# Hydor Inline Heater vs Eheim Jager Submersible Heater?



## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Wanted to hear more experiences/reviews of the Hydor In-line Heater?

Just wanted it so it's out of visible sight and doesn't take up in-tank space, but I'm not too confident in their reliability so I wanted to hear more.

How long have you had yours?
How accurate is it?
Any issues or gripes so far?

I have always had great success using Eheim/Ebo Jager heaters, but just thinking of trying out a inline heater for said conveniences above.

Looking to get a 300w for my large planted display tank.
I can get a 300w Jager for $27 while the 300w Hydor Inline is $44.

Are there any other recommendable inline heaters?

By the way, has anyone experienced plants being burned by the glass body of a submersible heater? (I have used submersibles for a long time, but new to planted tanks so I am not sure).


Here is the Hydor Inline I am talking about
Amazon.com : Hydor ETH 300 In-Line External Aquarium Heater, 300w, 5/8" hose : Aquarium Heaters : Pet Supplies

What is a worry to me is that the top review for it, experienced a malfunction on two of these heaters that would raise the temp past set temperature settings to dangerous levels and cook the fish.

Yet the review on the bottom of the pages mentions the Hydor uses a mechanical relay rather than a solid state relay. And he says SSR's are often the ones that malfunction, stuck in the 'on' position, overheating the water/fish. I have no idea if this is true or not.

Just looking for more opinions/reviews/experiences.


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## ichy (Apr 6, 2015)

One disadvantage of solid state relays is their tendency to fail “shorted” on their outputs, while electromechanical relay contacts tend to fail “open.”

In either case, it is possible for a relay to fail in the other mode, but these are the most common failures. Because a “fail-open” state is generally considered safer than a “fail-closed” state,
electromechanical relays are still favored over their solid-state counterparts in many applications


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## leemacnyc (Dec 28, 2005)

I just purchased my 1st inline heater, the Hydor. Been up and running for a few months now. No problems yet. Love not having it in the tank!


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## WaterLife (Jul 1, 2015)

Haha, thanks for the info ichy. Do you happen to know what type of relay the submersible Eheim Jager uses? 
I've used Jagers for years and they've never failed and overheated a tank.


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

I had a Hydor inline running for maybe 3-4 years. No malfunctions, and I'll re-install it on another tank at some point.

The on/off process was audible, at least until I learned to completely tune it out.

And it probably reduced flow by 5-10%.


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## Argus (May 22, 2013)

I have the Hydor 200w on 30g tank. It has been running since late July. It has always stayed within a degree of the set temp. On Oct. 10 I added a Finnex Max-300 Digital Aquarium Heater Controller. 

I decided to have the controller do the active temp management because it is easy to replace if it fails and has a remote temp. probe. The controller is set to 78°F and they Hydor is set at 82°. So, the Hydor thermostat becomes the fail-safe.


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## goodbytes (Aug 18, 2014)

I got the ETH 300 a year ago to replace an aged 250watt VisiTherm on my 55. I have had absolutely no problems with it but I do worry sometimes about it failing as it is oversized to compensate for ambient temperatures as low as 60F in the winter and they don't have the greatest reputation for reliability. The thermo is off by about two degrees. It holds at 77F but it is set at 79F which is common in aquarium heaters which are not terribly precise. Also, the click of it engaging is quite loud as mentioned but it reassures me that it is working as the red "on" light is not readily visible. I've also had a Jaeger for a year that works with no problems but based on their reputation for reliability you can ask me again in a decade and I'll tell you what I think of the Eheim.


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## locus (May 13, 2003)

I've got two, one on an ADA 45P (running since early this year) and one on an ADA Mini-M (running for a couple of weeks). Both are installed on the outlet side of Eheim 2213 filters. I've had zero issues on the 45P and that includes running throughout winter. Despite being massively over-rated for such a small tank, the temperature has always been steady.

Can't really judge with the one on the Mini-M as it's warm here in Western Australia right now so the water temperature isn't low enough for the heater to kick in. Will be interesting to see how that one fares over the next winter (not that it gets freezing cold here).


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## Calestus (Oct 1, 2015)

I have the hydor 300 on a 24G with the hydor analog temp controller, has kept the temp rock steady. 78* on the controller and 80* on the heater. 

As someone else mentioned, it is a touch loud when it kicks on, but only when the cabinet is open.


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## Tazalanche (Apr 8, 2013)

In January 2015, I swapped my larger tanks to hydor inline heaters, plus a temperature controller on each. To explain why, here is the review I left on Amazon from that fiasco:



> I bought 3 of Eheim Jager heaters February 2013. Two were 250 watt & 1 was a 300 watt. In the last 2 weeks, the two 250w stopped heating (light was on, but cold to the touch), and the 300w apparently stuck in the on position, killing almost all of my fish in that tank.
> 
> The stuck heater killed:
> 4 two year old emperors
> ...


I lost those butterfly plecs, as well as a couple of the discus within a week after that was written.

There are now lots of 1 star reviews on Amazon from others that had issues with 250 watt or 300 watt jagers sticking in the in (or off) position & losing fish. I'll never buy another jager.


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