How long should I expect my heater to last? What is the longest time your heater lasted? What brands are known for longevity? Should I just replace my heater every year or two years?

Tough to answer. I have had heaters not last very long, and I've got a Tronic 75w heater that I've used for about 12 years. Personally, I feel the temp gauge is probably the weakest link in any heater and the fist thing to fail, either by dying or becoming innacurate.

Using a heater controller will give you a lot of piece of mind. It will ensure the temp is maintained correctly, but will even allow a heater with a failed "on" temp controller to still be used.

Tough to answer. I have had heaters not last very long, and I've got a Tronic 75w heater that I've used for about 12 years. Personally, I feel the temp gauge is probably the weakest link in any heater and the fist thing to fail, either by dying or becoming innacurate.

Using a heater controller will give you a lot of piece of mind. It will ensure the temp is maintained correctly, but will even allow a heater with a failed "on" temp controller to still be used.

So with a controller how would you know the temp gauge has failed? Do you just keep using a heater with a failed gauge with a controller?

You wouldn't know if the temp gauge failed because the controller would keep turning the heater on/off at the desired temp. Because the controller is running the show, its no big deal. The only exception would be if you were using a heater that is designed to turn off if its built in gauge fails. I am not aware of too many hobby heaters that do this, most of them stay on when they die, leading to a boiled tank.

I find the first things to go are the suction cups, and that takes a while in itself.

I agree that heaters are really variable in their life. I use a controller but it seems like some will burn out in <2 years and others last forever. I just picked up some MAGCLIP - Lifetime/Interchangeable Magnetic Suction Cups (http://www.magclip.co.uk/) to try.