F*#k heaters

[rexxx]

: I woke up to my 40 gal FOWL with all my fish dead ,a flag fin angel who i raised from the size of a half dollar ,a large clown,and a yellow tail damsel,all these fish i had for over three years,all dead exept the clown who was on its last breath,all fish showed sins of extreme gill flare.when i went to take them out of the tank i got a huge electric shock up my arm .the fish had all been shocked to death . i inspected further and found that my heater had a crack in it .it was an 150w visi-therm (piece of sh......) .the heater had not been changed since set up .and i was wondering if anyone had changed them yearly ect?had any problems with this or any other brand of heater.......

 

[KMTaquarium]

mutual feelings

i know what it feels like-
visi-therm heater- $20
basket ball sized colt- $70
new, and thriving! elegance- $60
Midas blenny- $15
Sailfin dying of ich from stress- $25
the look on my face when i get home from a good days bacpacking and look into my 30gallon and find the temp at 96*F- priceless
me destroying the heater- stress relieving



it had taken me so long to getting around at getting new fish and corals after losing my percula last year and haveing algae grow 6" thick over the tank and selling the few corals i had becasue i had no place to put them after algae almost killed them and i downgraded the lights to slow the rate of algae which wasnt good for hte corals-
2 weeks i had had my new corals and fish and a POS MF*ing GD heater stuck in the ON positiong had ruined it all, -
thankfully i didn't lose my NEW HUGE blastumusa

knock on wood my tank is doing so much better now with the new heater

and ive started to replace those lost/damaged corals with some ACropra, Ricordia, montipora, frogspawn-

forget the saying "a good scare is worth more than good advice" or "an ounce of prevention is worth a lb of cure"
if i had the advice i would of prevented it from ever happening.


FOR ALL OF YOU OUT THERE READING THIS, IF YOU HAVE A VISITHERM TRASH IT AND GET A NEW, BETTER ONE OF A DIFFERENT BRAND

 

[danmhippo]

I have just recently replaced 2 ebo jagar heater with titanium heater. I think it's an investment well spent. I've never have problems with ebo jagar, just fearing some disaster like the above would one day happen if I don't replace them.

 

[Mouse]

Unfortunately expirience is one of those things you obtain just after you need it, Doh!! :?

 

[Anonymous]

GFI!!!

 

[reefland]

I've had 5 visi-therm heaters. I had 100% failure rate within 2 years on these heaters. The rubber caps get eaten away by the saltwater/bacteria. Once water enters, it cracks. These can't be submerged (ignore what the box says). I tried to use the suction cups to prevent them from being submerged but they fail as well.

I had mine on GFI's, no livestock loss. I now use ebo jagar heaters. 2 years since I replaced them and no issues.

 

[Green Mariner]

I have just recently replaced 2 ebo jagar heater with titanium heater. I think it's an investment well spent. I've never have problems with ebo jagar, just fearing some disaster like the above would one day happen if I don't replace them.

Excellent advice!! I have 3 of the Won 250 watt titanium heaters and love them, every glass heater I have had failed eventually, luckily I did not have the loss you experienced!

HTH

 

[Anonymous]

I am currently replacing all of my glass heaters with titanium Won Pros as I can afford it. Unfortunatly, I have alot of tanks, so i only have half of them replaced so far. Not too long ago I went to put my hand in my 90 gallon and got shocked, the culprit turned out to be a cracked Visi-therm. It was all alone in the sump, so it's not like a rock could have fallen on it or anything.

I really really hate being shocked. Not to mention the possibility of having copper leach from the innards of the heater into the tank when they crack. Out with all the glass heaters!

 

[Brad]

I don't use heaters at all. Haven't been really necessary IME. Sorry to hear bout your tank.

 

[texman]

Heater, what the h$#% is a heater? I am spending hundreds of dollars in electrical bills trying to keep heat away from my tank! Just buy some 400W halides and lots of pumps and you won't need a heater!

 

[Reef Fever]

Tex and Brad-

How much does the temperature in your tank fluctuate between night and day? Surely it must cool down five degrees or more when the halides are off.

I set my heater so that it keeps the water around 80 degrees whether the lights are on or not- ocean temp does not fluctuate like that- I figure a more stable temp would be better.

However- I have a glass heater that is now going to be replaced!

 

[texman]

Day or night, my temperature rises to over 83 degrees (I have 3 Iwaki 55's and an Iwaki 100 running full time, as well as a few submersible pumps) My temperature is purely regulated by the chiller which kicks in at 82 degrees and cuts out at 81 degrees in the summer and kicks on at 81, cuts out at 80 in the winter. (I wish we had some winter where I live)

 

[Brad]

Hood fans only run when the 400W halides are on for my 180gal. The temp varies about 3 degrees. Even sensitive fish like tangs and anthias have no probs like ick etc.
GL