Disaster. Everything is Dead. Help.
- Thread starter Patroklos
- Start date
luther1200
Premium Member
Very sorry to hear about it. My stomach was turning just reading about it. I just went to a vendor and every single review said it was junk. They all rated it as 1. So the moral is to check the reviews first I guess.
Aquabucket
Premium Member
No, not in most distilleries these days. I think they use glass or possibly some type of ceramic material. If you are worried about copper a TDS meter will answer the question. I have been using nothing but distilled water now for over 5 years.
SirVilhelm
Member
while working on my tank over this last weekend I nudge the heater without thinking. My tank went from 81 to 88 degrees in a few hours. I was lucky not to loose anything.
Sorry for your lose. Sucks your stuck at work, thats the worst!
Sorry for your lose. Sucks your stuck at work, thats the worst!
Kenmx10
New member
The problem might not have been the heater, but the water change. You said you did a 25% water change. Most people put their heater close to surface level . If this is the case with you, the water level would have dropped lower than the thermostat in the heater. The water acts to keep the parts in the thermostat cool. If the water line drops below the thermostat, then it gets really hot , really fast, damaging the thermostat and the seals.
The thermostat would be in the top part of the heater. If the water drops below the thermostat, the thin metal contacts heat up really fast and really hot. This will in many cases cause the heater to malfuntion. And run hotter than the desired setting.
Ive done this twice. One was on a brand new heater. I caught it before there was a problem in the tank. I still have both heaters, and both now run about 10 degrees higher than the dial setting.
You hear a lot of people making claims about heaters, And I've had them malfuntion on me twice. Both times was my fault. Now I run my heaters as far down below the water surface as possible and havent had this problem again. I would imagine this happens alot, and the heater always gets the blame.
Sorry for the disaster. I hope this never happens to you again.
The thermostat would be in the top part of the heater. If the water drops below the thermostat, the thin metal contacts heat up really fast and really hot. This will in many cases cause the heater to malfuntion. And run hotter than the desired setting.
Ive done this twice. One was on a brand new heater. I caught it before there was a problem in the tank. I still have both heaters, and both now run about 10 degrees higher than the dial setting.
You hear a lot of people making claims about heaters, And I've had them malfuntion on me twice. Both times was my fault. Now I run my heaters as far down below the water surface as possible and havent had this problem again. I would imagine this happens alot, and the heater always gets the blame.
Sorry for the disaster. I hope this never happens to you again.
My 75 gallon with 20 gallon sump never dips below 76 degrees all year without a heater. I have glass top with 4X65 power compact lighting and fans over the partially covered sump. Between that and powerheads and Mag 7 return I've never needed heater over course of at least 5 years. Only challenge is keeping cool three months of the year and we use whole house A/C all the time then, set at 74 degrees and remove sump cover and let above mentioned fans work out. I dislike topping off during summer but too lazy to hook up Spectrapure topoff device, even though I've looked instructions several times before tossing back in fish care box in basement. 
However -- we had a disaster during 10 day summer vacation several years ago when power went out in our area for well over 12 hours while we were gone. Everything except tongue, snails and six line wrasse was well, chestnuts roasting over an open fire, phew! I have avoided buying expensive animals ever since.
However -- we had a disaster during 10 day summer vacation several years ago when power went out in our area for well over 12 hours while we were gone. Everything except tongue, snails and six line wrasse was well, chestnuts roasting over an open fire, phew! I have avoided buying expensive animals ever since.
Marsfrogie
New member
I'll second this. Anyone know?
Kenmx10
New member
If you have a 120 gallon tank, and have 2 heaters rated at 75gallons , one malfuntions and runs wide open, the other one shuts off if the desired temp is reached. One heater on its own is not sufficient to bring the temp up above 80 degrees , so the water temperature never reaches a dangerous temp.
