I don't know how many times I've heard people cook their fish with over sized heaters. Heater is one equipment you never oversize for your tank. When a heater malfunctions, it's always the thermostat control first, rarely the heating element. You have to anticipate every heater will eventually get stuck.
A Very Gruesome Death......
- Thread starter JasonsPlecosCichlids
- Start date
This is why I believe in multiple smaller wattage heaters connected to a controller for each tank. Hear these stories way too often.
Sorry to hear Jason
Really sorry to hear about your loss of fish, I can't even imagine the hurt that brought on.
As far as heaters .......
A heater doesn't have to be "over sized" to have the potential to cook ones fish. Even smaller underrated heaters can cook ones fish if they stay stuck in the on position. It simply takes longer, compared to a more powerful heater. So instead of a disaster taking place over night, it takes place over a long weekend while one is away. It still happens all the time.
The best approach to avoiding over heating a tank is by using a controller unit, which adds a level of redundancy to ones system. Now both the heater, and the controller, will have to fail in order for the tank water to overheat. I have zero faith in any make model or brand of aquarium heater, which is why my tanks are all ran off of controller units. A couple of my controllers are over a decade old, and still performing like the day they came off the assembly line.
As far as heaters .......
A heater doesn't have to be "over sized" to have the potential to cook ones fish. Even smaller underrated heaters can cook ones fish if they stay stuck in the on position. It simply takes longer, compared to a more powerful heater. So instead of a disaster taking place over night, it takes place over a long weekend while one is away. It still happens all the time.
The best approach to avoiding over heating a tank is by using a controller unit, which adds a level of redundancy to ones system. Now both the heater, and the controller, will have to fail in order for the tank water to overheat. I have zero faith in any make model or brand of aquarium heater, which is why my tanks are all ran off of controller units. A couple of my controllers are over a decade old, and still performing like the day they came off the assembly line.
Think some have missed what I mentioned. The Eheim I use has a built in heater. The other heater I use, I forget the name is 500 watts and uses a controller which was set to around 70 to 71 degrees. It wasn't the that heater that malfunctioned, it was the Eheim, which I will be selling here shortly. Never again will I use a filter with built in heaters. These filters came to me with the tanks so I used them. I will be switching to 100% FX5's, which I already have one.
What RD and I are basically saying is that adding a controller gives a heater 2 thermostats instead of just one. So, both thermostats would have to fail inorder for the heater to stay permanently in the "on" position. Your 500w heater is still controlled by a single controller, so if that controller fails and stays on, it'll have the same fatal effect as the built in Eheim heater.
Which thermostat do you recommend? I may end up not using heaters if the basement stays warm/cool enough.
A lot of people here use Ranco, which is designed for industrial usage, but I've been using the inexpensive Finnex brand which thus far have been been working without issue.
This is how you use an add-on controller:
A controller is rated with a maximum watt. So, using a power strip, you can plug in as many heaters(with built in thermotsats) up to the max watt allowed by the controller.
Set the controller at the temp you want your tank to be at. Then set the individual heaters a few degrees higher.
The controller has a probe which goes into the tank, you'll want this probe as far away from any of the heaters as you can. The controller,which is set at a lower setting, will be the primary controller of the heaters. Confirm that the controller is working by checking an intank thermometer and also if the heaters have an "on" light. You'll know if the controller is not working if the intank thermometer is reading a higher temp set by the heaters.
A controller is rated with a maximum watt. So, using a power strip, you can plug in as many heaters(with built in thermotsats) up to the max watt allowed by the controller.
Set the controller at the temp you want your tank to be at. Then set the individual heaters a few degrees higher.
The controller has a probe which goes into the tank, you'll want this probe as far away from any of the heaters as you can. The controller,which is set at a lower setting, will be the primary controller of the heaters. Confirm that the controller is working by checking an intank thermometer and also if the heaters have an "on" light. You'll know if the controller is not working if the intank thermometer is reading a higher temp set by the heaters.
If your hot water heater is down there just plumb a heat exchanger in with the tanks and you'll never have to use a heater again. "NO HEATERS HERE!" I've lost fish to heat, colder better than warmer!
Sorry for your loss man! It sucks hard!
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Sorry for your loss man! It sucks hard!
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
