Running 3 rubbermaid 300 gal.'s for 4 months now with now problems until this week 
. each is equipped with a 200-300 watt subermisable heater. now that the weather is getting cold i've been observing a toxic holocaust 
. one by one, all on different days my tank water turned into what looks very similar to milk with an oily substance on top of the water. Water changes have no or little effect and conditions went from crystal clear to white overnite!!! It cost me my 18'' jardini so far and has been unbelievable trying to fix. 50% water change 4 days in a row and one of the tanks is still not anywhere near up to par. My final conclusion is the heaters contacted the plastic causing chemicals to be released into the water. its taken me 4 days to figure this out 
. Just spreading the word to anyone who has a rubbermaid to CAGE YOUR HEATERS just like the side says. Anyone out their with homemade heater cages i'd like to see what works? i rigged up coated bird feeders for now but its not a permanent enough solution.
. each is equipped with a 200-300 watt subermisable heater. now that the weather is getting cold i've been observing a toxic holocaust . one by one, all on different days my tank water turned into what looks very similar to milk with an oily substance on top of the water. Water changes have no or little effect and conditions went from crystal clear to white overnite!!! It cost me my 18'' jardini so far and has been unbelievable trying to fix. 50% water change 4 days in a row and one of the tanks is still not anywhere near up to par. My final conclusion is the heaters contacted the plastic causing chemicals to be released into the water. its taken me 4 days to figure this out . Just spreading the word to anyone who has a rubbermaid to CAGE YOUR HEATERS just like the side says. Anyone out their with homemade heater cages i'd like to see what works? i rigged up coated bird feeders for now but its not a permanent enough solution.