I have heard several people mention that their fish have been burnt by heaters, this is a lot more common than you may think and I just wanted to address it.
First off, let me explain why this is so common. The reason this is so common is because people just put the heater into the tank where fish can get access to it. Now this is no real problem and most people do this, but the problem is fish can get burnt on it, sometimes the fish (mainly plecos, eels, stingrays, and similar fish) happen to lay down on the heater and get burnt. No matter how it happens, it can be very bad and lead to infections and death for your fish. There are 3 main ways to prevent this.
1. The first way you can prevent a fish from being burnt by a heater is to put the heater in a sump (if you have one) . Not only will this prevent the fish from being burnt, but it will more evenly distribute the heat throughout the water and hide the heater.
2. The second way to prevent a fish from being burnt is to have a heater guard. A heater guard is a plastic tube that goes around a heater and prevents fish from getting to it. Heater guards will not only prevent your fish from being burnt, but it will prevent aggressive fish (like oscars) from breaking the heaters (my day had an issue with an oscar that did that) and create hot spots in the aquarium (depending on flow) so if you have a pond or something like that then the fish may want to hang out around there.
3. The last way to prevent a fish from getting burnt by a heater is to have a heater that goes under a substrate. These heaters not only reduce the risk of the fish being burnt, but they also make the tank look more natural.
It is up to you which of these methods you want to do, but it is recommended to keep your heater away from your fish so they cannot get burnt on it or break it. Here is a video in which a fish vet (who has several other good videos that I recommend you check out) treats a stingray suffering from a heater burn
First off, let me explain why this is so common. The reason this is so common is because people just put the heater into the tank where fish can get access to it. Now this is no real problem and most people do this, but the problem is fish can get burnt on it, sometimes the fish (mainly plecos, eels, stingrays, and similar fish) happen to lay down on the heater and get burnt. No matter how it happens, it can be very bad and lead to infections and death for your fish. There are 3 main ways to prevent this.
1. The first way you can prevent a fish from being burnt by a heater is to put the heater in a sump (if you have one) . Not only will this prevent the fish from being burnt, but it will more evenly distribute the heat throughout the water and hide the heater.
2. The second way to prevent a fish from being burnt is to have a heater guard. A heater guard is a plastic tube that goes around a heater and prevents fish from getting to it. Heater guards will not only prevent your fish from being burnt, but it will prevent aggressive fish (like oscars) from breaking the heaters (my day had an issue with an oscar that did that) and create hot spots in the aquarium (depending on flow) so if you have a pond or something like that then the fish may want to hang out around there.
3. The last way to prevent a fish from getting burnt by a heater is to have a heater that goes under a substrate. These heaters not only reduce the risk of the fish being burnt, but they also make the tank look more natural.
It is up to you which of these methods you want to do, but it is recommended to keep your heater away from your fish so they cannot get burnt on it or break it. Here is a video in which a fish vet (who has several other good videos that I recommend you check out) treats a stingray suffering from a heater burn
