I picked up a 200 watt heater at a tag sale for $5. It has some strange rust on it, is this bad for the heater or fish? I have not put it in a tank yet but the owner said it ran fine...
Odd heater
- Thread starter TerrorMan#2
- Start date
agassizi;3210756; said:
Yeah, it is just little metal flakes that come off when I pick it up. If I want to put it in a tank should I get rid of all of the rust?
I highly doubt it's rust...
Is it on the inside of the glass? (answer was provided while I was typing... no it's on the outside)
In theory the inside of the thermoter is sealed and therefore anything inside of the glass will not be in contact with the tank. It's not uncommon for a little condensation to get inside the glass, but if an actual "exchange" of these two environments took place it would short out the heater... (It's on the outside so this part is irrelivant to your situation)
But all that theory aside... is this a brand new heater? If so I would definitely contact the manufacturer and ask for a replacement. No need to take unnecessary risks. (still applies!)
Is it on the inside of the glass? (answer was provided while I was typing... no it's on the outside)
In theory the inside of the thermoter is sealed and therefore anything inside of the glass will not be in contact with the tank. It's not uncommon for a little condensation to get inside the glass, but if an actual "exchange" of these two environments took place it would short out the heater... (It's on the outside so this part is irrelivant to your situation)
But all that theory aside... is this a brand new heater? If so I would definitely contact the manufacturer and ask for a replacement. No need to take unnecessary risks. (still applies!)
nc_nutcase;3210763; said:
No, it's not brand new, the person said it was about a year and a half old. It seems as though it is on the outside of the glass and is not touching the heatling element.
It's just algae. There are so many weird kinds of algae out there and after they dry, plenty look metallic, especially on the side of the muck stuck to the glass. The spores could activate and populate your tank with that species, so a good vinegar scrub is probably in order.
No, it isn't algea, the heater had little designs on them that are peeling of and these are definently metal.