CO-OP heater decision is disappointing

[pcc]

Hi,

I learned on YouTube Sunday that Co-op is dropping their heater line.  This is very disappointing to me since I completed converting my 7 tanks to co-op heaters a couple of months ago.  They have worked well for me. Going forward can any of you recommend heater brands or types as replacements.....again?  I really like seeing the temperature and the ability to change temperature without reaching into the tank. Thanks

[Whitecloud09]

On 1/29/2024 at 1:20 PM, pcc said:

Hi,

I learned on YouTube Sunday that Co-op is dropping their heater line.  This is very disappointing to me since I completed converting my 7 tanks to co-op heaters a couple of months ago.  They have worked well for me. Going forward can any of you recommend heater brands or types as replacements.....again?  I really like seeing the temperature and the ability to change temperature without reaching into the tank. Thanks

Hello, currently I am having trouble thinking but could you give me some of your tank sizes?

[quikv6]

If I may ask, why would the heaters be discontinued? On the whole, I thought they were relatively solid. I converted a few tanks as well.

I don't have another recommendation other that the older style blue-know Aqueon Pro heaters. I had used quite a few of them previously, and they were (and still are) excellent. The newer style you can buy in stores nowadays are not the same, unfortunately.

[Guppysnail]

Oh no. I missed the livestream but am sorry they are being discontinued.  I really like my coop heaters.  
Just prior to coop releasing the heaters I started using these. I’ve bought some since when I did not have a full coop order. These work identically to the coop heaters. I have 10-100watt and 3-50 watt.  
I’ve only had issues with 1 and that was straight out of the box and replaced by Amazon. 

[TOtrees]

Personally, I choose different heaters depending on whether I think I want 78, or anything different. 

For preset (78F) heaters, I love the affordability, availability and mostly-reliability of the tetra heaters from wally mart (and elsewhere). 100W size covers most applications, but 200 is just a few cents more. 50W if it's a small tank, like 5 gal or less. And I can get them at the drop of a hat, so don't need to keep extras on hand. 

If I need a heater to be adjustable, I have a range of preferences, and zero brand loyalty. For small tanks, I like small, basic heaters. I usually use these for fry or quarantine tanks, so the heater is rarely suctioned to the glass and more often just laid across the bottom. Low wattage with a top-mounted dial is fine for me. 

For a larger tank, I look for something that has a remote or in-the-cord control. Prefer to mount it via suction cups, and if I need/want to adjust the temp I don't want to have to dig for it (it's usually at the back of the tank, with a rack and lid above so hard to reach, rock and wood and plants in the way, etc). I also very much like units that display the current temp. If I have a very temp-sensitive species (which I don't right now), I'd want that redundancy. 

All that being said, I'm lucky enough to usually have some store credit from fish sales, and heaters are one of the areas where I occasionally splurge. Especially on the last category above (adjustable, large tank). Mostly because IF one breaks and I need a replacement, it will usually take longer to get it, so I try to reduce the risk of failure by investing in higher quality. 

[mynameisnobody]

If you just converted every tank to the aco heaters then you’ll most likely have quite a bit of time before you have to buy a heater. Products change so what’s available then and now could be different. Other than aco, I’ve used Eheim Jager heaters in the past and they were great. 

[PaleoShrimp]

Having the same problem. Just lost the heater on my 10 gal and now am looking for something. 

[knee]

That is sad. Good thing I ordered a few extra. I think I'll be covered for a few years.

 

Before switching to Coop heaters I was using eheim jager heaters. They're probably one of the most reliable heaters out there but I hate the size. I also used hydor inline heaters when I had a sump/canister filter.

[nabokovfan87]

On 1/29/2024 at 12:25 PM, knee said:

Before switching to Coop heaters I was using eheim jager heaters.

I want to try some of the more unique eheim offerings.  I have had the Jagers go crazy on me and boil a tank.  I know..... get a heater controller.

I switched to the e-series Fluval ones and haven't used anything else since that I enjoyed or worked as reliably for me.

[pcc]

I have two 20 long, one 29, one 37, two 40 breeders and a 75 gallon

 

[pcc]

On 1/29/2024 at 10:27 AM, Bigdog99 said:

Hello, currently I am having trouble thinking but could you give me some of your tank sizes?

