EMERGENCY help!!!

[Screwylui]

hi all ,
i just finished doing a water change this instant.. well i forgot to turn off the heater and this time i was taking out a substantial amount of water.. worst case scenerio happens! the heater over heats.. melts its holder and falls in the water... it shatters.
so now i'm out a heater till tommrowo around 11ish when i'll get a chance to get it first thing and bring it home immediately. the worst part is that i was treating the tank for Ick so it was right around 88 degrees F... so that means that the tank has the potential to drop to room temp.. which is 71 in my house.. what should i do!? is there anything i can do?

Thanks in advance,
Luis

 

[beblondie]

wrap the tank in towels or blankets to help retain heat and or crank up the room temp.-Anne

PS always have spares on hand it might sond silly but things only break or quit working when the stores are closed.Good luck

 

[mattrox]

You could try to insulate your tank with towels draped around it to slow the heat loss.

 

[Screwylui]

well now that i need to know.. what do you guys think of fluval's tronic line of heaters?
for a 21 gallon how many watts should i get ?
and thanks for the advice, i'm on my way to wrap up my aquarium!


Luis

 

[Blucat]

non-fluorescent lamp?

 

[Screwylui]

no they are fluorescent.. i was thinking about that but my tubes would not generate that much heat would they?


lui

 

[beblondie]

some is better than none you could try adding warm water to the tank too

a 50-60 watt heater should be fine

never used tronic heater so I have nothing to say about them sorry

 

[Screwylui]

would it be safe to leave the light on the whole night.. i mean .. would it mess up the fish to not get their dark time ?

 

[Guest]

no it will not hurt the fish if you leave the light on the whole night, i am on day 3 with the light on, the reason why is i am growing some algae before i get my clown loach and angelfish added

hopefullly by saturday my tank will be cycled!!!!!
my stats are
pH: 7.53
Ammonia: 0 ppm
NitrItes: 1.0 ppm

i know my nitrItes are a bit high and it seems insane but they ahve been going down i did a PWC to get rid of some of them


now back to you, Flourescent lighting doesnt generate heat, why? because most LFS (that are honest) will sell you a tank with flourescent lighting because they will not generate heat and your heater will be the only thing generating heat and if you can put some 100w lightbulbs right next to your tank

HTH

 

[redwhiptailplec]

Hmmm, for a 21 gallon I would get 150 Watt. I used to use a 100 for my 20 gallon but the 150 works much better and cuts down on temperaturee fluctuation.

 

[Melody]

If you do the lightbulb thing... BE CAREFUL!!! If you get the bulbs too close to the tank glass, You could risk cracking your glass... I'd just add some warm treated tap water every few hours... and when you go to get your heater... get two... always have a back up.

 

[Mazdaman]

and i think a 150watt is too much for that small a tank. Again the worst case is it could get stuck on the "on" and with that much wattage would fry the fishies and possibly boil the water (just kidding on the boil thing) If you decide to get two why not one 100w as the "main" heater and a 50w as the "backup".

 

[mattrox]

If you get a heater with an electronic switch rather than a bi-metallic strip you should not have the "sticking on" problem

 

[Blucat]

In contrast, I'm ha vin a hard time keepng my water temp down!

 

[jgc8fan]

Leave the light on... When you get your new heater buy a spare... Even if it's a small cheap 50 watt to keep around in case of emergencies it's better than nothing. I use a 200 Watt on my tank, and keep an old 100 watt as a spare. 150 would be a good one for your's, but check the length before you buy!!! If it's going to touch the gravel then get a 100. Unless you are going to submerge it horizontally. I always make sure to have a few inches of leeway so I can mount the heater about an inch below the water in case there is a lot of evaporation I don't chance letting it get below the heater's water line.

The titanium heaters got common right after I got my Ebo-Jager... Do they have any glass inside that will pop if they accidentally get out of the water??? Been thinking about getting one, and moving my current one to spare status, but I like it too much at the moment.

 

[severum mama]

I've heard very good things about the Tronic heaters, at least as far as not getting stuck "on" and frying your fish. Never tried one myself though.

 

[ramfan]

In contrast, I'm ha vin a hard time keepng my water temp down!

Ha! Must be tough, mate! It's been in the teens and snowing and of course windy in Boston, MA area.

 

[jgc8fan]

I've heard very good things about the Tronic heaters, at least as far as not getting stuck "on" and frying your fish. Never tried one myself though.

Had that happen once years ago with one of the old style heaters... The thing stuck while I was at work, and the tank was at 110 F when I got home from work... All my fishe were floating upside down at the top, and I was sure they were all dead. I got the heater unplugged and put bags of ice cubes in the tank to cool it down. Luckily the fish all started swimming again once the temp got back down except one neon. I got a submersible the next day, and haven't had any problems.

 

[Blucat]

My tank was below 26 degrees/ 79 f today for the very first time!!!! And this is the first time the heater switched itself on since i got it in january

 

[jgc8fan]

My tank was below 26 degrees/ 79 f today for the very first time!!!! And this is the first time the heater switched itself on since i got it in january

Mine's like that in the summer here... It stays about 85F no matter what the room temp is. It's at 78F right now. As long as the temp is steady then the fish will be acclimated to it. It's more rapid changes that bother them than the actual temp.