Heater got me :(

[Fish Tank Travis]

Well, my wife and I woke up this morning to a funky smell throughout the house and couldn't figure out what it was until I turned the lights on on the two tanks we have set up in our pet room. My son's 10 gallon glofish tank was cloudy and all the fish were dead, which was about 15 fish because it was overstocked. On closer inspection, the heater was on and the water was 102 degrees. Fortunately, my three year old son didn't see it and I kept the door closed until after I got him off to daycare. Now, it's time to clean it up...

 

[tlindsey]

Sorry for your loss

 

[Warborg]

Sorry to hear.

That's why I stopped doing heaters. They were always acting up. I keep my house a constant 75-80 year round.

 

[kewpiefishypewpie]

I've been there too man it sucks. Came home to all of my fish dead except for an Oscar and my silver dollars.

 

[robham777]

That stinks, glad your son didn't see it before going to daycare. I had one do that not long ago on a 20. Tank was sitting at about 94F. The only fish in it was a firemouth and he did not seem to mind much, he was all colored up flaring and going at the glass. I was cleaning up yesterday and threw away 5 heaters, mostly fluval.

 

[BIG-G]

What brand and wattage heater was it? If you do not mind me asking.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

It was a 50W heater that was some generic brand from Petsmart. It wasn't even adjustable, just plug it in and it was preset (it ran about 77 degrees).

I went ahead and pulled everything out and bleach soaked it for about 20 minutes, wiped out the tank with bleach water, soaked the filter media and then put it all back together with new water. It's all set back up minus the heater and fish.

 

[Woefulrelic]

Daily reminder that a ranco heater controller can be bought for under $100.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

When I get the new heater I will also get an InkBird controller to go with it and will just set it a few degrees higher than the heater thermostat.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Daily reminder that a ranco heater controller can be bought for under $100.

InkBird is about $35 and gets tons of praise over on SimplyDiscus. I have one for my large tank and the programmability is great and it's very easy to use. It also has low and high temp alarms.