rise in water tempeture

[rnhrtfan]

well I woke up this morning and the water temp had rocketed up to 85.5. the heater was not on and all the powerheads are working as they should and are not putting off an excessive amount of heat. what may have caused this or do you think the heater may have just gone bad over night and now it isn't working?

 

[firefish2020]

Sounds like a heater malfunction, that's why I use a temp controller they can save your tank. Of all the tank related catastrophes I have seen or heard of almost all of them can be traced back to a malfunctioning heater. A dual line controller or a Reefkeeper2 or AC Jr can control your heater and switch on a fan/chiller and or turn off your lighting in the event of a heat incident. Just more stuff to buy I know

 

[rnhrtfan]

well I have taken the heater out for the time being and the temp has dropped a degree so far. so keep my fingers crossed that nothing is too damaged. RBTA is kinda shrivveled up though.?.?

 

[WVfishguy]

I've kept fish for more than 35 years, and I've lost more livestock to malfunctioning heaters than all other reasons combined. I've spoken to other long-term aquarists who have had the same experience.
However, I don't think 85 degrees is anything to panic over - if it's for a short period of time. It's not so much the heat as the lack of oxygen that is deadly. Make sure there's a lot of water movement, etc. and you should be fine.

 

[phljess]

I don't think 85 degrees is anything to panic over

If it is a FOWL tank, it should not be anything to worry about. But if you have more delicate (SPS) coral they can be wiped out by 85 degrees in a couple hours. Especially if they are not used to temps being close to that range.