Tank Crash
- Thread starter superfirefly
- Start date
twizzlerman77
Short Bus Rider
I run this exact brand heater, can you tell me exactly what happened to it, and about how long you had it for? I'm getting more paranoid as I type, I dont have cash for titanium heater and controller, and really would hate to lose everything.
superfirefly
New member
I bought 2 sometime mid 07. Only one of them failed by bulging then spliting open. An engineer friend of mine thinks the build up of coraline and vermatid snails may have cause it to improperly disperse the heat causing it to fail in this way. It is possible but the coraline and vermatid were only on the part that doesn't heat up.
_E_
Professional Lurker
I know what you mean Twizz. I run the Stealths too and have never heard anything bad about them. I do know that, as a habit, I have four identical heaters and only use two in the sump. Every few months I take the two out of the sump and trade them out for the two that I use to make new saltwater. This gives me a chance to give the sump heaters a good vinegar bath, inspect them, and make sure that they are registering the proper temps (I know, know...I should get a controller).
superfirefly
New member
The fish deaths continue. I lost both of my clowns over the weekend. I do have the one lonely clown fry left but luckily he is in a different tank.
I am assuming it was ich that killed them but it didn't really look like ick. Or at least it didn't look like the freshwater ick I have seen. It was more like they were loosing their slime coat and along with that their color. They did have white dots on them but it looked more like particles of sand in the slime coat that was sloughing off.
If I get some time tonight I will take some pictures of the failed heater to show those of you that are worried about it.
I am assuming it was ich that killed them but it didn't really look like ick. Or at least it didn't look like the freshwater ick I have seen. It was more like they were loosing their slime coat and along with that their color. They did have white dots on them but it looked more like particles of sand in the slime coat that was sloughing off.
If I get some time tonight I will take some pictures of the failed heater to show those of you that are worried about it.
KCMO Reefer
New member
Sorry to hear of your losses. As someone just getting started, these types of events are quite alarming to me.
superfirefly
New member
Sorry to keep bringing this thread back to life but I have another update.
I mistakenly though that lightning couldn't strike the same place twice and I was wrong. I had two stealth heaters in my tank. As you know the first one split open and pretty much nuked my tank. I left the second in there until I had a chance too replace it with titanium heaters. Procrastination set in and I never got around too it.
Last week I go to look at the tank and see a familiar sight. All coral is closed up snails laying on the sand bed and the water was very cloudy. I immediately unplugged the heater. When I went to pull it out of the tank only half of it came out. It had separated in the tank again nuking everything in there. Luckily the only thing in the tank was the survivors from the last tragedy. These guys seemed to handle this even much better. Other then the copious amounts of algae things are already starting to look better though.
I still have both heaters and want to post pictures of them. Maybe after the holidays I will get around to it.
I mistakenly though that lightning couldn't strike the same place twice and I was wrong. I had two stealth heaters in my tank. As you know the first one split open and pretty much nuked my tank. I left the second in there until I had a chance too replace it with titanium heaters. Procrastination set in and I never got around too it.
Last week I go to look at the tank and see a familiar sight. All coral is closed up snails laying on the sand bed and the water was very cloudy. I immediately unplugged the heater. When I went to pull it out of the tank only half of it came out. It had separated in the tank again nuking everything in there. Luckily the only thing in the tank was the survivors from the last tragedy. These guys seemed to handle this even much better. Other then the copious amounts of algae things are already starting to look better though.
I still have both heaters and want to post pictures of them. Maybe after the holidays I will get around to it.
Man, that sucks
I have the same glass heater I've been using for close to ten years now. I think its a Visatherm, not sure though, I can't even read the writing on it anymore. The thermostat is way off but it on the APEX so I don't worry about it too much.
I have the same glass heater I've been using for close to ten years now. I think its a Visatherm, not sure though, I can't even read the writing on it anymore. The thermostat is way off but it on the APEX so I don't worry about it too much.
superfirefly
New member
I hadn't heard others were having this same problem. I always heard good things about them. I will have to do a search.
Reeferhead, I am glad to hear you have had good luck with the glass visitherm since that is what I am using until I get my titanium's. I was a little nervous since the are the same manufacture as the stealths.
Reeferhead, I am glad to hear you have had good luck with the glass visitherm since that is what I am using until I get my titanium's. I was a little nervous since the are the same manufacture as the stealths.
Perhaps there have been some changes in manufacturing in recent years. Back in the day Visitherm was the primo brand to go with.
Aqua Man 07
fastest reefer on 2wheels
i had a marineland stealth and it blew the top off like a shotgun did not efect any thing in the tank butt ill never buy another plastic heater someone said that they would replace it if i had the box it came in butt i didnt even want to even look at another one i think the are junk
smoothdog
Active member
I just picked up a new Stealth Pro heater last month after my regular Stealth heater gave out after 2 years. They have completely redesigned it with what appears to be a much tougher housing and it now actually has a power/heating green/red led indicator to tell you that it is on and heating. I hated that the old style didn't have any indicators to show you if they were working or not. Hopefully Marineland has worked the kinks out of the Stealth line with this one. I always liked their glass heaters but they were prone to leaking when fully submerged and these are resin filled so hopefully that won't be an issue either. Only time will tell I guess.
superfirefly
New member
It is nice to see that they added the lights. That was my biggest complaint about them up until they failed. The first one had a section expand and the plastic coating split. The second, the top where the dial is came loose from the housing. With two failing within two months I don't think I will ever look at a plastic heater again.
I will admit there was quite a buildup on both heaters of coraline and vermatid snails. I think if I would have done what E does and cleaned them every few months I may have had a different outcome.
I will admit there was quite a buildup on both heaters of coraline and vermatid snails. I think if I would have done what E does and cleaned them every few months I may have had a different outcome.
smoothdog
Active member
If I had seen these posts about the housing failure first I probably wouldn't have gotten this Pro model either, but now that I have it, the housing looks and feels much more substantial than the old model so hopefully it will hold up better. I also have my heaters in a dark area of my sump so there is not a lot of buildup on them which may explain why they didn't fail catastrophically.
scbadiver
New member
Reeferhead; "Perhaps there have been some changes in manufacturing in recent years. Back in the day Visitherm was the primo brand to go with."
That is my opinion also. I had two that I used for over 12 years before the thermostat became unreliable. I have replaced them but the newer ones haven't held up nearly as well. About 2-3 years is the best I've gotten. I hate all heaters now. Not much to do but invest in a controller and titianium tube I guess.
That is my opinion also. I had two that I used for over 12 years before the thermostat became unreliable. I have replaced them but the newer ones haven't held up nearly as well. About 2-3 years is the best I've gotten. I hate all heaters now. Not much to do but invest in a controller and titianium tube I guess.
