I just cooked my fish, Thanks Tetra!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
this would have happened to op either way because the heater would have just malfunctioned later when it got plugged back in.[/QUOTE]

True but it probably would have spared the fish during the winter months> also I do not unplug my heaters but i do check them daily just to make sure I do not see what i should not see the red light coming on. My comment is that people are still talking about keeping heaters on. It is June if that light comes on I am going to unplug it immediately and test it.
 
I have an electronic thermometer that I watch constantly and replug if it happens to drop to an undesirable level.

That must be fun watching the thermometer all the time instead of your fish. I wonder what would happen if you hooked up a thermometer to a switch that unplugged the power from the heater when it got too warm, then plugged it back in when it got too cool? That would certainly be a neat idea.
 
Like what was posted, its safer you to have two lower wattage heaters then to have one high watt just in case something arises again in the future. i would try to prevent that with going with the two heater method. I have the fluval e series heater and its not too bad. I also run a marineland stealth heater.I think ive heard of a lot of the marinelands being recalled but mine is working perfectly and i think its whats really heating up the tank well. Only downside to the marineland is that it doesnt have a precise temperature control. The fluval goes up by .5 and is highly recommended by me and its very easy to read the tank temperature on the screen and the screen changes color according to temp. Blue for too cold green is perfect and red is too hot. so very easy to read im gonna try the eheim jagger for my salt tank because it got a lot of good reviews just now and i love their filters.
 
True but it probably would have spared the fish during the winter months>

probably, probably not. it all depends on the house temperature, size of the tank and the size of the heater.

also I do not unplug my heaters but i do check them daily just to make sure I do not see what i should not see the red light coming on.

that sounds nice but what if your heater breaks while you're not looking at it? exactly like what happened to op. you could cook your fish in only a few short hours.

My comment is that people are still talking about keeping heaters on.

well, that's what heaters are supposed to do; turn on when it's cold and turn off when it's hot. you need them to be on (plugged in) to do that.

you're really confusing me now. are you recommending that people unplug their heaters or keep them plugged in?

because if you're recommending to keep them plugged in, this comment seems a little contradictory: "Your in Arizona. It is June. I can not understand why people have heaters on this time of year."

and if you're recommending to unplug them, then this comment seems a little contradictory: "I do not unplug my heaters but i do check them daily"

maybe you're talking about turning the temperature dial down? ...no, can't be that, because we both already know that this isn't going to stop a heater from malfunctioning either. but even if it did, it's eventually going to be dialed back up and fail at a later date.

It is June if that light comes on I am going to unplug it immediately and test it.

i hope this technique works out for you but how are people going to know if their heater is working properly when they're sleeping, working or away from their tank?
 
Sorry for your losses. I would get two smaller heaters as suggested and run them off of a controller. I like using the Finnex HPS as they have a built-in temp/controller, and then pair them with an external controller (ACjr, ranco, etc.) Provides a double fail-safe in the event one 'stays on'.
 
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