electricians near me told me to use a boiler filament instead he told me they are a bit costly but he said they have no bursting tendency we can set thermostat in them to control temp to max 32 C and will not even pass current in water but he also said that u can ask minimum life of heater and replace it before that date but what i do think is Is a 300 watt.heater small for a 3 ft. tank earlier i had a 150 on so can it be the reason ? and i remember that earlier my filter was also not working so no flow of water so can accumulation of hot water near heater be the reason.Thanks CK
Hello; I have set up and run tanks with very little or no flow from filtration. In a few cases no filter at all. What I have observed is that the heater warms up the water around itself which rises and then is replaced by cooler water. This sets up a convection current in the tank when the heater is in operation. This type of circulation is slow. I have used heaters, water, tanks and food color to set up demonstrations of such currents for physical science classes.
Here is a thought perhaps worth considering. In place of one 300 watt heater, use two 150 watt heaters. This way if one fails the other is likely to still be in operation. Such a setup has worked well for me and has lessened the impact of heater failures in the past. There was a thread on this subject with several posts recently. I do not recall the title but a search using my username may find it as I did post.
The idea of using a boiler filament gives rise to some possible concerns. I am thinking of the heating element found in things like a hot water tank. If this is the type you have in mind it may have the heating element in direct contact with the water. It could be made to work and with the proper precautions might not be too much of a shock hazard. But some potential shock hazard should be addressed. The elements I have worked with are basically high resistance conductors. I do not know what they may shed into the water, but that possibility would be something to look into.
Having had a number of heaters fail, I have continued to replace and use them. I have a few survivors that have proven durable is long term use. In thinking about the initial post of your heater exploding, I recall a few heater tube failures. I fairly clearly recall a couple of incidents. Both were the result of my mistake. While still plugged in I had either removed the heater from the tank or had lowered the water level too low and exposed the portion of the glass tube near the heat element to the air. When I put the hot glass back into the cool water or filled the tank back up, the thermal shock was enough to shatter the glass.
I have had other heater tubes crack or shatter and not been able to figure out why. One failure was traced back to a bubbler too near the hang on the side type heater. Over time the spray made it's way into the inside of the heater tube and slowly filled up the tube to the level of the heating wire.
There was a thread some time back about a type/brand of heater that had been very prone to fail. Perhaps you had such a heater. I believe it was one of the submerged type.
Good luck.
but now i have very costly fishes like fh's and bp's and i don't wanna loose them.my lfs keeper told me that they burst when the voltage fluctuates so can we install fuse to prevent burst outs or can we do something like earthing or can i do daily R.O. water changes as they will not conduct electricity.which one will be better plz suggest me as some of my fish are already having ich
ever.