Comments: So Many Heater Failures... thought I was cheaping out on LFS common brands, so I ordered the JBJ 800W unit.
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<br />This heater was great for a few months, so it gets 1 1/2 stars, mostly for the appearance of value.
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<br />Contrary to other reviewers, I have no problem with the +/- 1° temp swing others mention. Calibration feature was great. Display is very readable, buttons worked fine to set the temperature. Materials seemed to be good.
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<br />The 800W heating element I was using (on a 200 Gallon Discus tank at 86°F) FAILED after just 2 or 3 months. I plugged 2 300W Jager heaters into the controller and continued using just the controller for 3-4 months longer.
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<br />Then the controller itself failed.
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<br />Cold Discus Are Not Happy Discus Fish... at least I caught the failure(s!) quickly, so it only seemed to induce spawning when the heat came back up... twice... but I would prefer to initiate that temperature bump on my schedule, not as a surprise!
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<br />The fact that a Discus tank is so warm - you can easily feel the heat radiating off the glass as you walk by - means I caught it the very next day, but I would likely not have noticed the failure so quickly on my 500 Gal Reef system... and if it had been instelled on the Reef and had happened in winter, that would have been an expensive and messy coral crash.
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<br />Too bad, a great concept, clever design, well executed, but total JUNK for reliability.
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<br />Overall, it is simply a waste of money.
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<br />I don't feel like I got what I paid for at all.
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<br />Jager heaters are what I am back to. My experience in 30 years is ZERO Jager heater failures (unless I just drop the thing on concrete!)
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<br />To me, not even worth getting "warranty replacement" as loosing even one member of my Discus school costs more than the whole heater.
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<br />Burn me once, shame on you JBJ! :>)

Comments: Bought in May 2010. Used for approximately 6 mos. Completly melted the plastic shroud and fried the heating unit in my sump. Pretty brutal for $130....

Comments: Product does a great job of maintaining the temp in the tank. Would recommend to a friend!

Comments: I had problems with, my 29 gallon reef with sump, keeping the temperature steady in the winter due to the heater being in the sump. I bought this heater controller with the temp probe and have had it for two weeks now with no problems. Now the temp stays constant.

Comments: Save your money and buy another unit. I have my controller set at 77, and it actually starts to heat at 76 and turns off the heater at 78. This two degree swing is too much. I am going to be looking into a reef keeper lite and throw this one on my quarantine tank.

Comments: This is a poorly made product. I purchased it Oct 2009 and one month later the temp probe spontaneously cracked. The company replaced it. Then I kept finding the temp range was too wide to be used in conjunction with a cooler, especially during the summer time, so I had to unplug it. I just went to plug it back in since the weather is getting cold and it no longer works. Think twice before wasting your money.

Comments: I purchased the controller to mitigate loss of temperature in my reef tank overnight (the back of the tank is in the garage). During the day, heat from three (3) 400w HQI MH lamps raises the temperature and the heaters are mostly off, during the night I can't keep them in regulation without significant losses and extreme cycling.
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<br />I installed the temperature controller and my tank is now holding to temperature to +/- 1.5 degrees (F), I am very happy.

Comments: Great device. Don't waste your money on a new heater with an inferior thermostat. This heater controller has everything you need to confidently manage your aquarium temperature. Nice bright display can be seen from a good distance. I have found all digital thermostats to be inaccurate. If you are serious about the quality of your system parameters you should calibrate your control thermostats with a manual thermometer. My unit was found to be 1/2 degree off. Not bad

Comments: I was skeptical that this would work as great as it does. I figured it would keep a decent temperature range in the tank but it is dead on. I've tested the Heater Controller against 2 digital cooking thermometers and it's perfect. Easy to use, I just plugged the heater into the controller and turned the heater to 85 degrees. The controller is set to 79.5, haven't had to fuss with it at all. The sensor is great as well because it constantly tells the temperature in the tank as it fluctuates with the Halide lights. Calibrating the controller is quick and easy. I used the same cooking thermometers to calibrate it.

Comments: The accuracy of this maybe +/- 0.5F, however the sensitivity is +/- 1.0F, meaning total tempurature fluctuation is 2.0 F. I would prefer this range of sensitivity to be less, therefore creating a more stable environment for my reef.

Comments: This item does just exactly what it's suppose to do. I have a 125g saltwater aquarium where it was very hard to control the temp with a dial heater. All I had to do was plug in my 300 watt heater and set it to 85 and then set the controller to 78... When the temp reached 77 it would turn on and when it hit 79 it would turn off. The digital readout is as shown very easy to see from a distance. I checked the temp with three other temp gages and it's right on. Of course I have another backup heater in my sump that is set for 74 just in case and it never comes on. I will order another one for my nano cube. When I first got this controller I had to calibrate it and I used the same 3 gages to do that.