I have two 20 long, one 29, one 37, two 40 breeders and a 75 gallon

[jwcarlson]

On 1/29/2024 at 12:53 PM, quikv6 said:

If I may ask, why would the heaters be discontinued? On the whole, I thought they were relatively solid. I converted a few tanks as well.

I don't have another recommendation other that the older style blue-know Aqueon Pro heaters. I had used quite a few of them previously, and they were (and still are) excellent. The newer style you can buy in stores nowadays are not the same, unfortunately.

The discussion about the heater occurs fairly early on here and Cory kind of lays it out.  Basically, the 50W heater was having something like 4% defect rate and the 100W was about 7%.  Cory goes deeper into it.

[Whitecloud09]

On 1/29/2024 at 4:12 PM, pcc said:

I have two 20 long, one 29, one 37, two 40 breeders and a 75 gallon

 

Ok. For the smaller ones I recommend like maybe tetra submersible heaters maybe 2 as they automatically heat to 78-80 degrees or the flu all e200 electric heater. Both are good the first one I own and the second they say is the number 1 heater this year

[Galabar]

Get a tape measure and take a look at what 13in to 16in looks like, then imagine that in an aquarium... 🙂

 

[Matt B]

I really like the Co-Op heaters.    I came across these while doing a Google search to see what's new in the heater world.  These  look just like them...  ??  

[MrWestCoast]

AQQA makes a good heater. My Fluval E-series failed 2 years ago and was replaced with AQQA. It's pretty accurate within 1 degree.

[nabokovfan87]

I just watched the related bit on the livestream. I understand the reason and I agree or can sympathize with the product support issue side of things.  I did find the Fluval E-Series heaters because of Cory's recommendation back in the day.  I really do think they are the creme dela creme of heaters with the flow sensor and things like redesigning the packaging on those to make them less prone to shipping damage might go a long way to make them appear back on the co-op online side of things.  I still have no idea why the E100 heater doesn't exist in the US.  I do respect the decision and it makes sense.

Same thing with the co2 side of things.  It's a product support headache and a company like co2art is great for that support, but they need a good bit of coaching when it comes to the video side of things.  They have old videos which are fine and I'm certain anyone who really wanted to could remake those with modern quality and higher detailed, clear information.  The way youtube works these days, product goes into another content creators hands and they open the box and install it and that's ultimately what the customer uses to really understand how to interact with products.  That can lead to issues and as someone who has written technical product manuals, I wish more people could understand how useful they are, especially when done well.

I just wanted to mention in case Cory needed a simple solution to the version issues with heaters and future product designs.  With plastic parts the version is often stamped into the mold.  It might be an alphanumeric code, or it might be something like a batch number.  For other products, like the heaters, I would recommend the approach seachem has with their tidal pumps and use a sticker with a serial number / model number on the cord itself.  It's a small way to really know the version history of items and if you ever have to pull faulty items you can track them back down to a single lot, batch, or version if that data is there.  For engineering version changes, it's usually starting at A, then progresses to A1 with the first change and so on.  Once that is incorporated then you have version B and the cycle repeats.  The parts themselves would be stamped or marked with whatever version of the design they are produced to.  I hope that helps, if you needed it.

[Sondra]

Well shoot. Wish I had known this last week when I received my 50W. First few minutes of reading and watching the vid I was pretty upset.Especially since another heater ( not Coop) went rogue yesterday. I woke up to a very pink dead Amano Shrimp in a tank at 98F. I lucked out and got the heater out and the other shrimp and fish survived. Anyway, as I sit here looking at the heater, I decided to keep it and I feel it will be ok. I really like this little heater.

[Galabar]

When I watched Cory's podcast, the thing that hit me is: what are all of those partner stores going to do now?  I bet they would kill for just the 50 watt heaters.

My thought is: don't give up.  Keep selling the 50 watt heaters and refuse to make anything more powerful.  Give your customers that low failure rate, give your partner stores that low failure rate, and that's it.

You've got thousands of dollars in 50 watt heaters.  Keep selling them.

I'm betting your customers would appreciate it (if you agree, please respond).

 

Edited January 30 by Galabar

[jwcarlson]

On 1/30/2024 at 5:38 AM, Galabar said:

When I watched Cory's podcast, the thing that hit me is: what are all of those partner stores going to do now?

