I'll add my 2 cents as well (lol), I have never personally had a defective heater either back when I kept aquariums, any many heater failures can be consumer error. That being said, when I worked for a major pet product manufacturer, there were returned defective heaters all the time. Shorting out and "boiling the water" were not unheard of. Definitely use a quality heater and keep your eyes on the temps.

Quote Originally Posted by deranged chipmunk View Post
The only thing I would recommend when using an aquatic heater (I use them often as well) is make sure you have a thermometer somewhere to read your water temp. There have been issues of heaters shorting and heating the water too high. Although, in 30+ years of keeping aquariums, I have never witnessed this first hand. If you go this route, get the best ADJUSTABLE heater you can afford. Stay away from those preset ones, they are junk.

Anyway, that's my $.02


Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world ~ Nelson Mandela