Heater Emergency!

[dkpate]

I just went to feed 2 of my bettas, and when I put the pellets in, I noticed the water was pretty warm! So I look at the thermometer, and the one that sticks to the side is not even registering, and the hanging one says like 97*!!! They both seem to be okay, but the heater must have malfunctioned. I have been slowly putting cold water in and I took the lid off the tank. Is there anything else I should be doing?
I am glad I caught it before they were cooked!

 

[TCool]

The same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. I caught mine around 90 tho, and just let the water cool on its own.

I could be wrong here, but if they are ok with it being 97, wouldn't it just be best to let the tank cool on its own? If you lower the temperature too fast won't it do more damage to the fish than a little bit of extra time at the higher temperature? (I honestly don't know the answer to those questions, just don't want to make it seem like I'm saying you are doing it wrong)

 

[mfdrookie516]

I agree with TCool, i think it would be best to let it SLOWLY get back down to temp. I know you're stressing over it being so high, but the fish will do much better if you drop it slower.

 

[brimac41]

Yep , learned that one the hard way when I was still green many years ago . Lost most of my wet pets by lowering it to quickly . Ever since them I am extremely anal about checking the temp to the point that is almost an obsession . I even call my wife when I am away for more than a few hours and have her check it .

 

[meegosh]

What you have done so far is good. I would just take the top off, like you did, and run a fan across the top. It will get the temp back down slowly, and you don't have to do anything!

Good catch though, it's a shame so many heaters seem to be malfunctioning recently.

 

[dkpate]

Well, the temp of the water went down faster than I wanted it to, 10* in about 20 minutes, (guess my house is colder than I thought LOL), but the fish are fine so far, and not acting any differently and still eating like piggies. I was waking up in the middle of the night to check on them haha! They were probably getting annoyed that I kept shining the flashlight in there.
The heater was one of the Visi-Therm's, I have yet to have a problem with the Stealths, (knock on wood). I still haven't heard back from Marineland....

Brimac~ I am not so anal about the temp checking, I am more anal about the heating part of the heater getting exposed to air with the evaporation LOL.

 

[meegosh]

I am more anal about the heating part of the heater getting exposed to air with the evaporation LOL.

This is why I place my submersible heaters horizontal and towards the bottom of the tank. That way when I am doing my PWC's I don't have to worry about draining too much water.

 

[dkpate]

I unplug everything when I am doing a pwc LOL. I put too much money into this stuff to even come close to making a mistake.

 

[dkpate]

Well, Marineland and I have been e-mailing back and forth, and they are now sending me a replacement! YAYY!

Word of advice, when you e-mail them with the problem, include the numbers and model of the heater or product in the first e-mail, it will save alot of time!

 

[mgamer20o0]

i been using stealths for some time with little problem but the newer ones just dont seem to have the same build quality anymore. i been seeing many people with problems.

 

[Twoapennything]

I hope your bettas are all right and there's no harm done - thank God you caught it in time! I think your betta Spot is very lovely!

 

[dkpate]

Thanks! Spot is my favorite guy (Shh, don't tell the others ).
So far the bettas that had the heater malfunction are still doing great! Even though I dropped the temp too fast (10* in 10-15 mins) they weren't stressed! I must be doing something right for them to not have any secondary side effects!