Equipment suggestions

[lohachata]

look on craigslist...for a couple of more dollars you can get an entire set up 5 times as big as that piece of plastic junk you are looking at...in fact, i was looking yesterday and saw a 55 gallon tank , cabinet stand , lids and light in very nice shape for $75.00..twice as much money ; 10 times the tank...
i have the big python and i do like it ; but have switched over to a higher velocity electric pump so my water changes can go faster...but my wife likes to have more control so i made her a couple of small syphons....very easy to make your own....

[lohachata]

thanks emc7...you just had to mention heaters getting stuck in the "ON" position....
i ha a pair of super long fin bushynose plecos...male is brown and the femal albino...they had spawned and a few weeks later spawned again so i moved the male and the eggs to another tank...yesterday i moved the female into another tank and put the male in with her...the first spawn looked fantastic...today when i went down all of the first spawn were dead...the high end top of the line ebo jager heater had stuck on and cooked all 75 of the young.....the only good thing is that i at least got the female out before she got cooked too..i have the second spawn and the pair should spawn again soon....
just goes to show that the best isn't always the best...
but you were right about the old ones not turning on and the new ones not turning off....

[emc7]

I hate this. It seems to happen more and more frequently across all makers. Except for the lowest tier, its about time to unplug my heaters for the summer. No sense taking an unnecessary risk. If you find a model with an actual thermal fuse, let me know.

[AquariumTech]

Thats crazy, I dont think I have ever had that happen to a heater, except for one crappy off-name, that I got in a deal from the mid 80s. I hope I dont jinx myself lol.

[betaphish]

I just wanted to know what heaters are good, and now I get this huge response about past heaters that sucked... I just wanted to know reliable brands... uh...
Just asking, what's the minimum size for a tank that has two living things in it, not counting plants. That is, like, a betta and a ghost shrimp or guppy or another female betta or tetra. I think that it's ten gallons.

[emc7]

The larger the tank, the safer it is. Less change of any issue wiping out everything.

[yannis2307]

yeah, 25 secs is too much, but in 25 more secs you will have sucked at least 5 gallons...

[betaphish]

yes, but is it ten gallons? So technically I can keep two fish in a half gallon, which would be incredibly unsafe but I could still do it? Is there a minimum?

[AquariumTech]

Originally Posted by betaphish I just wanted to know what heaters are good, and now I get this huge response about past heaters that sucked... I just wanted to know reliable brands... uh... Just asking, what's the minimum size for a tank that has two living things in it, not counting plants. That is, like, a betta and a ghost shrimp or guppy or another female betta or tetra. I think that it's ten gallons.

For that you will need at LEAST a 10G, not to mention Bettas need their space, they are aggressive by nature so if they arent in their own tank, make sure they get some space. Not really the best mix to put in a tank together.

Again, though "minimum size" is always the worst size, going bigger is the best thing you can possibly do for yourself and your fish, I would give some thought to our warnings. As experienced hobbyist telling you this, there is many reasons for this.

As for the heater I already did a good list for you on the first page.