Help wanted. Fish died after external filter overheated

[Sterbai]

I have a 540 ltr tank that my eheim external filter was disconnected for a few hours. During that time the heater element was connected
Filter got hot and i thought i would do some precations before startup.
I rinsed all of the filtermedia and rebooted the filter..
After this almost all the fish have died
I moved a few ciclides to a 720ltr before i knew there was a problem and there even the Hoplosternum went to heaven
Only fish alive now is my 2 big plecos and an upsidedown pleco.

Question is how can i know when its safe to put other fish in?
Can overheating a filter kill even Hoplosternum...?

I change 50% water daily now.

 

[RedDevil83]

Make sure it's cycled correctly and use a thermometer, for cichlids I would say 76 to 82 is fine

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[brennae]

Make sure it's cycled correctly and use a thermometer, for cichlids I would say 76 to 82 is fine

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I would agree. Always use an in tank thermometer just to make sure the heater is working correctly. How long was the tank running before this happened? Was there any water circulation while the filter was off, like an air stone or anything

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[Sterbai]

The fish where replaced in other tanks at the moment for tank cleaning.
Gravel where rinced also.

The filter canister i believe must have been 140 farenheit when i noticed the heater element where not diconnected. There where no circulation in the filter when this accured.

Filter media where rinsed in room temperature water and put back in.

Can bacteria in filter mutate to dealy force by a so high temperature?

 

[biondoa]

This is really hard to understand. The filter got hot?? I don't even understand how the filter gets hot. The filter does not have its own heater, at least none that I have seen. Also, when you said you rinsed in room temp water, was that right out of the tap, or did you dechlorinate first?

 

[RedDevil83]

Maybe he means pump got hot.

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[Sterbai]

This is an external eheim filter with integrated heater element inside the canister. There is a sensor that supposed to be inside the aquarium and heater adjust temperature after this. When sensor is not in the water and flow stops. The heater "boils" the water in the filter when the sensor feels room temp.


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[RedDevil83]

That's new to me lol

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[Sterbai]

https://www.eheim.com/resources/product/1583/images/121211101245.jpg


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[absolutangel04]

I am not familiar with that particular filter. Though, in general, I would say that the only way to know everything is back to normal is to let it run for a bit with some sort of thermometer in the water and make sure it doesn't happen again...
I am not sure about your bacteria. Off hand, I do not know well enough what exact temperatures they can live through. You could always try dosing the tank with ammonia like you would with a fishless cycle to see if the readings show the bacteria is still present. I think you need to test it out to see the results.
Sorry about all of your fish. I have lost 2 tanks of fish to heater malfunctions at different times. It sucks.