What's Up With These Heaters?

50W 100W 200W 300W Aquarium Heater Adjustable Submersible Fish Tank Water | eBay

These heaters seem ridiculously cheap for the wattage and there's tons of sellers for them. Just wondering if anyone has experience with using them and if they work.

 

Um....

I wouldn't buy any heater that is $4. I don't care what brand it is lol.

Did I read the page wrong?

 

And the reviews on some of them aren't even bad! I'm seeing 4-5 star ones.

 

I haven't been able to find any info on them but remember you have four possible outcomes to consider: It works just fine, It stops working and your fish die, the thermostat goes out and you get boiled fish for dinner or you stick your hand in the water and have a shocking experience. With it that cheap, I can't imagine there is much quality control at the factory. Electricity is nice to have, but just don't get any of it on you.

 

I have their older model 150w heater. Had 2x of them running in my 55g African Cichlid tank for years until I took the tank down. Still have the heaters.

The adjustable part of the heaters can be tricky as the "temp" setting isn't true or accurate. I had to mess with the two over a weeks period to get the tank stable at 82 degrees, if I remember right one was set to 86 and the other 90.

 

I doubt they UL approved!