major problems

[Jobiwan]

Sorry you had to go through this, I'd like to contribute a few frags also when you are ready, I would consider using a titanium heater, I switched over a few years ago, no worries now about a heater breaking. I like the Won brothers with the separate LED monitor/controller, great backup to your controller readout if you have one and you can see your temp from across the room, they are under $50.00 and seem top notch. One thing though...there is a separate temperature probe with a little suction cup which you can set away from the heater, BE SURE YOU ZIP TIE THIS IN PLACE, DON'T RELY ON THE SUCTION CUP!!! sorry to yell, but I cooked a 60 gal reef a while back by knocking the probe out of the tank while working in it, probe read room temp, heater stayed on over night, dead tank, learning experiences suk...

 

[loohunter]

i will replace the heater with the titanium one but i am still wondering if it can leak water eventually. that is what happened with me . granted it was a cheap glass one but it did not break it just leaked water and shorted out. it seems that it is not a question of if these submersible heaters will leak, but when will they leak

 

[Holygral]

Someone on here had one of those heaters fail, as corrosion between the rubber top and the titanium heater cover failed. I also use this type of heater but with a controller as stated above if you bumped the heater temp sensor out of the tank/sump, a controller would have shut the heater down when the water temp reach a set temp.

 

[Jobiwan]

The controller is a great idea, pricey when you have multiple small tanks though...

 

[Holygral]

If you add up the cost of all the lost tank iinhabitants, from one stuck heater, it is very cheap insurance, IMO and that is not figuring in the cost of you RODI water and salt to do a large water change due to the loss.

 

[loohunter]

i totally agree with the temp controller, but i need to point out that the temp in the tank never got out of whack. water leaked into the top of the heater and sent electricity through my tank causeing alll the snails to die. so i dont think a temp controller would have helped in this case

 

[krisfal]

Was this heater plugged into a GFCI curcuit?

 

[loohunter]

it was on a gfi powerstrip it did trip the powerstrip

 

[Holygral]

I had a heater crack a month ago and it stayed on and was arching into the sump, it also did not trip the GFI either, I did have a grounding probe and maybe that help me to not get really zap from putting my hand in the water BEFORE I knew what was going on. When mine went, it stayed on and the tank was up to 88 before I knew something was wrong. So now I have a lab quality calibrated thermometer with a alarm and a controller as well.

 

[loohunter]

all the fish have been moved to a 100 gallon. i need to get this tank out of my house next and clean it. is anyone familiar with the smell of a dead snail? my house smells like 150 dead snails.so tomorrow i am hoping to get the tank in the wall. i will finish building the stand tonight, so maybe tomorrow i can start drilling the tank for the closed loops and get this thing back together

 

[JoshF]

Man, I'm sorry. What a bummer. When the electricity goes through the water at line voltage and high current, everything gets nailed. I was working in my garage years back and was across the room from my aquarium when one of my fish triggered an avalanche that broke the glass heater. No GFCI, so everything was getting line voltage for the 15 seconds it took me to unplug it. All the fish and inverts died. So, obviously no more glass heaters, but I'm dissapointed to hear that even the titanium ones can have problems. Aren't they epoxy sealed? If not, I wonder how hard it would be to take the end off and seal it. Don, there might be a new Reefwerks product to be done here!

Josh

 

[Jobiwan]

The wons are epoxy sealed, don't know about the other brands though...

 

[Scooterman]

I don't use a heater because they are mostly all are crap LOL but also I have enough heat from stuff to never get that cold in the first place.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Man, I'm sorry. What a bummer. When the electricity goes through the water at line voltage and high current, everything gets nailed. I was working in my garage years back and was across the room from my aquarium when one of my fish triggered an avalanche that broke the glass heater. No GFCI, so everything was getting line voltage for the 15 seconds it took me to unplug it. All the fish and inverts died. So, obviously no more glass heaters, but I'm dissapointed to hear that even the titanium ones can have problems. Aren't they epoxy sealed? If not, I wonder how hard it would be to take the end off and seal it. Don, there might be a new Reefwerks product to be done here!

Josh

Josh, how long did it take your fish and inverts to die? Seconds? Hours? Days? I am still trying to understand heater caused losses. You fairly positive that the deaths were from electricity and not due to any contamination from within the heater ? (copper, lead, zinc, misc other nasty stuff)

 

[loohunter]

a very sad update: all the fish were moved to a 100 gallon. this tank has been set up for years i put my anenomes in the tank as well they are all attached to small rocks. well this morningall fish were dead except 2 pairs of clowns and my pink tail trigger. this is real hard for me. i should have known not to put those anenomes in with the fish. i just wanted to save as much as i could. i feel terrible for the people on this site that i have recieved fish and corals from as i considered myself a responsible fish keeper

 

[spongebob lover]

omg dood i'm very sorry to hear the bad news !!!
when you get back in the game please let us know, i have a few frags i could give you too.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

I doubt that it was just the anemones, the fish were already dying from the tragic heater accident. Similar to cyanide caught fish, they look and act fine but a few days later, they just die. We all feel for your loss, pets can be almost like family...

 

[Scooterman]

Sorry to hear that, I know it is difficult to see but it happens, It will get better just hang in there!

 

[Jobiwan]

I agree with Mike, don't beat yourself up, you were taking the right steps, I would have moved them too....

 

[loohunter]

I doubt that it was just the anemones, the fish were already dying from the tragic heater accident. Similar to cyanide caught fish, they look and act fine but a few days later, they just die. We all feel for your loss, pets can be almost like family...

you are totally right on mike they were family