Heater warning

[artw]

PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL WITH YOUR HEATERS.

I just found a wild female and 20 or so just spit fry boiled to death.
I suspect I accidentally bumped the heater during a waterchange increasing the temperature setting.
water was almost too hot to put hand in.
I am going to silicone glue my HOB heaters to their current temperature around 78.  120F is too hot for fish eh?

I am going to eventually replace all of the hob heaters with ones that go in the tank.  I've had too many close calls and this accidental increase in temp has happened once before.  

so keep an eye on your heaters ok or replace all of your HOB's with in-tank submersibles...  losing fish for this reason absolutely sucks big time. and it doesnt have to happen.

[luvfishies]

Thanks for the warning, Art. I haven't used anything *but* submersibles for ages now, as I had the same thing happen once. Once is one too many times, when it comes to our fishies.

[aSmallFish]

Too bad. Sorry to hear that.

But it does not sound like increasing the temp setting.
All my HOB heaters can not over 90F, even you set to the highest.

Thanks for the reminder. I am going downstairs to check my heater now.

[artw]

90F is still to hot.
anyone know where I can get like 20 thermal compacts?  hehe

[slickshooter]

I actuallly had a close call the other day luckily I caught it in time.My temp was at 86!! I added  ice cubes every half hour or so and opened the lid and blew a fan accross  the top to get the hot air away.Worked like a charm and no casualties.I  took the heater out all together and my temp is staying at 77 so  far.......arent most average room temps the right temp for Cichlids?
Is there a heater I'd be able to keep in my AC500? I'd like to get another one but keep it outta sight.

[BigDaddy]

Well, I don't have air conditioning.. and on really hot days, the temp in my SA dwarf cichlid tank hits the high eighties (like 88 degrees)

Now, I do lift up the glass hood to let the ceiling fan bleed a little of the temp off, but it doesn't do anything spectacular.

I've been doing this all summer long and my fish are all fine...

[saltydog]

Not sure why HOB (hang-on-the-back) heaters are thought to be more prone to overheating. Is it because the dial is located in a place where it might accidentally be jostled by the aquarist? When temperatures have skyrocketed it is more likely that the thermostat malfunctioned & stuck ON. This can happen with submersible types, too. (With submersibles it is possible that large fish can turn the dial if it a type that is readily accessible. My pacus have done this.)

The best way to avoid a heater malfunction cooking your fish is to make sure that the heater is premium quality & is not too large for the tank. If you can afford it, use 2 smaller heaters instead of a large one so that if one malfuctions & is on constantly it does not provide enough heat to cook the water. A further safeguard might be to unplug one or both heaters during the summer months when heating may not be necessary.

[artw]

well I am almost 100% positive it was user error - when I tried to turn the heater off I had to turn it at least 1 full turn to the left......
Last summer I kept all of my heaters unplugged until October.  doing my part to save power.  but the odd time when its cold in the morning etc the tanks would drop quite low.  I wanted to maintain the temperature at a steady pace so I kept the heaters plugged in this year,  it's just that they don't go ON a lot.
I dont use a heater in my 110 even in the winter. the warming effect from the filters (5!) is enough to keep the water at at least 74-76

[gvv]

Actually this is a good idea to silicone them...
Every time I make water changes I'm afraid I touched the heater. I'm also have an experience of 34C and they were happy to survive.
I had homemade heaters without any termoregulation - the temperature depends on the percentage of salt added into the water inside the heater. It took  some time to get the right proportion, but after some time I had no headache with temperature regulation.

[Anubias]

The key is to use a heater with the minimum wattage required to bring the tank to the desired temperature. This will depend upon room temperature. In this case the heater seems to have been of an overly large wattage.

Regards,

[ambushman2j]

I actuallly had a close call the other day luckily I caught it in time.My temp was at 86!! I added  ice cubes every half hour or so and opened the lid and blew a fan accross  the top to get the hot air away.Worked like a charm and no casualties.I  took the heater out all together and my temp is staying at 77 so  far.......arent most average room temps the right temp for Cichlids?
Is there a heater I'd be able to keep in my AC500? I'd like to get another one but keep it outta sight.

I Keep all my big tanks at 86F on purpose..they love it.  I'd be cautious of dropping your temp quickly however!!..that's what tends to cause ick

[ambushman2j]

HOB heaters are junk anyways they regularly don't keep accurate temperatures even when they are set right.  They are made for people too cheap to buy the good ones..but for like 6-8$ more you can save yourself so much hassle.

[artw]

actually I think it was a 50W in a 10gallon.  
so much for that theory eh Dave
I ain't buying 25 watt Tronics.

[Anubias]

Well, I don't know Art. Maybe you should be using a 25 watt heater. 120F is quite a feat. But the trouble is that we all like flexibility -to be able to heat quickly, and  to be able to switch to various sized tanks.

I've had the odd HOB heater stick, but I've also used many Ebo-Jaeger submersibles with disappointing results. I still have several cheap functioning Supreme HOB heaters (circa 1979). Generally, I don't use heaters since the metal halides warm the fishroom up quite effectively.

Regards,