Chiclidaholic
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hi Everyone,
New member / First post. Looking for recommendations for a heater that will not have a thermostat failure and cook my fish.
Well, I came home from work Monday to find that another heater had failed with the thermostat stuck in the "On" position. What had been a tank with a gorgeous 10" Green Terror (bought him years ago as a fry), a similarly sized Pleco (very pale tan color, not sure of species) and a Blue Botia of about 3 inches, was now fish soup. What a mess. Must have failed overnight as the tank temperature was over 100 degrees. It seemed fine Sunday night, and since the tank is in the basement, I did not see the tank in the morning on my way to work. So it had perhaps 20 hours to overheat.
Now this is not the first time I have had a perfectly healthy tank turn into a rapid decomposition chamber due to the failure of a heater. It seems that, aside from a tank leaking to empty (Yep, I've seen that too) nothing kills fish faster than a failed heater thermostat. Heck, when they fail in the "Off" position, or if a fish decides to shatter the tube, the response is more like. "Hmmm. Tank seems cold. I'd better get a new heater". But this type of failure has happened too many times.
So, relative to this particular issue, what heater would you suggest I use henceforth? In searching the forum, it appears that a number of people like the Jager brand heaters, which I do not think are carried locally but are available on-line. Still, I thought I'd post the question here because: I am really annoyed and need to vent; I'd like ask specifically about recommendations for heaters that are less prone to fail in this particular manner; and because, hey, I just registered on this web site. Howdy!
Thanks,
Tom
New member / First post. Looking for recommendations for a heater that will not have a thermostat failure and cook my fish.
Well, I came home from work Monday to find that another heater had failed with the thermostat stuck in the "On" position. What had been a tank with a gorgeous 10" Green Terror (bought him years ago as a fry), a similarly sized Pleco (very pale tan color, not sure of species) and a Blue Botia of about 3 inches, was now fish soup. What a mess. Must have failed overnight as the tank temperature was over 100 degrees. It seemed fine Sunday night, and since the tank is in the basement, I did not see the tank in the morning on my way to work. So it had perhaps 20 hours to overheat.
Now this is not the first time I have had a perfectly healthy tank turn into a rapid decomposition chamber due to the failure of a heater. It seems that, aside from a tank leaking to empty (Yep, I've seen that too) nothing kills fish faster than a failed heater thermostat. Heck, when they fail in the "Off" position, or if a fish decides to shatter the tube, the response is more like. "Hmmm. Tank seems cold. I'd better get a new heater". But this type of failure has happened too many times.
So, relative to this particular issue, what heater would you suggest I use henceforth? In searching the forum, it appears that a number of people like the Jager brand heaters, which I do not think are carried locally but are available on-line. Still, I thought I'd post the question here because: I am really annoyed and need to vent; I'd like ask specifically about recommendations for heaters that are less prone to fail in this particular manner; and because, hey, I just registered on this web site. Howdy!
Thanks,
Tom
