heater help! dead fish

[tarpon]

I jist bought a topfin 150 watt glass heater for my 30 gallon. It was working great, so i thought until i woke up to my beautiful bristlenose belly up. There looks to be condensation between the 1st and 2nd layer of glass. Is that bad? And could the death be bc of the heater? All other fish seem fine

 

[okapizebra]

My heater had condensation after I installed it for a while.

 

[tarpon]

Is the condensation bad?

 

[Talvari]

How quickly did you raise the temperature in the water? If you let the water get too warm too fast, it can stress the fish out. Some fish are more sensitive to that sort of thing than others.

 

[Batt4Christ]

Lots of possibilities -

Defective heater - either a water leak allowing voltage to water - bad
heater stuck on and raising water temp too high/too fast - bad
Some kind of manufacturing chemical on the heater?

Other possibilities as posted by others:
setting temp to high/raising temp too fast

 

[tarpon]

The temperature is right but i think it couldve raised too fast maybe.
How can i tell if its leaking voltage into the water? A glass cat swam right next to it and was fine

Could the condensation be a leak?

 

[BillD]

The condensation is probably a minor leak. If the temperature was fine the heater is functioning. I have had heaters with cracked glass still work while full of water and not harm the fish. I had a florescent light fall int a tank and stay lit, again with no harm to the fish. Fresh water is a pretty good electrical insulator.
As far as the BN, it would seem that something other than the heater caused it's demise, since all the other fish are fine.
As far as raising the water temp too fast, an aquarium heater is not likely to do that.

 

[tarpon]

Ill have to test the water when i get back home

 

[tarpon]

My parameters are perfect.
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-10-20

And i woke up to 3 dead glass catfish. Im taking it back. I think i deserve to be reimbersed for the $20 of fish i lost too but i doubt theyll do it

 

[tarpon]

My angels fins are torn and his eye looks scratched could that be from the heater?

 

[tarpon]

My other angels fins look worn away at the edges too...i hope they make it. Theyre my favorite fish ever