I had a coral not opening in my ten gallon last week. No big deal, sometimes that happens with one coral or another for a day or so here or there, once in a great while. A few days later another. So I did a water change just for the heck of it, just in case. A day or so later several and things were looking pale, did another water change and started to get worried. Next day, yesterday went to do another water change and the tank water was wayyyy warm. I dont have a themometer on that tank. Took its temp and it was 86.6! I got to looking and my heater was stuck on! I did the water change and put in a different heater and slowly brought the temp down. I rarely test my water or have issues because I do very regular water changes. I was about ready to start testing the tank up and down when I saw what the trouble was. I have never had a Cobal heater get stuck on, ever. What a scare and I still dont know if my corals are totally out of the woods as some still look peak-ed, not open yet and lighter in color than they should. Some still not opening. I pray... with consistant good care and patience, they will come back around. I have never had a tank crash, Praise God but this sure scared me. I love my corals and little critters. I would hate to ever lose any of them.
Almost Had A Disaster!
- Thread starter Mom2Many
- Start date
Ya be careful temps can really affect a corals responses. Ive never had mine go that high before but have had a heater fail and not heat just recently. Temps dropped to 70. Luckily everything bounced back quickly. If you dont have an Apex I highly recommend a temperature alarm. Itll start beeping the moment it senses temperatures outside of your set range.
Thank you. I will check into that. I have about five corals that were badly effected. Two gonis and my hammers. Everything else is comming around. I pray they come round too. I have never had a tank crash before...and I have been working with fresh water tanks my whole life and salt for the last 17 years or so. So this really scared me.
I've heard heaters are the number one cause of tank crashes. If you think about it, even for the nicest ones, they are relatively cheap compared to other equipment that we buy. It seems no heater is unaffected by this problem. If a company created one with a better internal mechanism or maybe two internal temperature probes, I bet people would be willing to pay a high premium.
Both of my tanks are hooked up to $35 InkBird temperature controllers. It saved me recently when a heater quit heating. In the summer, I connect a fan to the cooling outlet to keep my tanks cool.
I hope your corals bounce back.
Both of my tanks are hooked up to $35 InkBird temperature controllers. It saved me recently when a heater quit heating. In the summer, I connect a fan to the cooling outlet to keep my tanks cool.
I hope your corals bounce back.
I hate having to many bells and whitles on my tanks but this was bad and really scared me. My tanks just chug along with little testing or moitoring, just weekly water changes. It is my fault for not catching it sooner. To me it would be well worth the money to pay more for reliable heaters with built in fail safe construction. I will definitly be looking into temp controllers. Thanks for the advice, encouragment and reply. Blessings and Happy Reefing!
I've read the heaters usually fail sticking on and should be changed out every year or two. I haven't had a heater fail yet but my Jager's are getting close to 3yrs old and I already have the replacements. After this season I'm going to pull the old ones out and toss'em.
I have an Apex so I'll see as soon as something happens, either with the temp or the wattage. I don't see the need to add something like an Apex to nano tanks but would recommend a secondary temp controller too. If nothing else, one of these.
I have an Apex so I'll see as soon as something happens, either with the temp or the wattage. I don't see the need to add something like an Apex to nano tanks but would recommend a secondary temp controller too. If nothing else, one of these.
Thank you so much for the info! Will check it out!
Great news, glad you weren’t gone and were checking on it. I had a mild disaster from a blown heater and cold temps, it hurts! Especially considering I had an Apex running, I wasn’t home and dismissed the warning messages
Isn’t Jager, Ehiem now? I’ve had good luck with them throughout the years.
There’s no fool proof heater and it’s life or death for our aminal. After my loss I started running two heaters, one in over flow and one in the sump to help remove some of the risk.
Isn’t Jager, Ehiem now? I’ve had good luck with them throughout the years.
There’s no fool proof heater and it’s life or death for our aminal. After my loss I started running two heaters, one in over flow and one in the sump to help remove some of the risk.
WOW! seems like many people have had a temp failure of one kind or another. Didnt know it happened so often! And I agree, It does make me feel so bad to see my corals suffering and not happy. It is my bedroom tank, that I lay and watch them all as I go to sleep and now they are definitely not happy. I pray they make a full recovery now with consistant care and TLC. We basicly have our tanks on lifesupport. Any one thing fails and we can have issues and loss. I am a stay at home mom and am home most days at least for part of the day. I am in and out of my bedroom through out the day. I now have a thermometer on the tank and check it when I sit to look at the tank for a moment through out the day. My thermometer died on my living room 20 long. I am going to replace that ASAP. I have a lot of sensitive corals in there. Two heaters is a great idea. Blessings and Happy Reefing!
I've had several fail over the years, almost always in the ON state. Until recently I just replaced them, but I now have Inkbird controllers on the tanks that don't have Apex, so I can continue to use them until they fail iin the Off state.
Oh Noooo Steve please don’t, heaters are dangerous.
They can EXPLODE which is what happened to me when it failed off!
Using premium heaters and replacing the old ones is highly recommended.
They can EXPLODE which is what happened to me when it failed off!
Using premium heaters and replacing the old ones is highly recommended.
Yours exploded!!! I have never heard of that happening! I am seriously going to replace the heater in my 20L!
I had a heater fail on. Tank hit nearly 100 degrees. Killed everything I'd had for years, was devastating. Never going without a controller of some sort again.
I've had seven or more tanks at a time (currently 11) for 30 years, had many quality heaters fail, usually in the on state, never had a submersible break or explode, but I am aware of the possibility.
I am so sorry. What a hard loss for you. I will be doing something. Just not sure what yet.
Get an inkbird. Cheap and provides some peace of mind if you don't want to spend the money on an Apex.
Thanks! Will look into it!
Thank you to everyone for all of the encouragment, helpful suggestions and for sharing your stories. I had no Idea this was such a common occurance. In all the years of doing this, I have never had a heater fail (in my salt tanks). I have replaced my salt ones as they became so gross with calcium and coraline on them over the years. I think that might be part of the reason. A short update on my tank... After slowly getting the tank temp down, putting in a new heater, changing out stuff I keep in my filter and a whole lot of prayer... this is the first day that my gonioporas had little pettels showing, not much but encouraging. They have looked like sad dimmpled golf balls for days. Also, the duncan started to open up a bit. So I am happy and take it as progress in the right direction. My frog spawn and hammers are not big and fluffy but opened up about an inch and a half around the branch ends and still look very pale but at least they have not shed thier flesh so I am hopeful they will still recover as well. I am so grateful to not have lost any of the fish or critters. I am grateful things are comming back around and also that I joined here when I did, so I at least had people to share with and get ideas from to try to help it to never happen again. Thanks all!
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Sorry for your issues but like you’ve noticed you are not alone. My story was a 10 piece sps order from BigR (still can’t bring myself to admit the price). I set up a new 10g QT with a new preset heater I’m sure you’ve seen them. 24 hours later the temp was 92, complete loss within 48 hours of setup. I’ll never be without a thermometer and/or controller again.
Oh my! So sorry. I had no idea there were so many people who have had issues with heaters. Every story so sad with loss of corals and and such. I am going to get something. I have been given good advice and many ideas to research. Praise God the only loss it looks like I am going to have is a jack o lantrin leptoseris. Thanks for sharing and the encouragment. Blessings and happy reefing.
