover (the latter especially - I had an oscar once that loved attacking heaters any time the light came on).

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On 5/18/2022 at 4:01 PM, Jawjagrrl said:

Cory has talked through this point in a members stream and a public one last weekend - considerable expense for the UL rating, which includes flying inspectors to the point of manufacture on a recurrent basis, not just an initial approval. 

Insurance coverage is always worth considering, and so I can understand why some may not opt to get these. I chose to get one for my 55 and my two 75s that are about to be set up. It's working perfectly and my only concern is that day when the flashing EL arrives since I can see the readout in bed at night, at least until the water sprite obscures it 🙂 the ability to adjust temp outside of the tank is a big winner for me, as is the compact size and cover (the latter especially - I had an oscar once that loved attacking heaters any time the light came on).

Great to know! I didn't catch those parts of the streams so I guess I just missed it. It's one thing when you're running one or two heaters, but when you're running a room with different temps it's statistically more risk. I'm giving them a go right now on a few tanks currently. 

So far no concerns or issues with the ones I have up and running, but it would be nice to have a UL offered line as well for us home owners. I understand the expense and know the process from when I was working with an electronics manufacturer out of College, so it's neither quick, simple or cheap. At the end of the day someone has to eat the cost, and that generally gets wrapped into the product pricing rather than a company taking a loss which is understandable. 

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On 5/18/2022 at 3:02 PM, Tihshho said:

Great to know! I didn't catch those parts of the streams so I guess I just missed it. It's one thing when you're running one or two heaters, but when you're running a room with different temps it's statistically more risk. I'm giving them a go right now on a few tanks currently. 

So far no concerns or issues with the ones I have up and running, but it would be nice to have a UL offered line as well for us home owners. I understand the expense and know the process from when I was working with an electronics manufacturer out of College, so it's neither quick, simple or cheap. At the end of the day someone has to eat the cost, and that generally gets wrapped into the product pricing rather than a company taking a loss which is understandable. 

Because most of the US thinks New Mexico is a foreign country that requires a passport and shots🙄, our insurance here accepts the EU listing on electronics for safety. 🤷🏼‍♂️

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On 5/18/2022 at 5:11 PM, Torrey said:

Because most of the US thinks New Mexico is a foreign country that requires a passport and shots🙄, our insurance here accepts the EU listing on electronics for safety. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Interesting... I've never heard something like this before. By EU, do you mean the CE marking?

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 Great news !! We will order a couple for sure as spares for the next failure, or next tank.  I think of something and didn't  notice it mentioned in the threads as I read through them.  Some of us are using heater/chiller controllers. Example Inkbirds series of heater/chiller controllers. So if a person is using this type set-up the heater "odometer/hour meter" only counts when the controller sends power to the heater.  So the lifespan would be significantly longer in those cases.  

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On 5/18/2022 at 5:33 PM, Ken Sonnier said:

 Great news !! We will order a couple for sure as spares for the next failure, or next tank.  I think of something and didn't  notice it mentioned in the threads as I read through them.  Some of us are using heater/chiller controllers. Example Inkbirds series of heater/chiller controllers. So if a person is using this type set-up the heater "odometer/hour meter" only counts when the controller sends power to the heater.  So the lifespan would be significantly longer in those cases.  

I don't think the timer starts when it gets power as digitally this device is always on once it gets power. More so the internal clock starts when the unit powers the heating coil. So it's duration of heat cycles that are being counted from my understanding, not the duration the unit has been plugged in for use.

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