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Post by Suzie Q (Lori) on Nov 26, 2009 20:12:46 GMT -5
I had a pre-set heater (78*F) set up in my QT with the Black Bar Endler's that I got from a friend... This past Saturday morning I got up to feed as usual and all were stuck to the heater dead!!! I did not put a thermometer on the tank because I did not have an extra one...I used my digital one and the water was at 94.6*!!! UGGGGG!!!! They were doing so good too!!! I had had 2 litters of fry from them already!!! (only 4 babies but still)
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Post by goldenpuon on Nov 26, 2009 20:58:16 GMT -5
I'm really sorry to hear of your loss. It goes to show not all heaters are reliable. Don't feel bad about it though. Things like this happen. It was the heater's fault, not your's.
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Post by Carl on Nov 27, 2009 11:00:21 GMT -5
Sorry Lori (Suzie Q) May I ask what brand heater this was? This is not to single out any brand, as I have had brands that are spot on 99.99% of the time fail, however there are brands that have high fail rates (as per my aquarium maintenance company usage) such as Visitherm. Carl
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Post by babygeige on Nov 27, 2009 22:26:14 GMT -5
Oh man! That's terrible! Sorry to see this!
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Post by fishfever on Nov 28, 2009 9:01:09 GMT -5
Ouch! Very sorry to hear about this - this has to be an aquarists worst nightmare!
I'm a little surprised that a heater would fail in the "stuck on" mode; although I have not designed a heater for aquariums most good control system designs are done in a manner such that if a higher failure rate or critical component fails, the system is shut off (fail-safe operation). If a heater can fail "stuck on" I guess it would make more sense to use two heaters (i.e. two 50-watt instead of one 100-watt) since it's extremely unlikely both would fail simultaneously. It's probably also a good idea to make sure the total heat capacity is enough to heat to slightly above your target temperature with worst-case ambient (probably winter for most) but not too much oversized so the upper end would cap off lower on this kind of failure.
I would also be interested in knowing the brand. Since we can't look into the heater design, I'd personally want to avoid any that have been known to fail in the catastrophic mode. I'll be looking at my thermometer more often from now on!
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Post by Suzie Q (Lori) on Nov 30, 2009 13:51:59 GMT -5
Thanks Guys...luckily my friend has 3 tanks set up with BB Endlers ... Carl..just saw this...it was Walmart's Brand...I forget the name. I have 4 of them and this one was giving me problems before...I should have thrown it out...it kept a 10g at 80-ish so I should have thought it would make a 5g a hot tub!!! LOL Sorry Lori (Suzie Q) May I ask what brand heater this was? This is not to single out any brand, as I have had brands that are spot on 99.99% of the time fail, however there are brands that have high fail rates (as per my aquarium maintenance company usage) such as Visitherm. Carl
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Post by Carl on Nov 30, 2009 15:14:26 GMT -5
Thanks Guys...luckily my friend has 3 tanks set up with BB Endlers ... Carl..just saw this...it was Walmart's Brand...I forget the name. I have 4 of them and this one was giving me problems before...I should have thrown it out...it kept a 10g at 80-ish so I should have thought it would make a 5g a hot tub!!! LOL Sorry to laugh, but I investigated to see what heater Walmart sells and it turns out to be VisiTherm, which is one of the major problem heaters when it comes to getting "stuck on" Again sorry this happened, I would definitely avoid VisiTherm Heaters. Carl
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Post by fishfever on Nov 30, 2009 19:11:19 GMT -5
Well this is one heater brand I will be avoiding since we now know of multiple "stuck on" failures. I really believe it's a design flaw with that heater and hopefully most of the good name brands don't have this defect (although I still plan to watch my tank temps more closely from now on!).
