Finnex Digital Aquarium Heater Controller - 800W Titanium Tube for Fish Tank, Saltwater & Freshwater - Precise Temperature Control for Reef Tanks, Tropical Fish & Aquatic Pets

First of impression: Package came well packed, upon opening I noticed that it comes in two pieces the heating element and the controller.Analysis: The heating element is nice and heavy and the cord is real thick (18 AWG). The documentation says to rest it on the bottom of the tank horizontally above the gravel as it does NOT comes with any suction for it to be affixed to the tank glass. Even though the element is very heavy I would advise to hide behind some rocks or ornaments and big fishes move with such force they tend to move it a bit.The temperature controller is not identical to what is displayed on the box. The difference is the one on the box has a replaceable fuse at the bottom between the two power cord (one for the heating element and the other for the wall) the unit in the box does not carry one and the instruction says you cannot change the fuse either.Pros:Unit work excellent (so far) I have validate the temperature using two separate thermostats and the reading are similar. The alarm works (well the low) as I set it before connecting the heating element to the controller. As I connected the heating element (after placing into the tank) the low alert kept on sounding until the tank heated above the number I set. The configuration of the temperatures were easy and the display is nice and bright. It displays in F or C which ever you prefer. I also validated that when power is lost it retains it settings by disconnecting it from the wall for a few minutes just to make sure it works. When the tank reaches to the desired temperature the heating element turns off and the red light on the controller also goes out.Cons:Instruction is all on the box so if you need to retain the instruction for configuration you will have to keep the box it comes in. (not really a con as it so simple)Other observation: I seems that the controller unit can control heating element up to 800 watts but you would have to purchase them separately (Amazon has it for $52.50)I will recommend this unit and hope that this review helps you to decide about purchasing.THE WIRES ON THIS ARE TOO SHORT - Given the wattage of this heater, it should be assumed by Finnex that it will be used on deeper tanks such as a 24 inch deep 180 gallon or 220 gallon tank. The power cord on the 800 watt heating element is not really long enough to allow the heater to be placed in various positions of a deeper tank like it should be. This problem could be fixed by cutting and adding some length to the power cord and using some water tight shrink tubing to seal it back up. One could also use an extension cord, but USING AN EXTENSION CORD IS SUPER BAD IDEA. Using an extension cord, sooner of later, the connecting point for the extension cord and the heater could end up in the water. Either one of these longer cord options also adds cost to the system.The other too short wire, the one for the temperature sensor, is an even bigger issue. This wire is only a little longer than the depth of a 24 inch deep tank. The sensor needs to be placed deep enough in the tank to allow it to stay fully submerged during a water change so that it does not sense the lower air temperature of the room during the water change. The length of this wire is much too short to reach deeper into the tank and allow for a decent mounting point for the controller. Forget having anything left of this cord to create the required drip loop in the cable. I am assuming that this wire could be cut and extended as well, but some temperature sensors are calibrated using a specific length of special resistive wire that comes pre-attached to the sensor tip. Cutting this wire may ruin the unit.SHAME ON FINNEX FOR BEING SO CHEAP THAT THEY CANNOT PUT A DECENT LENGTH OF WIRE ON A PRODUCT THAT IS CLEARLY GEARED TOWARDS LARGER TANKS. As you can probably tell, I'm not very happy with Finnex over this. They claim to be in the aquarium business, yet they ignore simple things like the lengths that wires need to be to fit in a standard size aquarium.There is one more complaint I have, and this one is on Amazon. The description of most of the products sold on Amazon is pathetic. If one were in a store one could ask for assistance, or open an item and look at it if the box it came in didn't provide enough information. When shopping online, one can only rely on the information that is printed in the item's description... period. On most Amazon purchases, I have generally lucked out and I was able to use the item even though I had little to no idea what the item was really like. In many cases all I need is the dimensions of the product and instead of listing the products size in the dimensions field, Amazon lists the size of the package it will be shipped in. The size of the package is no help.In the case of this heater, just listing the length of the cords would have allowed me to make a better selection for my needs. Instead, the description provided is just a restatement of the bullets next to the photo of the item. In fact the last sentence of the description isn't even a sentence. Try and read it. It makes no sense.One more note to Amazon - Your customers do not work for you. Stop expecting people to take a bullet and buy something, then answer a bunch of questions about the product for other customers, when the answers should have been in the description in the first place.I am using this in an off-label application: It is heating a 110 gallon deck pond on my back porch (full outdoor exposure). There is a very large pleco in there so I have to be able to maintain a near tropical temperature through winter. Worked just fine outside during this past winter '14/'15 here in New Jersey. I did have this 800 watt plus the 500 watt in there and the tub is fully insulated and covered (in winter). The control box is not for outdoors so I did build it a plastic shelter to keep snow and rain off.I did water changes throughout the winter which would drop the water temp down. The heaters would kick on and get the temperature back up very quickly. If there was a greater than 10 degree drop, the heater does cycle on and off until it reaches the set temp.The heater works nicely. The controls are easy to read and to set. The alarm feature works fine. I especially like the digital temperature display. Very easy to read on my way out the door everyday. I do keep a 2nd thermometer in the water just to check up and make sure it is accurate.The only shortfall are the cords which like other reviewers stated are very short! The unit has to be situated right next to the pond. I imagine with a very deep tank the cord might not reach the bottom. This extremely limits where you can hide the controller and where you can hide the heat tube in the tank.Outside of the cord lengths, its a great heater though and kept my pleco happy all winter outside!