I have a question to all the stealth visi-therm heater user, do you use a safegaurd to prevent burning the fish? if so which brand of safegaurd u use. I want to be in the safe side so nothing could happen to my fish. i wanna put the heater vertically.
thanks

I have the Stealth heater and do not use a safeguard. I even have one in my fry tank and they seem to do fine with it.

Hi, I have a heater from the vistherm range as well although not the stealth one. I would say that as a general rule a heater guard is a good idea - not essential, but a useful way of giving your fishies more protection.

They are usually very cheap compared to the price of the heater so if you can afford to get one then personally I would.

It also depends on your set up, what your fish are like and how they behave, if you have large single tailed goldies for example they really can bomb around the tank at quite a speed slamming into your tank furniture. I would say that whatever the heater brand, a heater guard is good idea.

I agree. I will never run a heater without a cover. I have had an oranda's wen burned nearly off, and a beautiful butterfly moor's tail burned away in a heater shaped semicircle just before show. Not good things at all!

The fish sleep and will lean up against a warm heater. The heater can turn on, and the fish will be burned before they wake up and move.

A cover is recommended in my book.

Oh dear!! This is obviously news to me!

Are they available wherever heaters are sold?

I apologize, FancyFishLover, for the misinformation.

You can usually pick up heater guards wherever heaters are sold, LFS, online aquatics shops etc.

Sometimes they are brand specific ie. they are designed specifically to fit a certain model of heater and sometimes there are generic ones which fit most types of heater.

It's best to check the specifications of your own heater and shop around. Like I said before they are usually very cheap compared to the price of the actual heater. Hope that helps.

One question. I've never seen them in the store so I don't know what they look like. Are they a solid plastic piece or are they more "mesh-like" with very small openings?

The reason I ask is if they are solid does that produce a pocket of non-moving water between the heater and the cover? (Kinda like hollow ornaments have water that doesn't move in them that can be a potential breeding ground for anaerobic bacteria)

Just wondering . . .

does anyone have a type of heater guard that fits a 100 watt stealth visi-therm heater? And i think for fantailfan1 its those solid type guards

Hi, all of the heater guards I've ever seen tend to be like a plastic grill or cage construction which fit around the heating element of the heater, hence seperatiing the fish from direct contact with the hot part of the heater and still allowing water to move freely around the heater to distribute the heat evenly. I have never personally seen a solid type but aian, they are probably compatible with specific types of heater.

Like I said they are very often brand specific so they are designed by the makers to be compatible with the way there own model of heaters heat. I have quite a basic Visitherm heater and I use the Visiguard heater guard which is made specifically for use with that size of heater.

You could try looking on the makers own website so see if they make a heater guard for the model you have, otherwise just have a look around online or at your LFS to see what they have available. Maybe someone else will be along who has the same type as you.

yeah i should research on that before i get the heater thanks mrbumblebee

I e-mailed MarineLand's tech support (the maker of the Stealth heater) and asked them if they make a guard for the heater. I'll let you know what I find out.

Well,

it sounds like a mesh basket, which could easily be made out of craft mesh, just like a bio basket. Just cut it, stitch or glue it to the specs of your heater with say 1" room on all sides and find a way to keep it in place. Probably a lot cheaper than buying one.

thanks a lot fantailfan1, i read on another forum that tronic heater guard works on the visi-therm stealth heater

Thanks! That's good to know as I have not gotten a response back from Marineland.

hahaha wow they should msg you back by now

Got an e-mail response from them today. Here's their answer:



"We never have heard of any fish getting burned by any heaters. If a fish lies on the heater which isn't very common then there might be some prolonged damage done to the fish. In normal operation the heater is typically in hibernation mode for the majority of the day and only goes on when it needs to hold a certain temperature."


Guess that means they don't make heater guards!

right, then im off to get the guard haha

Yep, I'm with you!! And thanks again for asking this question!

your welcom, i gotta think before i buy the products for the fishes.