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Post by Suzie Q (Lori) on Nov 30, 2009 19:18:30 GMT -5
...note to self...Walmart heaters are CHEAP for a reason...LOL
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Post by bikeguy33 on Nov 30, 2009 21:36:28 GMT -5
sometimes a heater in a tank isnt even neccessary if the ambiant temp of the room is consistant. this IMO is sometimes a better option. i have big money heaters and i have had malfunctions....so this is when possible 1 mechanical possible problem taken out of the loop...
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Post by Carl on Dec 1, 2009 9:53:28 GMT -5
sometimes a heater in a tank isnt even neccessary if the ambiant temp of the room is consistant. this IMO is sometimes a better option. i have big money heaters and i have had malfunctions....so this is when possible 1 mechanical possible problem taken out of the loop... This is a good point Bill (bikeguy) Most importer warehouses (such as QualityMarineUSA or Poseidon Aquatics) keep the whole building at a consistant ambient temperature. The only negative with this for these warehouses, in particular the freshwater importers was the high humidity thus created that also made the building a paradise for creepie crawlies such as huge Asian Cockroaches that came in with the fish shipments This is not likely a problem in a room in a house heated this way I also kept my previous store at an ambient temperature as well with additional heaters only in the Discus aquariums. BTW, I opened ALL new fish shipment boxes outside our store to keep the bugs out Carl
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Post by fishfever on Dec 1, 2009 19:20:20 GMT -5
This would work real good in warmer/tropical climates or even colder climates where you keep the heat cranked up in the winter... During the summer we have the A/C set at 76/77 and the tank heaters don't run much at all... But in the winter we tend to run the heat at 70 to 71 to save energy and that would be a pretty big drop for the fish (normally run tanks at 79, and we have mollies that seem to prefer warmer temps also). From an energy standpoint it would cost me a heck of a lot more to run the our house at say 75/76 (in the winter) than using a few tank heaters so that was an easy decision. LOL
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Post by kagome on Dec 17, 2009 0:24:03 GMT -5
I have to run heaters in my tanks b/c my husband wants it to be 68 degrees in here no matter what time of year it is. I usually check the temps in my tanks everyday and the one day I didn't was the one time my husband left the heater unplugged and the poor fish were at 68 degrees!
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Post by Suzie Q (Lori) on Dec 17, 2009 13:36:31 GMT -5
I have to run heaters in my tanks b/c my husband wants it to be 68 degrees in here no matter what time of year it is. I usually check the temps in my tanks everyday and the one day I didn't was the one time my husband left the heater unplugged and the poor fish were at 68 degrees! I think we are married to the same man!!! LOL
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Post by goldenpuon on Dec 17, 2009 17:24:52 GMT -5
Same here (only it is not with a husband but with my mom). lol My mom won't let us keep the house above 67-68 F in winter and lets it get to 76-77 F in summer. Don't my mom and other people realize that they're raising the electric bill by having the temperature cooler in winter. the heaters have to run more. lol
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Post by babygeige on Dec 17, 2009 19:40:59 GMT -5
Heaters are a must in my house too. In the summer we have it at 74, but in the winter we keep the house at 68 in the evening, 65 during the day, and at night down to 60.
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Post by bikeguy33 on Dec 17, 2009 20:41:47 GMT -5
lol....the neighboring city to us had the coldest world temp on monday....-52 degrees celcius. even the cold water fish cant live in that ...lol
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Post by babygeige on Dec 17, 2009 22:07:31 GMT -5
Holy cow. I seriously can't even imagine that. I made the mistake of stopping for gas last Thursday night at a gas station on top of a hill across from a farm field with 50 mph winds making a windchill of -10. Needless to say, I didn't last long enough to get a whole fill up like I usually get! I almost got blown over.
What city was that, Bill?
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Post by bikeguy33 on Dec 17, 2009 22:36:30 GMT -5
it was edmonton alberta canada
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Post by Carl on Dec 18, 2009 9:58:47 GMT -5
lol....the neighboring city to us had the coldest world temp on monday....-52 degrees celcius. even the cold water fish cant live in that ...lol Ahh, that is just T shirt and shorts weather Carl
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