I believe he said they can continue to sell the stock they have or that they (ACO) would refund them.

[Galabar]

On 1/30/2024 at 5:00 AM, jwcarlson said:

I believe he said they can continue to sell the stock they have or that they (ACO) would refund them.

Yes, I saw that.  However, after that, what then?  Sell inferior heaters with much higher failure rates?

My thought is, ACO gives partners great products that they can sell.  What happens when ACO can't provide those great products.  The 50 watt heater seems to be a gem.  Why throw the baby out with the bathwater.  I don't think folks are demanding a 100 watt heater.  Keep selling the 50 watt heater and see what happens...

It's possible that Cory was wrong about customers demanding higher and higher wattages.  My thought is, keep supplying the 50 watt and see what happens.  There is a huge demand for a reliable heater and most folks have smaller tanks.  So...

 

Edited January 30 by Galabar

[jwcarlson]

On 1/30/2024 at 7:02 AM, Galabar said:

Yes, I saw that.  However, after that, what then?  Sell inferior heaters with much higher failure rates?

My thought is, ACO gives partners great products that they can sell.  What happens when ACO can't provide those great products.  The 50 watt heater seems to be a gem.  Why throw the baby out with the bathwater.  I don't think folks are demanding a 100 watt heater.  Keep selling the 50 watt heater and see what happens...

 

He does talk a bit about that decision, doesn't he?  My personal suggestion for anyone struggling/worrying about heaters is to invest in an Inkbird controller and then it really doesn't matter what heater you plug in.  I run all of my tanks and aging barrels with Inkbirds and whatever the cheapest 100-500 watt heaters are made by the alphabet soup Amazon-only companies and it works swimmingly.  

I'm a bit of an off-standard case, maybe.  Because we keep the house quite cool in the winter and I've got some very warm water fish so I'm asking them to raise the temperature 30 degrees above room temp in some cases.  I understand the appeal of an all-in-one unit.   But I really think the Inkbirds are under utilized and they work with any heater which makes keeping spare heaters cheaper AND you don't need a specific heater.  For instance, I could drop a 200W heater in a 10 gallon with an Inkbird and not have to worry about it cooking the fish (though the temp swings will not be well regulated with a bigger heater).

Edited January 30 by jwcarlson

[Pepere]

I dearly appreciate the 50 watt units. I have inkbird controllers for all of my tanks.  I would definitely prefer buying these heaters from the Co op, but will try the AQQA ones to replace them as needed.  The plastic pieces and functionality seems to be near identical.  No idea if they have cut corners on the inside though, but the inkbird will at least protect against overheating.

 

Clearly I would prefer to get the same co op 50 watt heater from the co op rather than a look alike with same functionality and know that corners were not cut to reduce cost…

I hope @Cory is following this thread and sees the affection for this unit.

[Tanked]

Story of my life!  My backup heater is being discontinued before I plug it in for the first time.

[Cory]

On 1/30/2024 at 5:19 AM, Pepere said:

I dearly appreciate the 50 watt units. I have inkbird controllers for all of my tanks.  I would definitely prefer buying these heaters from the Co op, but will try the AQQA ones to replace them as needed.  The plastic pieces and functionality seems to be near identical.  No idea if they have cut corners on the inside though, but the inkbird will at least protect against overheating.

 

Clearly I would prefer to get the same co op 50 watt heater from the co op rather than a look alike with same functionality and know that corners were not cut to reduce cost…

I hope @Cory is following this thread and sees the affection for this unit.

I do see the affection. It was a hard choice for sure. However for our reputation it made sense to get out. The people who liked to trash talk the heaters did so daily. People who liked them mostly kept quiet except for website reviews. Unfortunately someone who has a bad experience tells many people, people who have a good experience tells a few people.

As for other heater brands that look like ours, I have no way to know which manufacturers and to what standards they were using. They could be 100% perfect or have many problems and never address them. Time will tell I suppose. If I was shopping heaters, I'd at least find somewhere with a 1 year warranty that was easy to take advantage of. On Amazon you'll only get 30 days, and then hope the company makes good on it after. If you can get a hold of them. Maybe try getting a hold of the brands customer service before buying a heater to see how that'll play out.