Faulty Heater

[dexterscoral]

I am relatively new to the hobby and came home from work to find our 30 gallon tank looking very "sad," only to find that something must have shorted in the heater. The tank water was up close to 100 degrees. We took out the heater immediately and did a 5 gallon water change to get the temperature back down. We then went and bought a new heater.

Our fish seem to be fine, but some of our corals dont seem to be doing too well. Our hammer coral and our leather toadstool look particularly bad. It's been two days and our zoos, hairy/fuzzy mushroom, and trumpet seem to be coming back to life a bit.

Do you think they might come back, or are they cooked?

 

[KeishaKornbread]

If that happens again...don't do a water change. Drop a bag of ice cubes or a few frozen water bottles in the sump.

 

[Joe5688]

Man that sucks. What kind of heater?

 

[tinman]

thats one thing that always scares me...

it wold be better if t hey stop working but heating too much

sucks sad

 

[yogoshio]

This is why having two heaters and a controller of some sort are a MUST. They sell finnex heaters with a built in controller that aren't much more than just a heater either, which is better than nothing.

Don't EVER trust a heater.

 

[Joe5688]

They should make heaters fail in the off position lol

 

[KeishaKornbread]

This is why having two heaters and a controller of some sort are a MUST. They sell finnex heaters with a built in controller that aren't much more than just a heater either, which is better than nothing.

Don't EVER trust a heater.

Finnex also sells the controller seperatly, which is what I use with my Eheim Jager heater. I have my heater set to a temp that is a couple degrees cooler than what my controller is set to. That way, if the controller goes nuts, the heater won't.

 

[catalano]

They should make heaters fail in the off position lol

Some new ones do I just don't know what brand. All older ones fail in the on position. This is what read a few months ago online anyways. Does anyone know a brand that fails in the off position?

 

[Herbie]

Some new ones do I just don't know what brand. All older ones fail in the on position. This is what read a few months ago online anyways. Does anyone know a brand that fails in the off position?

a controller is the only thing I can think of.

DFS has at least 2 for less than $40
http://pet-supplies.drsfostersmith.com/search?p=Q&lbc=drsfostersmith&uid=879697593&w=heater%20controller&isort=score&method=and&visitorID=NATHAN&cartcount=0&wishcount=0&subtotal=0.00&stateid=s2B22C12B2FQafjFjy&view=grid&ts=results&ed=fish&modaf=r:cat1:fish

 

[Smitty]

Sorry to hear that...welcome to the site, and good luck with your corals.

 

[Tethered_Limbs]

can pick up a RKL for 100$ today with the BRS sale goin on

 

[poidog]

I am fan of a separate controller that can kill power to the heater if need be (IE reek keeper), but this heater is the only one with a built in controller at the moment.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3743+25144&pcatid=25144


and this is what a cooked tank looks like:

a controller is a wise investment.

 

[jayjigga]

Ranco controllers will do the trick for just the heater, but when you're at $50, you might as well double up and get a decent piece of equipment for additional peace of mind. Sorry for any loss, but hope they pull through!!

Also, in the future (if you don't get a controller), get two heaters rated for half the size of the tank. They may both stick at the same time, but the probability of that happening is less than one of them sticking (yes, I know there was someone on here who had both stick at the same time).

 

[dexterscoral]

Thanks for all the input. The heater was a TopFin. We bought most of the setup used, so unfortunately I dont know how old it was. We have had no issues for over a year with it. We purchased a Fluval to replace it. Hopefully it works out better!