my heater looks like it has "frost" on it

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dmac

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
May 18, 2006
Messages
93
I have a fully submersible heater hanging on the side of the tank........It looks like its covered in frost recently, though its obviously not frost.........The water temperature flucuates between 76-80 degrees depending on how often I adjust the heater....

Is this normal?
 
Deposits from the water (minerals and such)...no worries.
 
Is it a plastic or glass heater? If it's glass, maybe the frost appearance is condensation inside the glass, which can be dangerous. Do you have to adjust the heater often? I only adjust mine maybe twice a year. If I need to, I turn it down slightly in the summer and watch to make sure that the water temperature is still ok as it gets colder in the fall. So no, I would say that this heater is not normal. Maybe you should get another heater before you get shocked or before the fish get stressed as the water temperature fluctuates from 76-80 degrees.
 
By frost do you mean hundreds of tiny little bubbels covering the heater so that it looks white, or a slimy coat of something nasty?
 
ok , I opened the lid and scraped my net against it and the piece i touched the "frost" looking stuff sort of flaked off......It looks like white dandruff flakes. So its definately on the outside of the heater, the question is what is it?
 
ok, so being on the outside of the glass, it is nothing to be concerned with and just leave it alone?



I've recently added some discus buffer to lower the pH so maybe that contributed to it?
 
ok, so being on the outside of the glass, it is nothing to be concerned with and just leave it alone?
Yep

I've recently added some discus buffer to lower the pH so maybe that contributed to it?
Not sure about that one,I've never had discus and I don't add the phs chems....but probably not,its one my heater too,it just happens.
 
I would remove it as you risk getting a hotspot on the glass tube of the heater, because the lime deposits prevent the water from contacting the tube. Rub it off, or, remove it from the tank and soak it in vinegar to soften the deposit.
 
Distilled white vinegar works pretty well for cleaning it if you would like to clean it. Not sure if I'd use it if it's plastic, but if it's glass, works great.
 
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