You have to be carefull , most heaters are underrated and can handle more than it list. You can take one heater and set it as high as it will go. Put it in the container(bath tub) equal to the water volume in your tank for a day or so. If it is not able to bring the temp up past 80 or so, then you know, if it malfuntions, your tank will never raise past the settings on your other heater.
You have to be carefull , most heaters are underrated and can handle more than it list. You can take one heater and set it as high as it will go. Put it in the container(bath tub) equal to the water volume in your tank for a day or so. If it is not able to bring the temp up past 80 or so, then you know, if it malfuntions, your tank will never raise past the settings on your other heater.
conorwynne
New member
Sorry for the loss.
FWIW, I run an underpowered heater (150w in 120g tank) and use condensation trays on the sump / fuge. This reduces evap and therefore reduces the cooling effect (reducing leccy demands). My thinking is that it can never overheat (although can underheat).
I do keep a spare 300w heater (unplugged) in case the temp drops too much.
The temp stays pretty much at 78, and I don't worry if it does swing - as others have pointed out can be a good thing.
-- When the calcium / alk demands increase, I may have to re-think this. For the moment it works fine.
Again, sorry for you loss - I lost the majority of my acro's because I listened to the wife's demands that I move them across to the new tank -- it was too soon I fear. We live & learn.
Edit - Try running lots of carbon.
Conor.
FWIW, I run an underpowered heater (150w in 120g tank) and use condensation trays on the sump / fuge. This reduces evap and therefore reduces the cooling effect (reducing leccy demands). My thinking is that it can never overheat (although can underheat).
I do keep a spare 300w heater (unplugged) in case the temp drops too much.
The temp stays pretty much at 78, and I don't worry if it does swing - as others have pointed out can be a good thing.
-- When the calcium / alk demands increase, I may have to re-think this. For the moment it works fine.
Again, sorry for you loss - I lost the majority of my acro's because I listened to the wife's demands that I move them across to the new tank -- it was too soon I fear. We live & learn.
Edit - Try running lots of carbon.
Conor.
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ReefEnabler
Premium Member
Honestly no.. I do have two types of titaniums, aquamedic and finnex, and both seem fine, no complaints about them, and really no way to objectively measure quality. They all claim to be fully submersible but I run them with the wire end slightly out of the water just to be extra safe. Just because the connection is sealed doesn't mean some calcerous worm wont try to burrow there etc....
Just to be clear I'm only talking about heater elements without controller.
The only reason I got finnex was because for some reason I couldn't find the aquamedic ones again when it was time for me to upgrade to 500watters.
carlso63
Reefkeeping since 1977
I would go with 2 oversized submersible heaters vs. 1 undersized HOB style heater
Oversized (higher wattage than needed) heaters will be "on" for shorter durations than underpowered ones when heeating the water to any given temperature set point.
Less time "on" should equate to less risk of the contacts overheating / sticking / melting causing the heater to become "stuck on". Using fully submersible heaters (completely submerged, like on the bottom of your sump, for example) means no part of the heater can ever be exposed to air while on - and potentially overheat the electronics within.
The vast majority of heater disasters I have seen have involved single underpowered (for the water volume) heaters that HOB. .. I cannot remember the last time I heard someone who ran dual (or tri) overpowered submersible heaters say they had one of these overheating disasters. I know I never have.
And I am sorry that you lost so many corals, too.
Oversized (higher wattage than needed) heaters will be "on" for shorter durations than underpowered ones when heeating the water to any given temperature set point.
Less time "on" should equate to less risk of the contacts overheating / sticking / melting causing the heater to become "stuck on". Using fully submersible heaters (completely submerged, like on the bottom of your sump, for example) means no part of the heater can ever be exposed to air while on - and potentially overheat the electronics within.
The vast majority of heater disasters I have seen have involved single underpowered (for the water volume) heaters that HOB. .. I cannot remember the last time I heard someone who ran dual (or tri) overpowered submersible heaters say they had one of these overheating disasters. I know I never have.
And I am sorry that you lost so many corals, too.
