Thanks everyone for your responses. PetSmart gave us a $50 gift card and a new Fluval heater. Hopefully we'll get our tank running soon and we'll be ready to get some fish. Do we have a meeting in Jan?
Heaters are a fragile part of the aquarium. I like to use multiple smaller heaters rather than one large heater if possible. If one fails then the other one shuts off. Not as much energy can be put into the water and it may give me enough time to act. Hopefully that'll never happen