Rena Smart Heater Review

Rena is a sub brand of API and have a wide range of fish keeping products and equipment available. In this review I wanted to take a look at the Rena Smart heater range which I have used in aquariums for years now.

The Rena Smart heater has an inbuilt thermostat ensuring it doesn’t go over the temperature you specify with the dial on the front of the heater. It is also classed as an unbreakable heater which not only means it cannot be smashed by any boisterous fish but also when taken out of the water or half exposed to the air when doing a water change it will automatically switch off. Common glass heaters in these situations can quite easily (speaking from experience it takes seconds!) smash and it is not much fun picking out bits of glass from your substrate! It will also remain warm to the touch so there is never a risk of burning yourself when touching it as with some cheaper fish tank heaters.

Other features of the Rena Smart heater include a red LED behind the thermostat dial which when solid red indicates it is on and heating the water. It will also flash when it detects the water is 3 degrees above or below the temperature set on the dial. This is good for detecting when the water may not be at the optimal temperature for the fish and that some action may need to be taken.

The Rena Smart heater comes with 2 metres of cable and is suitable for freshwater or marine aquariums and comes complete with a double suction cup attachment so you are able to safely attach the heater to your aquarium both horizontally or vertically.

Another very interesting and useful idea which Rena have installed in to this heater is the ability to use the heater as a filter inlet pipe. The heater itself is hollow so you can connect the inlet of your external canister filter to the top of it and the bottom of the Rena Smart heater comes as a removable filter inlet grill. This is perfect for reducing the amount of equipment in your tank as well as greatly increasing the efficiency of heating the water due to water being effectively sucked through the heater rather than relying on inner tank currents to distribute the heated water around the aquarium. This can be connected through some careful pipework adjustment or you could use the specifically designed connection kit, also available in the Rena Smart heater range. It is worth mentioning that this is not required for the heater to work, it can be used as a normal heater without connecting to a filter inlet if you so wish.

The Rena Smart heater comes in 4 different ratings now:

• 50 Watt
• 100 Watt
• 150 Watt
• 200 Watt

I use 300 Watt versions of the Rena Smart heater in my tanks however I believe these are discontinued now, he reasons behind this discontinuation I am unsure of as it seems to be a well sought after product.

The Rena Smart heater is priced as you’d expect a top of the range heater to be and is certainly not a cheap product but wont break the bank balance so is a good compromise between price and performance.

I would recommend the Rena Smart heater as a good all round feature packed heater which is well work purchasing as an upgrade to the standard glass heater which is shipped with the majority of aquariums.