my heater broke

[spongebob lover]

i feel for some reason that i'm getting slapped from left to right , last night i was warming some RO water for the sump and so when i put my heater back into the sump, the heater started showing some smoke and then the worse happened, it shattered into pieces right in the sump , i took it out right away but it was to late, all the mercury got in there and went into the system, i don't think it was to much but it definetly affected my corals, my sps are getting all pale (specially my orange cap), my zoos and other soft corals are all retracted, my beloved cleaner shrimp for some reasons has some sort of glass (sort of like flakes )on its tail, so far the fishes are just a little bit stressed but so far they're holding.
I went to petsmart and got some marineland 200w heater (it says shatter proof :lol: ) but i don't know when it goes on or off , but for now it's just gonna have to do it.
If you know of any better heater (Gaby proof:lol please let me know.

Thank you all

 

[mmkeeper]

It might be an electrical shock that has effected them.

 

[Kensn]

I would be more concerned about getting any polutants out of your water.... Run a bunch of carbon or something.....

 

[Scooterman]

I don't think you have to worry about mercury, they might of gotten a shock though, I'd run carbon & do as big of a WC as soon as you can, lets hope for the best.
The only other option wold be to buy a controller like Ranco or Johnson to control the temperature but won't stop the heater from breaking like that.
Sorry to hear about all the issues, we wish you well gabs & a speedy recovery!

 

[spongebob lover]

thank you so much doods .
i've been really depress about the tank, everytime i think about it, i could just cry .
i just made a big water change, now i'm just crossing my fingers.

 

[trillyen]

sorry to hear that but i had the same thing happen and all my fish and SOFT corals made it so im thinking you should be ok, but it never hurts to worry and take precautions but this time i think youll pull through!!!

 

[Scooterman]

thank you so much doods .
i've been really depress about the tank, everytime i think about it, i could just cry .
i just made a big water change, now i'm just crossing my fingers.

Some days are just like that, I just want to trash the whole thing but later I get over it
Hang in there Snoopy!

 

[spongebob lover]

sorry to hear that but i had the same thing happen and all my fish and SOFT corals made it so im thinking you should be ok, but it never hurts to worry and take precautions but this time i think youll pull through!!!

thanks dood .

This morning i checked the tank and so far i don't see any more damage than the orange cap, the rainbow monti, my scroll coral, the xenia and all my kenya trees.

Some days are just like that, I just want to trash the whole thing but later I get over it
Hang in there Snoopy!

yeah dood, i even thought about selling the tank and just getting me a puppy, but then i thought about all the years with the tank and how much the tank helps me to calm down.

 

[DonW]

FWIW alot of folks are having issues with top seals leaking lately with most brands. You may want to concider mounting the heaters so that the head is out of the water from now on.

Don

 

[burning2nd]

mercury in heaters? Holy hell

 

[trillyen]

mercury in heaters? Holy hell

Lmao, yes its in there

I believe it is any way.

It was my walmart thermometer that actually broke, and spilled down n the sand but right when it occurrd I scooped up the whole part of that sand bed with my fish net

Nothing ever came of it. I imagine if I would have left it in there it would have crashed pretty hard.

 

[burning2nd]

oh i thought i heard or something like that... that most of the things that had real mercury in was replaced with some sort of replacement..

Idk
i would think that a heaters these days wouldnt have.....

 

[spongebob lover]

FWIW alot of folks are having issues with top seals leaking lately with most brands. You may want to concider mounting the heaters so that the head is out of the water from now on.

you know i had the heater with the head out when it was in the bucket ... so i don't know , but definetly i'll keep having it like that .

 

[Scooterman]

How cold does your tank get without a heater?

 

[spongebob lover]

How cold does your tank get without a heater?

it gets about 71 .. but when the summer is here it seems like it just goes down to 75-76

 

[Scooterman]

I have my fan on a timer, I time it so when the lights com on it also comes on & stays on longer to get the temp down a little cooler. If you use a fan then you may be able to control the temp. During the summer this may work good enough as to not need the heater, take it out until the winter. It takes some experimenting with but it works. I don't have heaters at all in the tank. Last winter It ran as low as 76 & up to 78 all winter, summer I run 79 to 81/82.

 

[MC Lighting]

you know i had the heater with the head out when it was in the bucket ... so i don't know , but definetly i'll keep having it like that .

This is how I have my heaters I don't trust the seals around teh cord and head I just keep the head right above the water line as long as the water is at the min. water line on the heater I can't see how it would hurt anything....

 

[spongebob lover]

I have my fan on a timer, I time it so when the lights com on it also comes on & stays on longer to get the temp down a little cooler. If you use a fan then you may be able to control the temp. During the summer this may work good enough as to not need the heater, take it out until the winter. It takes some experimenting with but it works. I don't have heaters at all in the tank. Last winter It ran as low as 76 & up to 78 all winter, summer I run 79 to 81/82.

i think i might try and see what happens dood .
but definetly i don't trust heaters anymore .

 

[Curtswearing]

Hey Gabster,

If you cannot afford to go to the controller yet, I'm sure you can afford a Big Digital Temp Alert. http://www.pentairaquatics.com/products/detail/digital_thermometer.html

One saved my entire system once. I kept thinking, "What on earth is making that beeping noise". My heater was trying to cook my tank and the thermostat had broken on it so it stayed in the "on" position.

 

[CarlaW]

Hang in there Gabby, none of us "trust" our heaters anymore. I have been doing like Don suggested and have been keeping the top out of the water.