Boom Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 (edited) I say "another" because I seem to be hearing alot about this issue lately, although it has never happened to me. UNTIL NOW! I keep 2 aquariums at work, a 20 gallon community, and a 33 gallon with yellow labs. I came to work today after a few days off and looked at the 20 gallon tank. Noticed a dead fish, so I go grab the bucket and net. I touched the water and YOW! It's hot! Look at the thermometer and it read 96 degrees! Holy S%!T!! So I unplug the heater and look a little closer. Turns out I have 8 dead fish! Looks like the heater burst and overheated everything. I'm AMAZED that there is still another 7 or 8 fish still alive! Hardy little buggers they are. Not that it matters cause I've heard of all brands doing this, but it was a Visitherm 50 watt. Boom :boom: Edited November 30, 2008 by Boom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 (edited) This has happened to me in the summer but I had no heater and I only had one fish die I was really surprised but I was also really scared to see to see later outcomes. as fall fell into places things balanced out. I dont know how some fish do it but they do. all summer i had air stones and high flow rate to keep oxygen levels up. I didnt want to be doing this because its a planted tank and I would of rather been putting co2 in the tank. lol. over the years I have only had 2 heater malfunction one killed all but a couple fish in my tropical community tank and the other happened recently in a 5 g fry tank. I lost probably 10 of my 30 fry. 10 of the 20 were one species the other species didnt even look effected. Life goes on I like hydor and italian company (i think) and stealth. stealth heaters have kept acurate temps and actually adjust the water temp to what you set it for, its a miracle. The rena attachable heaters also work well, a little pricy, but they keep my tank water usually within one degree of what i set the heater for. I traded some fish for an external hydor heater that attaches to your canister hose, i haven't used it yet but does anyone know how well they work? Edited November 24, 2008 by Callie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Sorry to hear about that. I also lost my breeding female EB and all her fry due to the heater faulting out. Best thing to do in this type of situation is drain part of the water, and add some new cooler water, and add an airstone to get extra surface agitation going. I also suggest leaving the top of the lid open for a while to help the tank cool down faster. Being exposed to such high temperatures can cause long term problems in the fish, but hopefully it doesn't in yours. I had another episode a while back where the tank over heated, luckily I caught it on time and didn't lose any fish. I have a rena smart heater on one of my tanks, it does a pretty good job so far. I know I would love to get external heaters that attach directly to the filter hose line for all my tanks. But don't have any of those yet so I don't know how well they actually do work. And go to golds for the rena heaters, I paid only $45 for the 300 watt heater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sumergold Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 We had a power out the other day in the SW and I had to reset several filters, didn't notice the heaters until the next day when a 20g was reading 96.... my beaten up gourami was cooked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishful Thinking Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Sorry to hear that, Boom. I had a heater go on me as well. Walked down stairs and the lights were off in the tanks and the room. I saw the heater glowing red in the tank and it was climbing up to 90 degrees. Thankfully I caught it soon enough and didn't lose a single fish. The next morning it would have been fish soup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2manytanks Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 I have a rena smart heater on one of my tanks, it does a pretty good job so far. I know I would love to get external heaters that attach directly to the filter hose line for all my tanks. But don't have any of those yet so I don't know how well they actually do work. And go to golds for the rena heaters, I paid only $45 for the 300 watt heater. I've been running one of the Hydor in-line heaters for 2 or 3 years now and just love it. Have never had any problems with it, it's easier to tell when it's on and it's easier to adjust. As far as the Rena heaters go, I have never had one of those fail, but find the temperature adjustment can get gummed up making it hard to adjust and inaccurate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted November 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Thanks guys. I'll have to pick up a new heater tommorrow. Does anyone know if you can get an inline heater for hard 1" plumbing? (PVC lines?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 (edited) Speaking of Hydor, is anyone using one of these http://www.petsandponds.com/en/aquarium-su.../p16842149.html The heaters in my 125's are ran through controller units (Medusa) but I'm looking at adding a controller to my wifes fancy goldfish tank, and at the price listed in the link above it would cost a fraction of what my Medusa's cost me. The reality is that all makes & models of heaters have the potential to fail, and adding a controller unit adds one more layer of protection to your system if/when a heater fails in the on position. Sorry to hear about your fish, Boom. Edited November 24, 2008 by RD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Speaking of Hydor, is anyone using one of these?http://www.petsandponds.com/securestore/c2...16842149.2.html That link isn't working for me... Is that the Hydor Electronic Thermostat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 Sorry, Jason & crew just had their 'new' website go live shortly after I posted that link this morning. It should work now, and yes, it's a link to the Hydor Hydroset Electronic Thermostat With Temperature Dial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 I have one set up with my substrate cable heater. Basically, it's just a thermostat. There's a dial to set your temperature and a probe to read it. The Pets and Ponds version doesn't have the display on it (which shows the current temperature), just a red on/off LED. I think the one with the display is more expensive. So... unless you want backup for a heater that might fail in the on position, it's pretty much the same thing as the thermostat on your heater. I use it with my cable heater since it doesn't have it's own built-in thermostat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RD. Posted November 24, 2008 Report Share Posted November 24, 2008 (edited) Yes, that's correct, but it uses an electronic thermostat which I'm guessing is most likely superior to many of the temp components utilized in some of the various heaters on the market. What controllers do is add another layer of protection, as they create a situation where you now have 'two' devices that need to fail in order for your fish to get boiled. IMO redundancy is always a good thing in this hobby. And yes, the Hydor units with a digital read out cost twice as much, and on this set up I don't require a temp read out on the controller itself so it seems like the perfect fit, at a reasonable price. Edited November 24, 2008 by RD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2manytanks Posted November 25, 2008 Report Share Posted November 25, 2008 Thanks guys. I'll have to pick up a new heater tommorrow.Does anyone know if you can get an inline heater for hard 1" plumbing? (PVC lines?) I haven't found one yet, if you do, let us know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callie Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 its been awhile but does any one know where to find the hydor inline heater, I got one at river front but thats the only place in calgary that i have seen them and they only had one choice of wattage. open top or mesh tops make a big difference. I ended up using window screening and fit it to my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2manytanks Posted November 28, 2008 Report Share Posted November 28, 2008 its been awhile but does any one know where to find the hydor inline heater, I got one at river front but thats the only place in calgary that i have seen them and they only had one choice of wattage. open top or mesh tops make a big difference. I ended up using window screening and fit it to my tank. I've seen them at Big Al's & Pisces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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